The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I read this book "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by Mohsin Hamid today. I had bought this book couple of months back and could read it only today, thanks to my friend Devendra who slept on it all this while. I had to go to Delhi to fetch it back.

The book is kind of captivating, if you can relate to the story. I could therefore i finished it in a single sitting (sometime lying down).

About the book:

The book is about a young pakistani discovering himself amidst the hustle and bustle of global politics, terrorism and love. The interesting part of the book is its narration style. One has to give it to the author here. The main character of the book Changez is walking back in the memory lane and narrating it to an American Tourist, who never says a single word in the entire book. Hamid throws in some fillers during the narration which acts as stress releasers and gives the book its unique touch. I am not sure it is common, but this was the first time i came across this narrative style, where the other person doesn't even utter a single word.

Coming to the story line, the story is about the young aspirant Changez, who clears several hurdles to get into Princeton. Once there he continues to study hard and manages to be one of the best in class. Post Princeton he gets into a top firm doing valuation and also finds the love of his life.

I could easily relate to he making it into Princeton, his campus life, studies and then managing to get into one of the top firms. I happened to study, during my graduation and post grad days, with set of students who went to Harvard, Princeton, Stern, Stanford, so on. I have personally experienced the hunt for the best company. I think this made me to pursue the book with keen earnest, i walked back on my memory lane with each sentence i read. I had something or the other to think about in the initial chapters.

The love story is beautiful brought about, well i cannot add much to it apart from appreciating it. When it comes to working in the best firm and the competition in it, it is what most of us do. It does not matter, where one passes out from or where one lands up, the race against time, the race to outperform the others will always be there. It is not just monetary, power or ego, i think it pulls someother strings beyond that. So our dear Changez enters the corporate world at an early age of 22, and excels! He is the no. 1 amongst the new recruits, pet of the big boss and there is no stopping him.

Comes 9/11 and the whole thing turns around. Changez starts questioning about the way he is, the way world is, ways of the people. He starts looking at his life in a totally different lens and the whole world changes its colour for him. As with most people, who begin introspection, even Changez goes through a period of confusion. His love life is in a turmoil, not because of him or maybe because of him, poor thing had nothing to do with it. He couldn't understand or completely comprehend Erica's behaviour or her feelings towards him. Her love towards the deceased Chris and his attitude towards the world he had left behind, takes him through a journey of discovering self.

The way this change has been explained and brought about in the book his splendid. The reader feels that the reason for change is pretty obvious. Nothing is thrust upon, the change flows through very easily. Changez embraces 'Focus on the Fundamentals', the tagline of the firm he worked for, in his pursuit and the Fundamentalist rises. Changez transforms from a young career oriented boy to a questioning man! He searches for answers, the land that he had got used to so well, becomes an alien land and he longs to go back to his country. He gives up everything, the job, the pay, the love and goes back to his country, to be with his people.

As per me, what the books fails to capture is what next, he discovered himself, he went back, what nexxt?? A smart, intelligent kid, goes back to his motherland, and then what?? I am not sure whether Hamid should have proceeded further, but i think it stops at the right time for the reader to completely observe what the author wanted to.

Overall an interesting read.