Brick Lane: A Novel
3 journalers for this copy...
From Publishers Weekly
The immigrant world Ali chronicles in this penetrating, unsentimental debut has much in common with Zadie Smith's scrappy, multicultural London, though its sheltered protagonist rarely leaves her rundown East End apartment block where she is surrounded by fellow Bangladeshis. After a brief opening section set in East Pakistan-Nazneen's younger sister, the beautiful Hasina, elopes in a love marriage, and the quiet, plain Nazneen is married off to an older man-Ali begins a meticulous exploration of Nazneen's life in London, where her husband has taken her to live. Chanu fancies himself a frustrated intellectual and continually expounds upon the "tragedy of immigration" to his young wife (and anyone else who will listen), while letters from downtrodden Hasina provide a contrast to his idealized memories of Bangladesh. Nazneen, for her part, leads a relatively circumscribed life as a housewife and mother, and her experience of London in the 1980s and '90s is mostly indirect, through her children (rebellious Shahana and meek Bibi) and her variously assimilated neighbors. The realistic complexity of the characters is quietly stunning: Nazneen shrugs off her passivity at just the right moment, and the supporting cast-Chanu, the ineffectual patriarch; Nazneen's defiant and struggling neighbor, Razia (proud wearer of a Union Jack sweatshirt); and Karim, the foolish young Muslim radical with whom Nazneen eventually has an affair-are all richly drawn. By keeping the focus on their perceptions, Ali comments on larger issues of identity and assimilation without drawing undue attention to the fact, even gracefully working in September 11. Carefully observed and assured, the novel is free of pyrotechnics, its power residing in Ali's unsparing scrutiny of its hapless, hopeful protagonists.
The immigrant world Ali chronicles in this penetrating, unsentimental debut has much in common with Zadie Smith's scrappy, multicultural London, though its sheltered protagonist rarely leaves her rundown East End apartment block where she is surrounded by fellow Bangladeshis. After a brief opening section set in East Pakistan-Nazneen's younger sister, the beautiful Hasina, elopes in a love marriage, and the quiet, plain Nazneen is married off to an older man-Ali begins a meticulous exploration of Nazneen's life in London, where her husband has taken her to live. Chanu fancies himself a frustrated intellectual and continually expounds upon the "tragedy of immigration" to his young wife (and anyone else who will listen), while letters from downtrodden Hasina provide a contrast to his idealized memories of Bangladesh. Nazneen, for her part, leads a relatively circumscribed life as a housewife and mother, and her experience of London in the 1980s and '90s is mostly indirect, through her children (rebellious Shahana and meek Bibi) and her variously assimilated neighbors. The realistic complexity of the characters is quietly stunning: Nazneen shrugs off her passivity at just the right moment, and the supporting cast-Chanu, the ineffectual patriarch; Nazneen's defiant and struggling neighbor, Razia (proud wearer of a Union Jack sweatshirt); and Karim, the foolish young Muslim radical with whom Nazneen eventually has an affair-are all richly drawn. By keeping the focus on their perceptions, Ali comments on larger issues of identity and assimilation without drawing undue attention to the fact, even gracefully working in September 11. Carefully observed and assured, the novel is free of pyrotechnics, its power residing in Ali's unsparing scrutiny of its hapless, hopeful protagonists.
Journal Entry 2 by lolamarie at -- By Hand or Post, Ray/ring, Rabck in Tiburon, California USA on Thursday, November 30, 2006
Released 17 yrs ago (12/1/2006 UTC) at -- By Hand or Post, Ray/ring, Rabck in Tiburon, California USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
mailed out as a request from bookmooch.com...
mailed out as a request from bookmooch.com...
This book arrived safe and sound in Buffalo, NY today.
I actually mooched this copy of Brick Lane for my sister-in-law since it is on her wishlist, a sneaky little surprise for her on her birthday.
I read Brick Lane earlier this year. Here's what I wrote about it at that time:
I can understand why this book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I'm amazed, though, that this was the authors debut novel. What an achievement!
Ali explores universal themes on a very personal level. The driving force of the novel, the protagonist, Nazneen, is fully realized and sympathetic.
The novel has a certain weight and urgency, which makes it all the more readable.
The novel seems to drag at times, but I guess that is to be expected in literary fiction.
This is one of my favorite passages:
"How had it happened? It was as if she had woken one day to find that she had become a collector, guardian of a great archive of secrets, without the faintest knowledge of how she had got started or how her collection has grown" (313).
I also loved the ending. (from the journal for this copy)
I actually mooched this copy of Brick Lane for my sister-in-law since it is on her wishlist, a sneaky little surprise for her on her birthday.
I read Brick Lane earlier this year. Here's what I wrote about it at that time:
I can understand why this book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I'm amazed, though, that this was the authors debut novel. What an achievement!
Ali explores universal themes on a very personal level. The driving force of the novel, the protagonist, Nazneen, is fully realized and sympathetic.
The novel has a certain weight and urgency, which makes it all the more readable.
The novel seems to drag at times, but I guess that is to be expected in literary fiction.
This is one of my favorite passages:
"How had it happened? It was as if she had woken one day to find that she had become a collector, guardian of a great archive of secrets, without the faintest knowledge of how she had got started or how her collection has grown" (313).
I also loved the ending. (from the journal for this copy)
This book was sent to my forever ago by morsecode! I am hoping it finds a good home on here! I loved it and it is very different then my normal reading type and I greatly enjoyed reading a book that looked at worlds outside of my own. The conflict of the western world and the traditions/religous lives of immigants was a great read.
