Charlie Costello’s Reviews > The Reluctant Fundamentalist > Status Update
Charlie Costello
is on page 30 of 228
Something that piqued my curiosity while reading is why Changez takes the time to tell the American about his life story. While Changez’s story serves the reader by showing the Pakistani perspective of America I feel like Changez has an ulterior motive in telling the American his story. I think Changez purposely seeked him out with a goal in mind, maybe he is someone he knew from his time at Underwood and Samson.
— Jan 17, 2026 06:35PM
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Charlie’s Previous Updates
Charlie Costello
is on page 74 of 228
I was shocked when it was revealed that Changez took pleasure in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and I was surprised by how someone who has so far been very friendly could have this opinion. I think the reason that Changez thinks this is because, to him, America is a perfect place, so seeing such a violent attack gave him the perspective that this could happen to any country, which was a powerful message for him.
— 9 hours, 40 min ago
Charlie Costello
is on page 61 of 228
Something that I observed while reading is how comfortable Changez feels in New York before 9/11. After 9/11, Middle Eastern people were targeted in big communities like New York and I am curious how the author will display the change in atmosphere in a post 9/11 America. I am also curious how this fear and bigotry for Middle Easterners will affect Changez's relationship with Erica.
— Jan 18, 2026 06:43PM
Charlie Costello
is on page 25 of 228
I was curious about why Underwood and Sampson only selected 8 out of 100 of Princeton's top students for an interview. But during Changez's interview, the interviewer explains that being a top student is less important than the unique qualities of the applicant. I can relate to this in terms of applying to secondary school, as part of the advice we received was to highlight the attributes that make us unique.
— Jan 14, 2026 07:03PM
