Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshsin Hamid

Narrator: Satya Bhabha
Genre: Fiction
Series: No
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: AudioGO
Buy: Amazon Audio or Amazon Book

Summary: from Good Reads 

At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting . . .

Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite "valuation" firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his infatuation with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore.

But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.


Feelings: 
This was a strange book, and it took a while to get used to the narrative style. The narrator finds an American in the streets of Lahore and takes him to a cafe. There he talks to the man even though we never hear the American say anything. This makes the novel feel like a very long monologue. It is a relatively short book. I don't think the style of monologue would have lasted much longer without falling apart.

As Changez tells the story of his time as a student and how he worked at a valuation firm in New York, we see him change and grow as a person through his telling. However, it becomes clear that Changez may not be the most reliable narrator. He adds his current incite to the story he is telling and as the listener we are not sure how true any of the events are.

I enjoyed the story. I was glad it was short because the narrative style was difficult to connect with. I recommend this The Reluctant Fundamentalist audiobook or novel if you are looking for something that is a little off the beaten path.