This was the first novel by Kureishi that I
read, as I prepared to meet him for the literary festival I already mentioned
in one of my previous posts. I already knew him as the excellent scriptwriter
of My Beautiful Laundrette, and also because
of the giant picture of him on the walls of King’s College London, but this
novel made me discover him as one of the great writers of his generation.
The Buddha of Suburbia
is a wonderful rock’n’roll
bildungsroman, with Karim (the main character) finding his way as well as his
identity (he is “an Englishman born and bred, almost”). I’m not quite sure how
much this novel can appeal to someone not from London (my few Italian friends
who read the book have mixed opinions about it), but for someone like me
(divided between cultures, in love with the city, and constantly looking for
new musical and literary input) this novel is simply great.
And it’s not just about Karim, the actual
Buddha of Suburbia (Karim’s father) is as good a minor character as it gets, profiting
financially from the mystic thirst of vacuous rich Brits – something that just
makes me so very happy.
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