Mohsin Hamid is such writer who has his unusual style of writing, capable of addressing an unpopular theme with characters doing unacceptable and unwanted stuff all around them. “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” has all these.
It is always interesting to read the quotes by other authors about any literature, specially printed at the front and back cover of the book. Quote by Philip Pullman:
“More exciting than any thriller I’ve read for a long time, as well as being a subtle and elegant analysis of the state of our world today.”, interests most.
The novel has re-casted a story about a young man that takes the reader to a tediously unoriginal and common scenario. It is like that a young man arrives in a big city to find his fortune. But later realizes harsh realities and returns back home.
According to GILES HARVEY:
“Hamid, however, is an artist of fantastic cunning, and his second novel (following the righ own specially praised Moth Smoke) demonstrate what certain trumped-up laureates of post-modernity seem incapable of grasping: that it is possible to simultaneously address the byzantine monstrosity of contemporary existence and care about the destiny of one's characters.”
While reading the book, I have tried to use my special prism. My dispatches have tried to have clarity and color. They are analytical and astute. The author has written with passion, but he has also possessed acuity. The young man here is Changez, in the city of New York. He is trying to relate his life to an American sitting just next to him in a café in Lahore. He tells about the mistrust and unwelcome they face. He tells about his love who wasn’t ready to move on and their relation was eclipsed by her past. Few very unfortunate incident make the life of an immigrant more pitiful then it was ever before as they are considered to be traitor to their own people. Unwanted transformation in the personality of Changez and the scenarios around him are controlled by Hamid with a calm authority. Changez and his American Companion are all together, throughout the book from the very beginning of it. Novel gets a structure because of it.
According to The Washington Post - Laila Halaby
“Extreme times call for extreme reactions, extreme writing. Hamid has done something extraordinary with this novel, and for those who want a different voice, a different view of the aftermath of 9/11, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is well worth reading.”
ASHUTOSH KATIYAR
2006MT50432
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