Hanif Kureishi

Hanif Kureishi's first novel, the winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award in 1990.

The Buddha of Suburbia

The Buddha of suburbia

arwen

Bianca Layog

i just finished talking to my friend lara mae about this and i think that while this book had a few good moments (which i'm too tired to point out) i felt like it was overly focused on violence and sex and graphic content. it felt as if the writer was taking pleasure in writing about the grotesque so much that whatever point he was trying to make was snuffed out. & that's not to say that i think that every book needs to have a point. it's rare that i dislike a book this much, or give it such a harsh rating; a book is allowed to meander, it's allowed to exist as it is. it's allowed to be however experimental it wants to be. i just don't think that the so-called satire feels like satire anymore; it occasionally feels like an unpleasant exploitation of the struggles of those who are people of colour in britain. i don't think that i would've minded the sex--even its graphic nature--had it been more well-written, for one.

i think that the main reason i'm so unsatisfied by this novel is because of its imbalance, because that imbalance doesn't feel intentional in a generous way at all. i didn't need karim to be likeable. i didn't need him to be a good person. in fact, unlikeable characters can often be the best part about a story. this was just overall hard to follow, and at times felt propped up by exaggeration that didn't feel meaningful.

there were moments, again, that i appreciated; i will admit that good points were made about the way our society goes about life, that i found myself intrigued when karim grappled with his changing social class, that even better points were made about the exoticisation of POC, especially in the arts. i will say that i appreciated the strong female characters throughout the book, and that i thought the concept of the suburbs vs city was an interesting one. so it may be that this book just isn't for me. i don't think i missed anything, i just don't think that it struck me as particularly compelling beyond what's designed to be "flashy": sex, violence, foul language. i think we all take different things from books. as i reader, i think i wanted more and i didn't get that, and that's okay. at the end of the day, a book's value doesn't depend on one reader. i might read this again one day and realise its merit. for now, i'll settle with this review.

Jeff James

An interesting story about a young man coming of age in 1970s suburban London - deals with issues of sexuality, class, and race. I enjoyed this book, but it seemed a bit fluffy somehow, even though it dealt with serious issues. Maybe I'll check out the TV miniseries version.

Madeleine Crowther

carissa r

Tobias V. Langhoff

Nicholas Barnard

camila 

Laura Mauler

Shivani Charu

Elisabetta

Angie Lee

Ioana Kardos

The hero of Hanif Kureishi's debut novel is a dreamy teenager, desperate to escape suburban South London and experience the forbidden fruits that the 1970s seem to offer. When the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre announces itself, Karim starts to win the sort of attention he has been craving - albeit with some rude and raucous results.'One of the best comic novels of growing up, and one of the sharpest satires on race relations in this country that I've ever read.' Independent on Sunday'This is exactly the novel one hoped Hanif Kureishi would write: utterly irreverent and wildly improper, but also genuinely touching and truthful. And very funny indeed.' Salman Rushdie

Lia 

Alexander Lobov

Angbeen Abbas

Satty

Shameera Nair Lin

Irem

An anarchic coming-of-age novel that explores and celebrates Britain in the seventies.

The Buddha of Suburbia

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