The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
READ FOR BOOKERTHON
Over one night, a Pakistani man tells an American stranger about his love affair with a woman and his forced abandonment of America post 911.
⚈ “Changez is a Pakistani man living in New York at the time of the terror attacks on the World Trade Centre. The resulting chaos, especially for men of his ethnicity, causes Changez to abandon his wish to pursue the American Dream. With shifting beliefs and loyalties he rushes home home, experiencing ideological and political inner turmoil.
“Changez tells his thoughts and his story to an American he meets near a café in Lahore. An embedded narrative depicts a suspenseful and ill-fated relationship between Changez and the American as the motives of both men are slowly revealed.
As a society, you were unwilling to reflect upon the shared pain that united you with those who attacked you. You retreated into myths of your own difference, assumptions of your own superiority. And you acted out these beliefs on the stage of the world, so that the entire planet was rocked by the repercussions of your tantrums, not least my family, now facing war thousands of miles away.
⚈ “This is an honest portrayal of a Muslim man living in New York when the towers come down. It offers new insights into the tragedy and offers reactions and consequences that I had not previously considered. It is an eye-opening and thought-provoking story, written in a personable way, as if we, the reader, are the American he is speaking with. Great characters, great plot, great read.” – Rachel
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Published 2007
Mariner Books
228 pages
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