Sophia C. reviewed on 2/19/2010 + 289 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

The Buddha of Suburbia is a fun book to read whilst traveling in the UK. The plot is simple, and even peters out a bit towards the end: dad leaves mom for another woman, change and growing up ensue. But throw in memorable characters, multicultural commentary, and BBC miniseries adaptation infamous for lots of sex, and it's no surprise Hanif Kureishi won the Whitbread / Costa Book prize in 1990 for this debut work. Karim, son of an English mother and Indian father, grew up in the dull comfort of a South London suburb until his father embraces his Oriental roots and assumes the title role. Involved in the transformation is an affair with Eva, which propels Karim into a different society populated with renegade theater directors, punk rock stars, and plenty of sexual possibility. Kureishi's touch is his ability to create vividly comical characters and situations which, instead of coming across as farcical, cleverly comments on race, class, identity in 1970s Britain. Supposedly this is the book on the 1001 books you must read before you die list that launched the multicultural British novel. Read it for amusement, not to check it off the list.

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