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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

By: Mohsin Hamid
Narrated by: Mohsin Hamid
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Reluctant Fundamentalist written and read by Mohsin Hamid.

'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 . . .

'Masterful . . . A poignant love story and a thriller that subtly ratchets up the nerve-jangling tension towards an explosive ending' Metro

 Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Science Fiction Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

A profoundly contemporary story about civil wars, unstable countries and refugees pouring to the cities of the West... beautifully written, with the ghost of Camus hovering at the edge of the frame
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Great story merging a young man's thwarted love affair with a young woman doomed by the death of her first and only live, a childhood sweetheart, with the story of his dissallusionment with his work, with America and its ethics, compounded by time and place and culture. Excellently read by the author whose clear flowing writing style is very suited to the confessional nature of how this story is told.

Extraordinarily brilliant

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when 9/11 happened we thought of the horror committed by Ai Qaeda , we never thought of the horrors Americans would commit to Americanised Pakistanis. A thought provoking book from the other side of the fence.

the view of american by an educated Pakistani

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I loved this book. It is on my son's IB 6th form syllabus and i listened to it to help him! what a treat! beautifully written and thought provoking with he parallels throughout the novel. wonderfully narrated too.

beautiful

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I liked the story of the relationship of the protagonist and the fact that he was telling it to someone we didn’t know. The air of menace and mystery was a clever technique. Unfortunately, the way it is read on Audible completely detracts from the book itself. Sad, as it is a good book that read with no feeling.

Interesting and complex

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Hearing this ,felt to me ,like I really was sitting close by whilst the story in the book was actually happening. I’ve never experienced anything like that before and so I truly thank the writer/narrator for it all ...

Amazing and spellbinding

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