BookwormBy John Andrews
I have been reading so many good books recently that I really don’t know where to start my 2009 column. For example: do I start with Shantaram by Gregory Roberts? A beautifully-crafted true story of an Australian who escapes from prison in Melbourne and finds his way to Bombay, lives in the slums and establishes a free health clinic, works for the local mafia as a money-launderer and forger and then escapes from an Indian jail to work as a mercenary in Afghanistan.
Have no fear, I am not reviewing the book this month as it contains 933 pages and I know in these difficult times there are many readers who cannot devote themselves exclusively to the printed page.
I have chosen therefore a much more immediate read in the form of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, published by Penguin in 2007 in paperback; readers will be relieved to know that it contains only 209 pages.
Moshin Hamid was born and brought up in Lahore, Pakistan, and his novel is in some ways autobiographical in that he attended Princeton University and worked for many years in New York as a management consultant.
This is a cleverly-constructed tale of infatuation and eventual disenchantment, at all times highly engaging and genuinely provocative – particularly the references to America’s self-appointed role as the world’s policeman. This is a thoughtful and provocative novel and it is only a surprise to me that it did not win the Booker Prize in 2007, rather than merely being short-listed.
I am not going to divulge the story-line, as my wife constantly reminds me that I give too much away in my reviews; so just go with the flow, buy yourself a copy (to keep your local bookshop in business), sit back and in two days you will have become part of a very special literary event.