The Reluctant Fundamentalist

By: Mohsin Hamid

Narrated by: Mohsin Hamid

Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize

A New York Times best seller

A Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year

A New York Times Notable Book

“Extreme times call for extreme reactions, extreme writing. Hamid has done something extraordinary with this novel.” (Washington Post)

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 encounter....

Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by an elite valuation firm. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance 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 relationship with Erica shifting. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.

©2007 Mohsin Hamid (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Captivated me from the first page.

Engrossing and perceptive, it grows deeper the more I reflect as a metaphor for the American psyche and it's interaction with the world.

Outstanding book

Really a heart rendering experience makes it more personal as author himself has narrated it. Author’s way of narrating an imaginary American visiting his country makes it more interesting.

A difficult start but left me thinking about it for days

I found the narrative device of hearing one-side of the protagonist’s conversation trying at first but I came to realize it was helpful in juxtaposing two cultures. As an immigrant I appreciated how the author relayed how our origins and perspectives influence our understanding of a place. After a certain point I became immersed in the story and it has stayed with me for days.

Beautiful and heart breaking!!

This book is beautifully written and incredibly thought out. It hurts my heart yet warms it. Makes me truly think about what I’m reading and puts me in the position he had to face.

Could not stop listening to this story.

Beautifully read. An engrossing story that really makes one pause to think about racial bias.

A fascinating story

I love to hear from the perspective of a Pakistani in America during 9/11. I listened straight through without stopping, it was that compelling. Beautifully written, beautifully performed.

Excellent

I’m not a paid reviewer and haven’t read Hamid’s other books thus cannot compare this to others he has written. “Reluctant Fundamentalist” is a masterpiece. I hung on every word of his monologue, the mystery, and brilliant story telling. I finished it much too quickly and will buy another of his books immediately. Hope I’m not disappointed.

Brilliantly comforting

I listened to this book while displaced from my home because of an ongoing war in my country, which I can't leave because my passport is stuck inside a "western" embassy I was applying to visit prior to the war, the "western" staff of the embassy were evacuated by their own army but didn't care to evacuate my passport, therefore leaving me to face my own army which they gladly funded.

Anyways, listening to Mohsin's story and voice at these times was comforting. Throughout the novel, I found solace in the exploration of how war shapes individuals, affecting their beliefs, values, and relationships. Changez's own conflicted feelings towards the West, the nation that once promised him success, mirrored my own complex emotions towards the "western" embassy that held my passport, leaving me feeling abandoned in a time of great need.

Beautiful throughout

This book, reading it today beautiful puts into perspective how the US is portrayed outside the walls of being an American, living in the US. How the damage we created in our pursuit of Osama Bin Laden impacted the world including a gifted student. As a first gen American, the author painted so vividly the lies we tell ourselves in order to fit in.

Lacking any plot

This book meanders with a stream of consciousness read in a monotonous fashion by the author
I really don’t have any positive recommendations about it