Date Read: 23-Oct-2024
Recommendation: 4/5
Every Pakistani, Indian and American must read this book.
There are many layers in this light yet thought-provoking book.
I loved Mohsin’s unique one-sided narration style, which I had never read in any other book. Here is my fictitious attempt to give you an example.
Hello Sir, do you want tea?
No?
No problem. I hope you don’t mind if I order mine.
Oh you’re hungry?
Sorry, I should have asked you if you want to eat something.
In a Nutshell, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is about Changez, a young Pakistani boy who wants to live the American dream. He has it all.
The American degree from Princeton.
The lucrative American dollars and a great career path.
The possibility of an American wife.
Changez had everything until an inciting incident happened when he was in the Philippines on a work trip. The 9/11 attack event changed his entire course. However, what disturbed him most was not the vanishing of the Twin Towers. It was his sadistic pleasure and unexpected satisfaction with the terrorist act that brought America to her knees.
The September 11 attacks switched the fundamental paradigm within Changez’s heart and mind. I felt like the event turned on a patriotism mode in him. He starts growing a beard. People around New York started abusing him.
Mohsin’s attempt in the book was to convey the before-and-after timeline. I see there are three major timelines in the history of the human race.
- The world before B.C and A.D
- The world before 9/10 and after 9/11
- The world before COVID-19 and after COVID-19
On the other hand, his love, Erica, had grown in the past due to her ex-boyfriend. They had one failed attempt to have sex in his apartment. The second attempt almost failed until Changez asked her to pretend she was kissing Chris, her ex-boyfriend. They made love. However, the fundamental identity within Changez was again suppressed.
Changez’s mind shifts to the next gear when he senses fear of war between India and Pakistan due to a parliament attack in Delhi. He feels powerless, useless and handicapped when he boards the plane back to New York after visiting his parents in Pakistan.