Last year, I have written an amateurish review of the Reluctant Fundamentalist movie. It mesmerized me so much that I had wanted to read the book that inspired it until recently, I was able to get my hands on the book.
As mesmerizing as the movie, the book was a strong voice of someone almost directly damaged by the 9/11 tragedy - that is, Changez's voice. The narration was so sophisticated - that of a well-educated man with high culture - and it made me rethink my first impression of the movie. For a moment, I almost thought the movie was a vulgar interpretation of the book. What I meant by vulgar was that the movie has failed to bring the rich and sophisticated voice Changez had. It turned him into another immigrant pursuing his American dream. The very culture Changez brought with him wasn't felt. But that's the thing with interpretation; it depends on each person. I just happen to have different interpretation with the director of the movie.
By mentioning that, I have shown you how I feel toward the book. It awed me. But then again, I'm a book-person, so you can tell I'm a bit biased (for someone who discussed adaptation theory in her thesis, I have to admit the sin of comparing the book and the movie to find the better one is unforgivable - but please do! This is, after all, my preference. I will not do such thing were I to compare them in analytical term).
On the other hand, I realized many interesting things in the book, such as the possibility that Erica was the symbol of America, and so Changez's relationship with Erica symbolized his relationship with America. When I watched the movie, I was quite confused to relate the two relationships. The book gave better illustrations. The simultaneous recollections of the relationship with Erica and America was clear when it was shown that Erica suffered from severe nostalgia regarding her relationship with Chris. What followed was an explanation of how America seemed to have gone back to its postwar condition with the patriotism and devotion after the 9/11. (Considering this, the way Erica used Changez as her model/art object in the movie might meant that that was how America treated the Pakistanis after the tragedy: as something distant, something observable, displayed in the name of preservation. Erica in the movie, after all, seemed to have wanted to preserve her relationship with Changez.)
Another thing I realized is the significance of beard (outer appearance) of a certain race. I have read an analysis on Reluctant Fundamentalist about how beard has something to do with forming your identity, not just a facial accessory. It's a blessing that the world today seemed to not consider outer appearance as a matter so huge. . . since things like prejudice and stereotyping are now our concern (or could it be that I'm naive? After all, I don't live in America.)
I will not go deeper into this; I'm sure someone has analyze it somewhere (or if no one has, I would explain it properly in my analysis later). All in all, the book is great and it affects me so much, both in the content and the writing style. As a person whose dream is to be a writer, Mohsin Hamid's writing style is one of those I wish to be able to use (another one is Hamka's). Who knows I might write a novel about Indonesia in such a sophisticated and rich tone?
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