THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA by Hanif Kureishi (hier online bestellen)
The story:
The Buddha of Suburbia deals, just like some other books of the author Hanif Kureishi, with the problems
of Indians, growing up and living in England. The teenager Karim lives with his parents and his younger brother
in a London suburb. His father Haroon is an Indian and believes in Buddhism, that's why he hosts
'Buddha-Meetings' to share his knowledge with others, i.e. friends and relatives. But the more
Haroon becomes involved in between two cultures, the larger becomes the gap to his family. Karim is
the one who has to make important decisions in order to find his way through the suburbs and set up
his identity. His life turns, when he gets the opportunity to play in a theatre as an actor. The
Buddha of Suburbia is a very funny book that tries to give the reader a chance to share the feelings of
Karim, who wants to find a balance between his life in London and his traditional roots in India.
Extracts from book:
The setting is England between in the 1980s and 90s.
This is a period after the surge of immigrants to Britain from the 1950s and 60s from the New Commonwealth
countries: West Indies, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who came in search of a better life in a thriving
economy, for the hope of finding employment and success through the superior education system. Also purely
for the prestige that is automatically attached onto them for living in the United Kingdom, especially in
London, Birmingham and Bradford.
" ... Dad was sent to England by his family to be educated ... Like Gandhi and Jinnah before him,
Dad would return to India a qualified and polished English gentleman lawyer and an accomplished
ballroom dancer."
....
In 'The Buddha of Suburbia', Karim is restricted from seeing his friend Helen by her father:
" ... 'We don't like it,' Hairy Back said. 'However many niggers there are, we don't like it. We're with
Enoch. If you put one of your black 'ands near my daughter I'll smash it with a 'ammer! With a 'ammer!' "
....
" ... Perhaps it is the odd mixture of continents and blood, of here and there, of belonging and not,
that makes me restless and easily bored ... I was looking for trouble, any kind of movement, action and
sexual interest I could find."
About the author:
Born in 1954, Hanif Kureishi's mother was English and his father an immigrant from Bombay who had come to complete
his education in the 'Mother Country' and never returned. The rest of his father's family, who were Muslims, moved to Pakistan
after the partition of India had made their situation dangerous in a predominantly Hindu country. When Kureishi grew up in
south London, he experienced racial prejudice. He noticed that his white neighbours shifted from tolerance and fairness towards
disdain and hostility. Society in the 1980s was changing to the worse in respect of human virtues.
Buchdaten:
THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA by Hanif Kureishi
Sprache: Englisch
Taschenbuch - 288 Seiten - Penguin Books
Erscheinungsdatum: Mai 1991
ISBN: 014013168X
Preis: € 13,31
More works from the same author:
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