About this title: In BRICK LANE, after an arranged marriage, Nazneen moves with her much older husband, Chanu, from Bangladesh to London, where over the years she manages to make a place for herself in spite of her husband's inability to cope. As she gains strength from raising two feisty daughters, taking a socially committed lover, and learning to make some money herself, she is able to oppose her ineffectual husband's decision to give up and go back to Bangladesh. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, BRICK LANE was also a New York Times Notable Book in 2003.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Scribner
Date Published: 2004-05-25
ISBN-13:9780743243315ISBN:0743243315
Description: Very Good. Some light shelf wear. In very good reading condition. Free Tracking number with every domestic order. Shipping notification with all orders. Daily shipping! ! ! read more
"At the risk of a wholly autobiographical review, I feel the need to introduce Monica Ali's Brick Lane with some personal back story. Since December of 2007, my reading was almost entirely confined to non-fiction of the historical/political variety. While interesting, it was also heavy and dry. I eschewed fiction beyond brief forays into a mystery or a romance. Then, in February of 2009, I picked up Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, anticipating the same enjoyment I felt while reading The Satanic Verses. However, I put the book down after ninety pages. To Rushdie's credit, the world he created was incredibly consuming. But I felt indignant about the care he lavished on the significance of the size of a character's nose when it could have been better utilized to effect change. Because I admire Rushdie's work so much, I realized the fault was mine and that I had so far distanced myself from the world of literary fiction that I had no idea when or if I could return.
Brick Lane was a wonderful return to literary fiction. The story centers on the relationships a Bangladeshi wife has with her family and neighbours after being transplanted to London. Ali uses carefully chosen adjectives to draw her character in mosaic: corns and yellowing toenails versus a gold chain snaking through a thicket of chest hair, for example. There is no attempt on the author's part to write a "great novel." However, since she tells her story with a simple and unassuming manner, one cannot help but get sucked into the tale. Though the drama is largely domestic and the main character sometimes maddeningly self-effacing, Monica Ali's Brick Lane is a wonderful book with which to return to the world of literature."
"Brick Lane is an interesting book. The central character, Nazneen is totally passive, almost too passive. It should be noted, however, that Monica Ali does a good job of setting up that passivity. From the very first page of the book, the reader is shown and told that Nazneen is passive, that she was raised to leave things to fate.
The problem with the passiveness of the central character is that it can make the book insufferable, you want her to do. It is here that I have to give Ali points. The bulk of the novel is told though the eyes of Nazneen and when it is not Nazneen we are hearing, it is her sister. Because of these characters and how they were raised, the reader must puzzle things out because the woman are silent on such issues. For instance, what exactly happened to Hasina when she left her first husband. Hasina never directly tells us, but an attentive reader knows. The same is true about Nazneen. It seems that though a good portion of the book Nazneen is heavily depressed. In fact, Ali does a very good job of conveying this, from the state of the house to the state of the food to relationships. This book thrives on the main characters not saying things, and having small details speak. Its interesting, and something I did not find annoying. In many ways, the book is about what takes place in silence.
Ali could also make Nazneen's husband Chanu into a brute of a man, but she doesn't. In fact, Chanu is a sympathetic and believable character. When Nazneen hurts him, we feel his pain even though we can understand why Nazneen chose to do what she did.
I'm not sure how accurately the book captures the London immigrant's experience, but it does display a good sense of time and space."
"Interesting look at the contemporary British Islamic immigrant experience. Was surprised (although I could have guessed sooner) about the love affair. I learned a little more about the experience of Islam as opposed to the mechanics, which is fascinating to me - because like any religion, there's doctrine and dogma, and then there's real life. The conflict about free will and the amount of control a person has over their own destiny certainly is an interesting one, and I found that the novel itself felt like it was "fated" - that the characters were rather static. It was a real thrill - albeit belated - when some real character development took place.
This was a sensual book. The descriptive detail was both delightful and disgusting. Nazneen's insistence on relating the state of her husband's corns, the way his hair oil works its way into the furniture as time passes, and the insistent reminder that the toilet doesn't flush right certainly got the point across. But the way she describes the cooking! Well, that makes all the slicing corns business worth it. After reading this book, I want to learn how to make a proper daal!"
"I know this book got a lot of good press, but I really wasn't that enchanted by it. I think that Monica Ali did a superb job in conveying the drabness of Nazneen's London world, her pompous and pitiful husband, and the narrowness of the society created by the Pakistani immigrants in the neighborhood...but I still didn't develop an affection or intimacy with any of the characters.
The tool of using letters from Nazneen's sister as a way of opening a window of fresh air into her stifling (is that spelled right? It looks funny. Where is spellcheck when you need it!!!) life was a good touch, but hardly original. (But this is Ali's first novel, I remind myself, which is one more than I have written, let alone published!)
One review I had read before reading the book likened Ali's main character to one of Jane Austen's women--trapped and smothered by a society that encourages her ignorance. All I can say is though I'm glad I read this, I'll stick to Jane!"
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