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Books : Brick Lane
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Brick Lane by: Monica Ali List Price: £7.99 Vegetarian Books Price: £5.99 You Save: £2.00 (25%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9780552771153 ISBN: 0552771155 Label: Black Swan Manufacturer: Black Swan Number Of Pages: 496 Publication Date: May 01, 2004 Publisher: Black Swan Release Date: April 22, 2004 Studio: Black Swan Sales Rank: 10178 Related Items: Related Items:    ![Brick Lane [2007]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000Z9ECSC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)  see moreBrowse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review: Amazon.co.uk Review: With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The pre-publicity hype about Brick Lane was precisely the kind to set alarm bells ringing (we've heard it so often before), but, for once, the excitement is fully justified: Monica Ali's debut novel demonstrates that there is a new voice in modern fiction to be reckoned with. Nazneen is a teenager forced into an arranged marriage with a man considerably older than her--a man whose expectations of life are so low that misery seems to stretch ahead for her. Fearfully leaving the sultry oppression of her Bangladeshi village, Nazneen finds herself cloistered in a small flat in a high-rise block in the East End of London. Because she speaks no English, she is obliged to depend totally on her husband. But it becomes apparent that, of the two, she is the real survivor: more able to deal with the ways of the world, and a better judge of the vagaries of human behaviour. She makes friends with another Asian girl, Razia, who is the conduit to her understanding of the unsettling ways of her new homeland. This is a novel of genuine insight, with the kind of characterisation that reminds the reader at every turn just what the novel form is capable of. Every character (Nazneen, her disappointed husband and her resourceful friend Razia) is drawn with the complexity that can really only be found in the novel these days. In some ways, the reader is given the same all-encompassing experience as in a Dickens novel: humour and tragedy rub shoulders in a narrative that inexorably grips the reader. Whether or not Monica Ali can follow up this achievement is a question for the future; it's enough to say right now that Brick Lane is an essential read for anyone interested in current British fiction. --Barry Forshaw Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Aims high, but falls well shortA review should always try to address its subject in its own terms. The purpose, after all, is many-sided, to summarise, paraphrase, contextualise, all with the express intention of informing a potentially interested participant of the nature of the experience on offer. Any proffered review that merely says I did or did not like it is thus entirely specious, since it conveys nothing of the work in focus, only the doubly-uninterpretable reaction of a dismembered, effectively anonymous opinion. So in the case of Brick Lane by Monica Ali a dutiful list of the elements must begin with the setting. For the majority non-Londoners, Brick Lane is a market street in East London. It is just up the road from the eastern fringes of the City ... Read More: Rating: - Difficult goingCouldnt wait to read it and unlike the book I'll be brief with my review. The characters are well thought out and excellently written. Some absorbing vivid touches but in a book that is ridiculously over-written, these deft moments are lost. Clearly Monical Ali can write prose very well, but her story telling style drove me potty. Unfortunately i didnt actually finish the book...half way through i was lost amongst all the words. Its sorely overwritten - and honestly i cannot understand the hype. Rating: - Some moving partsI was so looking forward to reading this book but overall I was slightly disappointed. The first half of the story which describes Nazneen's arrival in Britain as a young bride, her difficult life in London and the tragedy of losing her first child, was gripping. However I found the account of her affair with Karim and the repetitive descriptions of her daughters' struggles with their father went on for much longer than was necessary. I was pleasantly surprised though when the final section of the novel, where Nazneen and her husband reach an understanding about whether to return to Bangladesh or not, actually moved me to tears. In summary, this is a good book with some moving parts, but not a great work of literature. ... Read More: Rating: - Should I keep reading?Perhaps it is not a good idea to write a review only 200 (out of 500) pages into a book but here goes! I bought this book as I enjoy reading about different cultures, I enjoyed reading the Kite Runner and felt it gave me a real feel and understanding of the culture, it was a real page turner. However as other people have mentioned in their reviews Brick Lane is too long and wordy. It takes a long time to get anywhere and I'm wondering if I should just give up! I will persevere but it is not a book that I find difficult to put down. One of the problems for me is that few of the characters are particularly likeable. Nazeen should be likeable as she is not in the best situation (in an arranged marriage to a man she is not in love with, does not find attractive, ... Read More: Rating:  - Over-ratedI tried reading this book about 3 months ago. But, about 60 pages into it, my attention and interest wavered. I found it to be a strenous physical effort to stay attuned to the narritive. But, then 2 weeks ago, I decided to give it another chance...and I have admittedly got much further this time. But, its still so boring. There is no evident hook in this story. Nazneen is a likeable and inoffensive character, but her relationship with Chanu is tedious. Okay, so they are not a well matched couple, but so what?! I have read the work of other authors who shed a gripping light unto other cultures (namely Zadie Smith and Khalid Housseini) and compared to them Monica Ali falls very short of the bar. I am so shocked by the critical acclaim received by the novel...were ... Read More: |
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