圖書標籤: 美國文學 美國 小說 VCE Mohsin Hamid 9/11 2007
发表于2024-11-22
The Reluctant Fundamentalist pdf epub mobi txt 電子書 下載 2024
Mohsin Hamid's first novel, Moth Smoke, dealt with the confluence of personal and political themes, and his second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, revisits that territory in the person of Changez, a young Pakistani. Told in a single monologue, the narrative never flags. Changez is by turns naive, sinister, unctuous, mildly threatening, overbearing, insulting, angry, resentful, and sad. He tells his story to a nameless, mysterious American who sits across from him at a Lahore cafe. Educated at Princeton, employed by a first-rate valuation firm, Changez was living the American dream, earning more money than he thought possible, caught up in the New York social scene and in love with a beautiful, wealthy, damaged girl. The romance is negligible; Erica is emotionally unavailable, endlessly grieving the death of her lifelong friend and boyfriend, Chris.
Changez is in Manila on 9/11 and sees the towers come down on TV. He tells the American, "...I smiled. Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased... I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees..." When he returns to New York, there is a palpable change in attitudes toward him, starting right at immigration. His name and his face render him suspect.
Ongoing trouble between Pakistan and India urge Changez to return home for a visit, despite his parents' advice to stay where he is. While there, he realizes that he has changed in a way that shames him. "I was struck at first by how shabby our house appeared... I was saddened to find it in such a state... This was where I came from... and it smacked of lowliness." He exorcises that feeling and once again appreciates his home for its "unmistakable personality and idiosyncratic charm." While at home, he lets his beard grow. Advised to shave it, even by his mother, he refuses. It will be his line in the sand, his statement about who he is. His company sends him to Chile for another business valuation; his mind filled with the troubles in Pakistan and the U.S. involvement with India that keeps the pressure on. His work and the money he earns have been overtaken by resentment of the United States and all it stands for.
Hamid's prose is filled with insight, subtly delivered: "I felt my age: an almost childlike twenty-two, rather than that permanent middle-age that attaches itself to the man who lives alone and supports himself by wearing a suit in a city not of his birth." In telling of the janissaries, Christian boys captured by Ottomans and trained to be soldiers in the Muslim Army, his Chilean host tells him: "The janissaries were always taken in childhood. It would have been far more difficult to devote themselves to their adopted empire, you see, if they had memories they could not forget." Changez cannot forget, and Hamid makes the reader understand that--and all that follows. --Valerie Ryan
A Conversation with Mohsin Hamid
Set in modern-day Pakistan, Mohsin Hamid's debut novel, Moth Smoke, went on to win awards and was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His bold new novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is a daring, fast-paced monologue of a young Pakistani man telling his life story to a mysterious American stranger. It's a controversial look at the dark side of the American Dream, exploring the aftermath of 9/11, international unease, and the dangerous pull of nostalgia. Amazon.com senior editor Brad Thomas Parsons shared an e-mail exchange with Mohsin Hamid to talk about his powerful new book
Read the Amazon.com Interview with Mohsin Hamid
莫欣·哈米德(1971— ),齣生於巴基斯坦第二大城市拉閤爾,後進入美國普林斯頓大學主修公共與國際事務,畢業後入哈佛大學法學院深造,一九九七年獲得法律博士學位。之後在紐約曼哈頓的財務管理公司擔任管理顧問。現居倫敦。
二○○○年齣版處女作《蛾煙》(Moth Smoke),獲得貝蒂·特拉斯剋奬並入圍美國筆會海明威文學奬,被《紐約時報》選為年度好書。二○○七年齣版《拉閤爾茶館的陌生人》,入圍布剋奬最終決選。
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評分very good
評分very good
評分American Dream的恐怖之處是真的把這種精神直接與America掛鉤,否則隻是個Idealism的Fundamentalist問題應該不會太大。
評分American Dream的恐怖之處是真的把這種精神直接與America掛鉤,否則隻是個Idealism的Fundamentalist問題應該不會太大。
很有趣的一本小说,当然也沉重,发人心省。 读完后不知怎么就想起了beyond的《光辉岁月》。 书中有很多映射和暗喻。 Changez对Erica的感情就暗喻世界上一些国家与美国的复杂关系,一时一个样。 Erica说变就变,难以捉摸。Changez对自身身份的思考和自己祖国的担忧等等也映射了...
評分很有趣的一本小说,当然也沉重,发人心省。 读完后不知怎么就想起了beyond的《光辉岁月》。 书中有很多映射和暗喻。 Changez对Erica的感情就暗喻世界上一些国家与美国的复杂关系,一时一个样。 Erica说变就变,难以捉摸。Changez对自身身份的思考和自己祖国的担忧等等也映射了...
評分 評分《拉合尔茶馆的陌生人》:于美国梦魇中化茧成蝶 范典/文 书很薄,份量却颇重,有一种简单的形式上的对照,同时,也使得故事的叙述在形式上体现了“戏剧性”。看似从一而终的个人絮叨,却有明确的叙述对象,及针对的目标。就像很多异乡人远离故土身置他国异域所要厘清的“身份...
評分The Reluctant Fundamentalist pdf epub mobi txt 電子書 下載 2024