The Reluctant Fundamentalist (edit title)

• Rated 3 stars

“Changez is a Princeton-educated Pakistani man who had been employed in America. Sitting at a cafe in Lahore, Changez narrates his experiences to an American stranger, often noting the differences between his native land and the country where he was educated, had lived and worked. The narrative is in the second person: the reader plays the role of the American stranger. I liked the style of narration, though at times I felt it could have been cut a bit short to avoid boredom. Overall, a good book, an enjoyable read.”

• Rated 3 stars

“OK, interesting point of narration, protagionist speaking to an American at a cafe in Lahore, Pakistan all during one day.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Good one...A bit boring in parts though.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Good for a quick read but the ending was a disappointment.

I don't know I expected a dramatic ending but all I got was, WHAT IS THAT IT!!!”

• Rated 4 stars

“Really enjoyed. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“Story of a man from Pakistan who comes to the U.S. for college, stays to work in NY and falls in love, but becomes disillusioned by the U.S. reaction to 9-11. Shows what it's like to feel torn betwen two countries/cultures, esp. in our current political climate.”

• Rated 4 stars

“This book seduces with a unique writing style which is unlike any other that I have read before...an eye opener into English writing...its a thriller, a romantic novel, one dealing with the acquisition and loss of identity at the same time and so much more...it offers 'an experience' to the readers, not just a story.”

• Rated 4 stars

“A quiet fable. It does not grab you by the throat and demand to be read but is strangely compelling, leading you on.”

• Rated 3 stars

“This book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize but I reckon that was only for the shock value of rhte title or because numerous Mulsims got together and voted it in somehow. It was only OK for me. It was written in the first person as half of a dialogue between Changez, a Pakistani and an unnamed American in Pakistan. It's a bit overblown linguistically: I got fed up with the syntax which I think was supposed to denote something foreign and poetic and kept wishing it would change.

It took me a while to get through as a result. Ultimately it isn't a story about a man who becomes a fundamentalist or even about terrorists. Changez leaves Lahore, goes to Princeton to study business, is headhunted by a firm of business analysts, watches the Twin Towers attack and then changes his view of himself and the world Although American, Pakistani and Indian foreign affairs are mentioned, they aren't the main issue. There were comments by the author Philip Pullman printed on the jacker, but I think he missed the point.

The story is about identity, and how it can become misplaced. Changez loses is original identity in the process of becoming a businessman living in America and slowly rediscovers it through anger, despair and a change in how he views the world around him. Along the way he meets Erica, who is trapped in a prolonged bereavement reaction and flits in and out of reality until she fnally succumbs to the latter. This is, in spite of its literary failings, a fine study of a certain type of chronic mental illness, which used to be called "melancholia", which is a much better word to describe pervasive sadness than depression. ”