by Hanif Kureishi
Out of the books I ever had to read for a class, this one was among my favourite. I don't really know why. I just enjoyed it, even though it's not the kind of book I usually read.
I'm not a big fan of coming-of-age novels more generally, but I enjoyed this one more than I expected. Very funny and very English, and at the same time often absolutely insane. The prose could be a bit smoother or more polished in places, and the second half kind of sizzles out - Kureishi feels mu...
I picked this one up because it came recommended to me as a novel of place - that place being London in the 1970s. Having recently traveled to London, I felt drawn to dive into a novel in which the story was inextricable from its London setting. This one is that and more. My full review is over here...
Karim lives with his English mother and ex-pat Indian father. Until his father starts to attain some reputation as a wise Oriental in their suburban English neighbourhood. (I'm using Oriental intentionally, with the reference to Orientalism, the romanticization of the other, and the mishmash of diff...
I grew up in a place called Bromley, which is a sort of no-man's-land between London and Kent, and unclaimed by either. Nothing happens there: the main activities are adultery and backing out of Waitrose carpark. Its list of famous former residents is limited to HG Wells (blue plaque outside Argos) ...
Weird, dull and not funny. Turns out I really don't care about rebellious and unhappy teens trying to find themselves in the seventies.
I have recently read Turgenev’s Sketches from a Hunter’s Album, where he quotes an anecdote about a Frenchman who somehow got lost in Russia after Napoleon’s hasty retreat and after being captured by villagers ready to lynch him he was rescued by an aristocrat who was looking for a French and piano ...
3 Things about The Buddha of Suburbia:(1) i read this one because of my fondness for the movie My Beautiful Laundrette, which was written by this author. that movie was so generous, its characters so busy, its perspective so uncomplaining about unruly complicated messy awkward life. the book has tha...
This very well-loved copy fell into my hands through a scavenging adventure with my husband. I have always wanted to read My Beautiful Laundrette but have yet to pick it up, and this book is written by the same author. It's rare for me to enjoy a book with such a dislikable lead character. And it's ...
Log in with Facebook 
