A young Pakistani, Changez, meets a US American in Lahore and tells him about his old, "successful" life in the USA - until 9/11, which changed everthing. Suddenly he had to choose sides. (Quelle: Buchdeckel verso).

The New York Times bestselling novel, Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Funamentalist is brilliant and powerful, and now a major motion picture! The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the story of Changez, a young, Princeton-educated Pakistani who goes on to work at a prestigious financial analysis firm in New York City and falls in love with a woman from the upper echelons of New York society. He seems to have achieved the American dream--until 9/11 devastates the city. As the woman and city he loves suffer from new wounds and old scars, Changez finds that his place in society had shifted. With the world seemingly crumbling in front of him, Changez must decide where his true loyalties lie--with his adopted country or his homeland.

At A CafÉ Table In Lahore, A Bearded Pakistani Man Converses With An American Stranger. As Dusk Deepens To Dark, He Begins The Tale That Has Brought Him To This Fateful Meeting . . . Among The Brightest And Best Of His Graduating Class At Princeton,Changez Is Snapped Up By Underwood And Samson, An Elite Firm Thatspecializes In &Lsquo;Valuation&Rsquo; Of Companies Ripe For Acquisition. He Thriveson New York And The Intensity Of His Work, And His Infatuation Withthe Beautiful Erica Promises Entry Into Manhattan Society At The Sameexalted Level Once Occupied By His Own Family Back In Lahore. But Inthe Wake Of September 11, He Finds His Position In The City He Lovessuddenly Overturned, And His Budding Relationship With Erica Eclipsedby The Reawakened Ghosts Of Her Past. And Changez&Rsquo;S Own Identity Isin Seismic Shift As Well, Unearthing Allegiances More Fundamental Thanmoney, Power, And Perhaps Even Love. The Reluctant Fundamentalist Is A Riveting And Devastating Exploration Of Our Divided And Yet Ultimately Indivisible World, Withechoes Of Fitzgerald And Camus. &Lsquo;Mohsin Hamid&Rsquo;S Exceptionally Taut And Gripping Novel Gently Explores The Fault Lines Between The American West And The Islamic East. Hamid Seems To Have Pulled Off The Near Impossible. This Is A Meditative Novel Written In An Introspective Manner&Hellip;But This Is Also A Deeply Suspenseful Work, The Sense Of Anticipation Heightened By Hamid&Rsquo;S Wonderful Use Of Restraint&Rsquo;&Mdash;Mukund Padmanabhan In The Hindu &Lsquo;A Brilliant Book. With Spooky Restraint And Masterful Control, Hamid Unpicks The Underpinnings Of The Most Recent Episode Of Distrust Between East And West. But His Book Does Not Merely Excel In Capturing A Developing Bitterness. The Narrative Is Balanced By A Love As Powerful As The Sinister Forces Gathering, Even When It Recedes Into A Phantom Of Hope. It Is This Balance, And The Constant Negotiation Of The Political With The Personal, That Creates A Nuanced And Complex Portrait Of A Reluctant Fundamentalist&Rsquo;&Mdash;Kiran Desai, Author Of The Inheritance Of Loss &Lsquo;A Quietly Told, Cleverly Constructed Fable Of Infatuation And Disenchantment With America&Hellip;Astute Cultural Observation At Which Hamid Excels. An Intelligent, Highly Engaging Piece Of Work&Rsquo;&Mdash; James Lasdun In The Guardian

"Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson. 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 eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez's own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love"--Jacket

Based on the bestselling novel by Mohsin Hamid Internationally acclaimed director Mira Nair offers the reader an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into the creation of her most ambitious film yet: The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Covering every aspect of the film-making process, this magnificently designed film book comprises an incredible array of images as well as short essays by those involved in the film-making process. Mira Nair discusses how the novel was turned into a screenplay; Mohsin Hamid reminisces about his first experience on a film set; production designer Michael Carlin recounts the thrill of transforming Old Delhi into contemporary Lahore; lead actor Riz Ahmed reveals how he got under the skin of his character Changez; and editor Shimit Amin demystifies some of his tricks on the editing table. This book also features a series of gorgeous black-and-white photographs by celebrated photographer Brigitte Lacombe.

The Man Booker-shortlisted, thrillingly provocative international bestseller - adapted to a major motion picture starring Kiefer Sutherland - from the author of Exit West 'Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard. I am a lover of America . . . ' So speaks the mysterious stranger at a Lahore cafe as dusk settles. Invited to join him for tea, you learn his name and what led this speaker of immaculate English to seek you out. For he is more worldy than you might expect; better travelled and better educated. He knows the West better than you do. And as he tells you his story, of how he embraced the Western dream -- and a Western woman -- and how both betrayed him, so the night darkens. Then the true reason for your meeting becomes abundantly clear . . . Challenging, mysterious and thrillingly tense, Mohsin Hamid's masterly The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a vital read teeming with questions and ideas about some of the most pressing issues of today's globalised, fractured world.

Insight Study Guides are written by experts and cover a range of popular literature, plays and films. Designed to provide insight and an overview about each text for students and teachers, these guides endeavor to develop knowledge and understanding rather than just provide answers and summaries.

ABOUT THE BOOK “I wonder now, sir, whether I believed at all in the firmness of the foundations of the new life I was attempting to construct for myself in New York.” Americans remember where they were on September 11, 2001, a day that has become a permanent fixture in the calendar. As retaliation for the attack the US launched a war in Afghanistan called “Operation Enduring Freedom” with the goal of dismantling the Taliban. Currently, the Afghanistan war has become America's longest war, even longer than the war in Vietnam. Given the duration of the war and how it began, it is surprising to note that many people in Afghanistan don’t know why the war started. Considering that 42% of the population is under 14 and that 72% is illiterate, it’s not surprising that this event doesn’t register. In addition the scarcity of electricity, also explains ignorance of the event American “foreigners” call September 11th. As a result most people from Afghanistan don’t understand why the U.S. invaded their country, causing more than than 12,000 civilian deaths since the war started. The disparity of the two worldviews continues to contribute to the tensions between the two countries. Similarly, the average American knows very little about the Afghani people and the politics of this area. In an Angus Reid Public Opinion Poll half of American respondents said they don’t understand what the war in Afghanistan is about. One of the reasons for this might be because the U.S. media doesn’t focus on this war as much as on the Kardashians. This tension and lack of understanding creates a perfect opening for The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamad to educate Americans about the other side. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is about a Pakistani living in New York who reevaluates his successful American life after the September 11 attacks. The book’s main advantage is that it is so topical. Given the heavy involvement of the U.S. in the Middle East, as well as neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan, it seems no region is more important to American welfare. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK “Students like me were given visas and scholarships, complete financial aid, mind you and invited into the ranks of the meritocracy. In return we were expected to contribute our talents to your society, the society we were joining. And for the most part we were happy to do so. I certainly was, at least at first.” (pg.4) It is worth describing the author’s background, which can be found on his website, because it bears many similarities to the main character of the novel, Changez. From the ages of 9 to 18, the author lived in Lahore, Pakistan. Hamid studied at Princeton University and graduated summa cum laude. He then went Harvard Law School. Upon graduation he got a job at the elite McKinsey and Company and used his free time to complete his first novel. This novel, Moth Smoke, took seven years to complete, but became a bestseller in India and Pakistan. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is his second book and also took seven years to complete. On BBC Radio Hamid explains that the reason it took him so long to write both books is that he is figuring them out as he writes them. Quicklet on Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the story of Changez who comes from Pakistan to study at Princeton University. At Princeton he excels and is rewarded with a job at the prestigious valuation firm “Ultrawood Samson.” He uses his sign on bonus to pay for a trip to Greece with his classmates. In Greece he falls in love with an all American girl named Erica. He is attracted to her beauty and she is attracted to his old fashioned manners. As he gets to know her Changez finds out that her ex boyfriend, Chris, died of lung cancer a year earlier.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is more than the usual immigrant book of adaptation, struggle, and identity. It is the gripping tale of a young man who comes to America from Pakistan just prior to 9/11. The protagonist, Changez, is a Harvard educated businessman who works for a high-profile company that assesses the economic value of other companies. Changez is very successful in his chosen career, but then September 11 happens and everything changes. The setting is Lahore, Pakistan and the tale is told by one narrator, that of Changez, as he speaks to a nameless and faceless American tourist. The narration takes place in the span of a single evening, in fact, during a single meal, and Hamid manages to swing the reader on a pendulum of conflicting emotions and thoughts. The Bookclub-in-a-Box guide explores a number of important questions: who is this nameless American and why is he in Pakistan; how can one person have equal love for two countries that are at odds with each other in culture and outlook; how does such a person come to terms with his two worlds; and what is the significance of the word “reluctant” in the novel’s title, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Every Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide also includes complete coverage of the themes and symbols, writing style and interesting background information on the novel and the author.

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2016 in the subject American Studies - Literature, , language: English, abstract: The focus of this paper is the plight the Muslims of the world, especially those living in America, face due to religious discriminations. This discrimination is the result of the religious profiling of the media and the institutions which are working to spread the ideology of the West to the rest of the world. Everything is under their control so they manipulate the facts. Many Asian writers have tried to portray the true picture of the scene but it remains a great crisis need to be resolved. This paper will examine the core issues resulting from the religious profiling with the references from the novel "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", written by Mohsin Hamid in the context of post-9/11 milieu of the world, especially about the dealing with the Muslims.

Engaging Terror: A Critical and Interdisciplinary Approach is a collection of select extended papers drawn from The Human Condition Series (THCS) conference on Terror that took place in May, 2008. The international scope of the conference drew participants from twenty-three countries including Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, France, Israel, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The thirty-five essays presented here are a representative sample of the interdisciplinary discussion which sought to analyze popular concepts like 'terrorism' and 'terrorist' as social, political, and psychosocial phenomena. Engaging Terror seeks to reveal the diverse forms of terror that persist in contemporary societies. For instance, cultural forms such as the fine arts, film, literature, mass media, religion, and market economy continue to define and limit rationality and freedom through institutionalized forms of terror. In this way, terror shapes our experiences not only through the politics of nation-building and international relations, but also through the social and ideological production of fear in everyday life. Topics covered in this volume include the representation and production of terror from a multiplicity of sites, ranging from mental health practices and organized religion, to news coverage and musical scores. This book will appeal to both scholars and general readers interested in how seemingly benign forms of terror shape and maintain the contemporary human condition. Reaching beyond mainstream studies on terror as simply an international political phenomenon, this interdisciplinary collection of work multiplies the fields of critical research to broaden the scope of analysis and fundamentally challenge the state of modernity.

Terror and the Postcolonial is a major comparative study of terrorism and its representations in postcolonial theory, literature, and culture. A ground-breaking study addressing and theorizing the relationship between postcolonial studies, colonial history, and terrorism through a series of contemporary and historical case studies from various postcolonial contexts Critically analyzes the figuration of terrorism in a variety of postcolonial literary texts from South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East Raises the subject of terror as both an expression of globalization and a postcolonial product Features key essays by well-known theorists, such as Robert J. C. Young, Derek Gregory, and Achille Mbembe, and Vron Ware

This volume collects work by several European, North American, and Australian academics who are interested in examining the performance and transmission of post-traumatic memory in the contemporary United States. The contributors depart from the interpretation of trauma as a unique exceptional event that shatters all systems of representation, as seen in the writing of early trauma theorists like Cathy Caruth, Shoshana Felman, and Dominick LaCapra. Rather, the chapters in this collection are in conversation with more recent readings of trauma such as Michael Rothberg’s “multidirectional memory” (2009), the role of mediation and remediation in the dynamics of cultural memory (Astrid Erll, 2012; Aleida Assman, 2011), and Stef Craps’ focus on “postcolonial witnessing” and its cross-cultural dimension (2013). The corpus of post-traumatic narratives under discussion includes fiction, diaries, memoirs, films, visual narratives, and oral testimonies. A complicated dialogue between various and sometimes conflicting narratives is thus generated and examined along four main lines in this volume: trauma in the context of “multidirectional memory”; the representation of trauma in autobiographical texts; the dynamic of public forms of national commemoration; and the problematic instantiation of 9/11 as a traumatic landmark.

Wissenschaftlicher Aufsatz aus dem Jahr 2013 im Fachbereich Soziologie - Individuum, Gruppe, Gesellschaft, , Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The focus of this research paper is to stimulate as well as evoke the study of theoretical underpinning of hybridity and identity crisis in The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. In addition, the research also draws upon Homi K Bhabhas's concept of hybridity to trace their connection .The findings of this research throw light upon the interwoven pattern of hybridity and identity crisis. Thus, novelists exposed and expressed the conditions of identity Crises that emerged in postcolonial period. According to Oxford English dictionary; identity is defined as “The identification of an individual or a group or a nation in postcolonial terms as one notice easily is linked to the "other", that means they recognize themselves "us" with the existence of the "other". Otherness is a feature to recognize identity in postcolonial era in which also means it is twofold, "both identity and difference, so that every other, every different than and excluded by is dialectically created and includes the values and meaning of the colonizing culture even as it rejects its power to define".