Monday, July 16, 2012

Do not be frightened of my beard: I am a lover of America

A while ago Brenna over at Literary Musings wrote about this book and since then it's a book I've kept in the back of my head as one I'd like to check out. Nothing I was actively looking for but if I happen to come across it I would check it out. Well I happen to come across it when it was on the remainder table of my local bookstore and since I want to read more non-white people I decided now was the time to pick it up and try it out.

This was different than I thought. Told in the second person, the main character Changez is telling an American his story about living in America pre and post 9/11 and the woman Erica he loved. The frame story is in the second person, so Changez is talking to you, although in this case "you" is a large nervous American man. It's a great device and it doesn't feel hokey. It feels natural, even if it's hard to believe a stranger would actually share so much or even that another stranger would stay and listen for so long. Or maybe I'm just not friendly enough to want to sit for hours and listen to a stranger's story. But of course, there is the feeling that this American in Lahore is more than just a tourist.

Changez tells "you" about his time at Princeton an later when working at a prestigious consulting firm in New York City. He quickly becomes a star employee and things seem to be going well with Erica. But then things start to fall apart. Before they met Erica had lost her best friend/first boyfriend and has never really recovered. And then while working in the Philippines Changez sees a news report about the 9/11 attacks. He starts to question his place and his loyalties as tensions in the middle east grow. He feels guilty about living in America while his family is in Pakistan and under the threat of war.

There is, as the blurb on my cover tells me, "enormous tension." However I can't say it's "more exciting than any thriller I've read in a long time". Tense yes, thrilling eh. At least not in the conventional term of a thriller. It's not a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller. I wasn't constantly holding my breath wondering what would happen next. But it was a story that kept my attention. I found myself both sympathizing and repulsed by Changez. It was an interesting story and one I'm glad I read, though I can't say that I found a new favorite here.

Title quote from page 1

Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Hardcourt Inc, 2007

Comments (14)

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Hmm..I've seen this one so many times. The cover art is really striking. It does seem odd that the author decided to carry the narrative that way. I'm thinking of Forest Gump right now and it totally worked there, yes?! Anyway. It sounds interesting but maybe not so much that I'll request it at the library now. Perhaps if I happen upon it, I'll take a chance.
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
Def didn't think of Forrest Gump while reading this, but you're right, the frame story is sort of the same thing. Except only one stranger sat and listened to this guy's story.
So, maybe not this one, but I really want to read a book written in the second person- I don't think I've ever really come across one before, so, yeah, I wanna reeeead one! But yeah, probably not this. Cause you are right about everything ever. :)
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler is in the second person. I really wanted to show it to my 7th grade teacher who told me no books are written in the second person.
So...he's a fundamentalist? And this isn't sort of an apologist 'this is why I am one' sort of book?
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
No, I thought it would be "this is why I'm a fundamentalist" or at least an explanation for how he got to the point he was at. And it sorta did that but not really.
After reading your review I went back to read mine and see how I liked it. I think we had similar reactions - found it interesting and happy I read it but it wasn't a groundbreaking, change-your-life novel. Still, I find it interesting to read books written from an Eastern POV.
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
I was happy to read a book from such a different POV and I'm happy I read it but yeah, in the end it wasn't an OMG AMAZING book. I did read somewhere that they're making it into a movie. I'd be interested to see how it works on screen.
I liked the ideas in the book and the contrasting viewpoints of the two characters but unfortunately I found it really boring to read. And what was up with the ending?!
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
I did not understand the ending AT ALL!!! I felt like the book cut off early or at least didn't develop the frame story fully for how they decided to end it.
I've been curious about this one since I read Brenna's review. Doesn't sound like a must, but maybe next year.
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
that's how I'd approach it: not a must but if you happen upon it check it out. Plus it's short Si.there's not a lot of time commitment to read it.
This one has been on my TBR for a ridiculously long time. One day, one day.
1 reply · active 647 weeks ago
If you get to it, yay. If not, eh. It was good but not life changing.

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