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Monica Ali: Brick Lane

Ell

Ell

Well-Known Member
Just finished this Man Booker finalist.

I was really looking forward to reading it, however, was rather disappointed. Not that it was bad, just that the main character, Nazneen, didn't capture me emotionally. I found this odd, given the storyline: Young Bangladeshi village girl, sent to London in a pre-arranged marriage to a much older man, her struggles in a new culture, etc, etc.

In the end,
I felt more empathy for her husband, Chanu. He lost everything he had hoped and dreamed for.

Has anyone else read "Brick Lane"? Your thoughts?
 
Murphy, in another thread (which I can't find now), I think you asked me to let you know if BL is worth reading. Well, yes and no - depends on your expectations.

As I said, above, I was disappointed. I was expecting something with more emotional punch. I think Ali does a good job of describing the minutiae of the main character's daily life and does give the reader insight into the Bangladeshi/Muslim culture. But for me, the main ingredient was missing - a main character that I cared about. It wasn't a book that keeps you thinking about the characters long after you turn the last page. And to me, that's something I look for in a good book.
 
Brick Lane

Hi everybody, I've been meaning to join a book forum for a while now. I am currently studying English Literature at University, and have just finished reading Brick Lane as part of my course. I was wondering what other people's thoughts are on this book. I've heard mixed oppinions so far.

Personally, I really enjoyed it. I felt that it took a while for the book to get started, but then the construction of the characters was brilliant. The way in which events obviuosly changed attitudes and personailities of many of the characters (mainly Nanzeen) was probably the most powerful part of the book.

I look forward to people's responses! :D
 
Welcome to this forum! :)

There’s gone a while since I read this book, but I still remember how tremendously boring it was. It had no story!

kirsty said:
Personally, I really enjoyed it.
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Why and what? I don't mean to be rude, just curious...

kirsty said:
I felt that it took a while for the book to get started, but then the construction of the characters was brilliant.
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May I know when it started? What characters? The only well-developed character was Chanu, the rest had no personality!

kirsty said:
The way in which events obviuosly changed attitudes and personailities of many of the characters (mainly Nanzeen) was probably the most powerful part of the book.
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You mean Nazneen's "affair" with another guy? I feel like she was the same throughout the whole book. No changes. Which are you indicating?

And the letters from Nazneen's sister were just annoying!!!

But there's probably tons of others who likes it, just as you, so don't worry. ;)
 
Hey Maya!

Where had you been all these days?

Good to see you back :)

P.S: kirsty, sorry for hijacking your thread!
 
sanyuja said:
I am doing just great, Maya. Have been able to find time for reading, of late.
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That's cool. So what have you been reading lately?

sanyuja said:
Had exams or something?
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Yup, and nah haven't got the result yet!! ;)

sanyuja said:
Come on! You knew I would notice, right?
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Nooooooooooooo, I didn't. But if someone would notice, and I had to guess who, I think I'd say sanyuja! :)
 
Maya said:
So what have you been reading lately?
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Hmmm.... just to name a few... 'The Namesake', "The Curious incident of the dog...', 'Memoirs of a geisha' etc.. You can see my posts all over the forum ;)

Maya said:
Yup, and nah haven't got the result yet!! ;)
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All the best for your results!

Maya said:
Nooooooooooooo, I didn't. But if someone would notice, and I had to guess who, I think I'd say sanyuja! :)
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Thats sweet of you :)
 
sanyuja said:
Hmmm.... just to name a few... 'The Namesake', "The Curious incident of the dog...', 'Memoirs of a geisha' etc.. You can see my posts all over the forum ;)
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Read the first two, not planning on reading the last one. But I'll look into your posts...

sanyuja said:
All the best for your results!
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Thank you.
 
kirsty said:
Hi everybody, I've been meaning to join a book forum for a while now. I am currently studying English Literature at University, and have just finished reading Brick Lane as part of my course. I was wondering what other people's thoughts are on this book. I've heard mixed oppinions so far.

Personally, I really enjoyed it. I felt that it took a while for the book to get started, but then the construction of the characters was brilliant. The way in which events obviuosly changed attitudes and personailities of many of the characters (mainly Nanzeen) was probably the most powerful part of the book.

I look forward to people's responses! :D
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kirsty, I missed this thread when you originally posted. :( (So thanks for bringing it back to the top, Maya.)

I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I had the opposite reaction. I found the characters rather unlikeable and almost stereotypical. I felt the characters didn't change their attitudes - in the sense of an internal awakening - so much as just allow events to push them along.

As the central character, I found Nanzeen hard to like. I kept waiting for her to change more positively, but by the end, I didn't care.

It's been awhile since I read it, but I don't remember the style of writing to be particularly memorable.

It's an interesting look at one portion of the immigrant subculture and for those unfamiliar, it is a worthwhile read. However, on the whole, I found it to be quite a disappointment.

(ps - moved thread from General Discussion to Fiction)
ell
 
i liked the start when she first arrrived in the UK and all her experiences.
but then it fell off into a boring love story and i got fedup
 
”Hazneen's sister (Haseena) writes letters to her from Bangladesh in some sort of pidgin English but both couldn’t speak English and both educated in Bangladesh so why would you write to your sister in English anyway? is she writing in Bangla? then why is her language so poor - one can understand bad spelling but her sentences at least should make sense!

Men come out badly: Chanu her husband – pompous loser, Karim deserts her at the end; Dr Azad victim of his wife.

Cliched characters: the doormat wife, the pot-bellied ego-centric loser of a husband, the renegade lover comes and goes on cue, renegade girlfriend, morally corrupt children, the nosey neighbours. In fact all the men come out badly and almost all the women are too superior to be real.

Flowery adjectives litter the text endearing some reviewers but not me: “lotus on a dung heap,”; “Dragonfly wings aglow”; “silvery snake in silvery water” but I admired the way Ali reflects Nazneen’s detached character: eg the way her attention wanders when her husband is responding to her simple questions with his OU philosophy.

There’s an amazing depiction of a dialogue pause on p41 “___” on a line by itself!

On a positive note I wish I’d written some of her one-liners:
“Shirt collar had swallowed his neck.”
“Chanu hunched to his food to abbreviate the journey between mouth and plate.”
“She shoved silence at him.”

And to show Asians can be racist too there’s this risky unchallenged statement: “Africans were bred for slavery.” Which is quite bold of her!

Geoff
 
=GeoffNelder

And to show Asians can be racist too there’s this risky unchallenged statement: “Africans were bred for slavery.” Which is quite bold of her!

Geoff
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Hi,

I am reading the book and I like it. I still have 150 pages to read but I think it is well written and interesting though I understand why it may sound boring.

However...why doi you think it can be racist? Up to what I read I think it is not racist. It is, simply...honest. Chanu is boring, self centered and does not care for anybody other than himself (see the way he tries to impose his desire to go back to Bangladesh to his daughters)...and you can say Asians are described to be as what they are which is just a matter of fact no racism. Guess each n every one here has some facts to say about themselves and their culture.

Please stop me if I'm wrong. I have read a lot of comments about Brick Lane being racist but I just don't see it that way -not until now at least-

Thanks

London

 
Brick Lane

Hi,

I just finished reading Brick Lane, Monica Ali, and would like to talk about it as I have read several comments related to the book last year (when it was a 'must not read' within all my friends and this is one of the reasons why I had not touched until now) but...I don't think is such a bad, offensive book.

What do you think?

Cheers
 
Stewart said:
What were the comments you read?
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Well, I have read many magazines and have heard many people saying Brick lane was a racist book -against muslims, against people from Bangladesh/asia in general etc- and did not find all this hate.

I just think the book describes something that happens in a clear, sometimes too naked way but...that's what happens why hide it?

I have read previous threads posted here but I think a book like this one deserve a lively discussion more than a few comments.

For example, the book seems to be pretty standard in the way it has been created - everything really bad is 'outside'; the protagonist seems to win against society and herself in the end etc.

What do you think?
 
lies said:
So why not post in an already existing thread, hoping it'll put the spark back in instead of opening a new one that might die a slow death?
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If you check one of the post I have been suggested to check you will find out I have tried but nothing happened as if the post was dead ...
 
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