I'm glad I waited a few days to write this review; if I had written it immediately after I finished reading, I probably would have given it a much more glowing review. TRF is a book that hits you hard immediately after you've read it, then it slowly fades from your consciousness. The plot was pretty solid, but the word choice was mediocre at best. I do, however, appreciate Hamid's rather clever play on the word "fundamentalist."

Despite our similarities, I simply couldn't connect with Changez. We have a lot in common: we're both outsiders in our respective worlds, and we are doing are best to succeed while simultaneously flying under the radar. Changez, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, bothered me. He wanted Erica, though he couldn't have her. He claimed to understand her reasons for needing to be alone, but to me, the reader, he didn't seem to understand anything at all. It was as if he wanted pity or understanding from the listener about his conflict of interests and his somewhat confused identity, but I felt nothing for him.

TRF is a decent book, but I'd only recommend it for a first read. It's not something I'd reread.