The Reluctant Fundamentalist

December 2009 Not sure I like the style of writing - written in such a way that the main character was talking the whole time to a stranger in a cafe telling the stranger a story. Did not like the ending.

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Ma tõesti ei oska sellest raamatust midagi arvata. Jutustamis-stiiliga harjusin lõpuks. Kuid lõpp jäi ebaselgeks. Kas vestluskaaslane oli tulnud teda tapma, kas kelner oli tulnud vestluskaaslast tapma? Kas kelner ja jutustaja olid omavahel seotud? Kui ma seda siin niimoodi kirjutan, siis saan tegelikult pihta küll. Ebakindlus ja teadmatus ongi need faktorid, mis raamatus pinget üleval hoiavad ja samas on need ka faktorid, mis iseloomustavad ida-lääne suhet. Ida ja lääne inimeste omavahelist pidevat kahtlustamist. Tundub, et see lugu ise polegi nii oluline kui just need vahepalad, mis mulle alguses närvidele käisid. Lugemine läks ladusalt.

... We spent this class sitting in a semi-circle around a soft-spoken instructor who looked like a librarian; Wainwright dubbed it our "Microsoft Family Time"

You will have noticed that the never districts of lahore are poorly suited to the needs of those who must walk. In the spaciousness—with their public parks and wide, tree-lined boulevards—they enforce an ancient hierarchy that comes to us from countryside: the superiority of the mounted man over the man on foot. But here, where we sit, and in the even older districts, that lie between us and the River Ravi—there congested, mazelike heart of the city—Lahore is more democratically urban. Indeed in these places it is the man with four wheels who is forced to dismount and become part of the crowd.

... She turned her head to the side and saw me staring at her. A number of possible alternatives presented themselves: I could suddenly avert my eyes, thereby proving not only that I had been staring but that I was uncomfortable with her nudity; I could, after a brief pause, casually move my gaze away, as though the sight of her breasts had been the most natural thing in the world; I could keep staring, honestly communicating in this way my admiration for what she had revealed; or I could, through well-timed literary allusion, draw her attention to the fact that there was a passage in Mr. Palomar that captured perfectly my dilemma.

Häirib, et monoloogi sisu järgi on jutustajaks noor mees aga tema stiil on vanamehelik. Kõiketeadja. Elus kõike näinud ja kogenud. Need vahepealsed põiked tänapäeva, teejoomise ja teemajas ning selle ümbruses toimuva juurde on häirivad. Eriti kuna vestluspartnerilt pole ühtegi repliiki. Et kaaslase vastused ning olek on toodud jutustaja teksti sees tundub kuidagi eriti pingutatuna : lk.5 "You seem worried. Do not be; this burly fellow is merely our waiter, and there is no need to reach under your jacket..." Ja lauseehitus. Kas keegi tõesti räägib nii, šeikspiirilikult? lk.22 "But mu cultural reference has fallen on deaf ears!"

Ma loodan, et edaspidine selgitab7põhjendab seda stiili.