The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Book Review

The international best-selling book, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," is beautifully written by a Pakistani writer, Mohsin Hamid. It has secured applause from writers and the academy as a brilliant book. It consists of events and memories written in such a way that once you start reading, your curiosity to know the end of the story accelerates with each turning page. The writer, who mentions himself as Changez, is a citizen of Lahore, Pakistan. He belongs to a middle-class family in Pakistan. At the age of 16, he was admitted to Princeton University in America and studied Finance and Accounting. His dream came true when he got admission to Princeton University.

He graduated at the age of 22 and got a job at a reputable supply chain firm in the United States. Meanwhile, he also mentioned his experience of love with an American girl named Erica, who entered his life and inevitably stayed in his life. Along with these, he mentioned his experiences of the World Trade Center attacks and discrimination, and insecurity as a Pakistani.  Furthermore, Erica's mental health due to the loss of her boyfriend and her attitude towards him at different times made him insecure in his life. India and Pakistan's hostilities due to terrorist attacks in Mumbai created a situation of war between both countries, and he was very much concerned about his family in Pakistan.

The writer has amazingly demonstrated this whole story with a conversation he begins with an American tourist in Anarkali, Lahore. This talk started with the phrase “Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my bread. I am a lover of America.” The writer told his experiences to the tourists having famous tea in Anarkali, Lahore. 

His life in America was well off; he had good financial security, and he was in love with an American girl. But everything changed drastically when he learned the miseries of his country and the brutalities the Americans were committing in the world. All these events eventually affected his life in the US, and that compelled him to leave America. He resigned from his job and called Erica to say goodbye, but she did not respond. He managed to visit her home and found that she had passed and committed suicide when he last met with her.

He came back to Pakistan and he appointed as a professor in a university. He started campaigns to resist the war and conflicts between India and Pakistan. He had become more famous with every passing day, and eventually, he came to know that International agencies and countries were trying to put hurdles in his path. Owing to threats and hostilities, he stopped his movement, remained silent, and started living a simple life like a simple citizen of Pakistan.

Moshin Hamid