Not so reluctant after all
Reading Mohsin Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" stimulated many thoughts and reactions. While the first half of the book is a delight to flip through, the author suffers a breakdown of sorts later. I am writing this while I still haven't finished the entire book. However, the author's depiction of a talented and well payed financial analyst's sudden conversion from just another talented and well payed financial analyst into a person who suddenly is blinded and hurt by the oppression America is enforcing on the world and in particular, Pakistan is so flawed that one is left wondering if the author ever studied geopolitical causes and effects with an objective eye.
The depiction of India and Pakistan being on the brink of war right after the attack on the Indian parliament is correct but the author's whining about America not supporting Pakistan's "government" during this crisis leaves me puzzled. Excuse me, but what government are we referring to? A general who takes over a country by force doesn't, according to my political science classes at least, constitute a government. Dictatorship is more the word the author was looking for. There are a few other instances where his dislike and hatred of America are illogically conveyed and a shade disturbing. If the author was trying to rationalize through this book why normal people are turning terrorists or adopting a fundamentalist stand point in light of America's bullying around the world, he has failed miserably.
On the other hand, Hamid's passages especially about Lahore leave me with a pleasant sensation...like the way one feels when an attractive girl walks past you in a busy area and you get a quick whiff of her perfume...the scent lingers and you walk on with a tiny & wistful smile. Hamid's Lahore is a place of warmth, bazaars, good people and great food. It makes me hope that there will be a time when I can buy a ticket and spend a few days in the city's markets, bazaars and streets.
I would recommend reading the book as, apart from a few shortcomings, his writing style is fluid and he captures & depicts situations with uncanny ease.
The depiction of India and Pakistan being on the brink of war right after the attack on the Indian parliament is correct but the author's whining about America not supporting Pakistan's "government" during this crisis leaves me puzzled. Excuse me, but what government are we referring to? A general who takes over a country by force doesn't, according to my political science classes at least, constitute a government. Dictatorship is more the word the author was looking for. There are a few other instances where his dislike and hatred of America are illogically conveyed and a shade disturbing. If the author was trying to rationalize through this book why normal people are turning terrorists or adopting a fundamentalist stand point in light of America's bullying around the world, he has failed miserably.
On the other hand, Hamid's passages especially about Lahore leave me with a pleasant sensation...like the way one feels when an attractive girl walks past you in a busy area and you get a quick whiff of her perfume...the scent lingers and you walk on with a tiny & wistful smile. Hamid's Lahore is a place of warmth, bazaars, good people and great food. It makes me hope that there will be a time when I can buy a ticket and spend a few days in the city's markets, bazaars and streets.
I would recommend reading the book as, apart from a few shortcomings, his writing style is fluid and he captures & depicts situations with uncanny ease.
Labels: books
posted by Abs @ 10/12/2007 10:42:00 AM
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