On 9/11...

Let me start this blog by saying that when 9/11 happened, I knew nothing of what was going on. In my defense, I had only just turned 10 and was more concerned by the fact that Pokemon wasn't on (boy, how little has changed). The world around me changed, indeed, but I honestly barely realised at the time. It is now, as a 19 year old, I only begin to know better.

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, and I was reminded of that fact in a book I read today - Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Hamid's book is a deceptively simple read. Picking it up for my English class (University of Queensland, ENGL2070 - Modern Classics, if anyone cares) in the bookstore today, I read about 1/3 of it while in line with students frantically buying up textbooks. And instantly, I was hooked.

Admittedly, the title was a little off-putting - looking at the reading list for the course, I instinctively flinched when I saw it. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Boy, that sounded like a barrel of laughs. Likely a massive tome on religion, no doubt an absolute struggle to read.

It may be a total cliche, but let it be said that I've never been happier to be proven wrong.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an evening encounter between you, Stereotypical American Businessman (specifically a man, I might add - buff, well dressed, hardly elaborated upon, because it's not your story), and Changez, the storyteller. This man has invited you to join him for tea in a Lahore cafe, and you agree - albeit a little reluctantly - as he begins to tell his life story. About he, as a young, intelligent man from Pakistan, got accepted in to a prestigious United States university. How he worked hard and was one of the top students, getting a job at Underwood Samson - an excellent opportunity for a student of finance. How he met Erica, the love of his life. It all sounds very romantic and idealistic...

...and then, on the eleventh of September, 2001, as the lights at the cafe begin to dim, the story begins to take a grim turn, as life becomes far less than rosy for our storyteller. The dichotomy between East and West becomes clear, the perfect life he had begins to fall apart...

What happens? Well, this is something you'll just have to read for yourself.

Like I said, though, I never quite understood 9/11 when it happened. I have little empathy for the characters in this book, but perhaps that is for the best. Regardless, even without that knowledge, I still appreciated this book and would highly recommend it. It is far from a complex read - indeed, it took me little over 2 hours to polish it off - and is thoroughly engaging. As Changez tells his story, you feel compelled to listen, to find out how it ends.

And how it ends is perhaps the most interesting part of the book.