The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
I bought this book up because I wanted to read something different – ie, not a thriller and not YA fiction. When I picked it up I was hooked right away by the way the novel is written to the reader, as though you are the other character in the story. What follows is a lengthy monologue about the life of the MC and his experiences and opinions of the West before and after 9/11.
The book gives a fabulous insight into how a single character’s views of Western society change from adoration to pity, from admiration to revulsion. I have read a few reviews of this novel and can’t help wonder why no one else has mentioned the most admirable feature: Mohsin Hamid has created a character who is fascinating and believable to a degree that despite his open, honest persona, is not entirely trustworthy. James Lasdun, in the Guardian, came close saying, ‘The nature of fiction is to make one distrustful of any character who lectures and castigates.’ For me, that was the point – there there is something a little too honest this character; something that made me, as a reader, begin to question his story. And when I got to the final scenes, I found that line of thought justified. If that was the author’s intention, then it was spot on and very well played.
The style is simplistic, even poetic; colourful, but not verbose. It makes reading very easy and pleasurable. Unlike the average thriller, I didn’t feel like I was rushing to get somewhere. But on finishing the novel I was left a little disappointed. It wasn’t that the ending was unexpected, because it wasn’t, but it didn’t match the pace of the rest of the novel. Then again, it might be because I would have been more than happy to read on for another 200 pages.
No comments:
Post a Comment