My Son the Fanatic

by Hanif Kureishi

Book Overview

Set in a northern industrial town, this screenplay presents the dismay experienced by a Pakistani father when his son rejects the material possessions and values he has slaved all his life for and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571192343
• ISBN13: 9780571192342
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 125 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The struggle for acceptance by an immigrant

My Son the fanatic is a short story of an immigrant from Pakistan. The underlying theme of this novel is the struggle of the asian immigrants face in an alien society which refuses to accept them, treat them as equals and the ways in which they deal with the alienation. There is a sharp contrast in the way Pervez and his son Farid deal with the sense of belonging and being a part of society. With all the compromises and loses Pervez suffers in his migration; he appears to take them as a part of his experience and adventure of life; to him it seems to be worth the price. He mentions how better his life has been in comparison to having stayed back. He refuses to acknowledge the cold behavior of the local British. His son Farid on the other hand seems to have considerable anger and is not disillusioned by the British cold behavior. He finds the society constraining, limiting and degrading and feels to be a victim in his country. Having been excluded he is tempted to exclude others. He finds comfort with his own people and gets attached towards Islam. Having been brought up in secular Britan , he would turn the to a form of belief that denies him the pleasure of society in which he lived. Having devoted his life to pleasure: the pleasure of sex, music, alcohol and friends; he detracts and spends time in abstinence; for in abstinence he felt strong.Hanif in his short novel has touched the conflicts a lot of asian families feel having migrated to a foreign country. He has outlined the characters brilliantly and this is most certainly a very entertaining novel to read.

The father son conflict

The story is boring and uninteresting for us.But the problem between father and son is described in much details,so that you can understand the family problem.

a conflict between father and son

I think, the story sounds very realistic. This make it interestant for the readers. The conflict between father and son, which is spoken about in the story, is not only a conflict because of religion it is although because of problems of teenager's growing up. In my opinion, reading this book could help parents and children to understand each other.

WHO IS THE FANATIC?

My oppinion is that this story shows the real life of many Father-Son-Relationships. In this story are shown many different Problems. For Example: Father-Son-Conflict,Problems for immigrants or living with an other culture. The story is written very good and I think many people can identify with this story. In Germany I think there are not so many people who know this Problems. This story can informate people about the problems which many other people have.

Growing up and intolerant parents

It is an interesting shortstory. It is a story about a father son conflict, about intolerant parents who try to force their will by exerting violence on someone.A big problem in this story is the contrast between western civilisation and the Islamic world and their religion. I think this story is a good example for problems like different religions, intolerance, growing up, family problems, conflicts, etc. An extreme situation is shown to learn from it and to draw attention to the problems of the readers. In my opinion it could be very helpful not to do the same mistake as Parvez, the father in the story, did.