Rating: 
Summary: Stimulating, uplifting and a great read
Review: The sheer quality - of tone, of voice, of story - of Brick Lane is something that doesn't come along too often, even in these days of mass book publishing.
It's a universal story told with extraordinary technical skill. The qualities of the book have been compared to Jane Austen, Dickens and Dostoevsky. Yet the protagonist is the simplest of characters trying to lead the simplest of life.
Brick Lane seems to be winning as many popular reader awards as it is literary gongs and, given its readability, it can be little wonder that Barnes & Noble are publicising it for a year in their shop windows across America.
This book is for the intelligent, thoughtful reader who is willing to immerse themselves in literature, even temporarily, to see the world in a clearer way.
Take your time with this book and it will reward you greatly. It is an uplifting antidote to the increasingly brash, crass world we find ourselves within.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite there...
Review: I really looked forward to reading this book, having read so much about it. It is also a subject close to my heart, because I am a Bengali woman who doesn't live in her homeland. It began promisingly enough,(but what on earth was that about the rice stalks as tall as skyscrapers?)but doesn't keep it up. Most reviewers have complained about Hasina's letters to her sister. My understanding of them at the start, having tried to translate them back into Bengali, was that they were a literal, word for word translation from Bengali. They don't continue that way, but I think this is what the author intended.
The characters could have been fleshed out so much better. They felt cold and one-dimensional. I felt more of a connection with Zadie Smith's Samad and Alsana than with Nazneen. Chanu comes across a pompous, sorry figure...I know many men who are like Chanu, but they are usually less benign than he; men who know everything are usually more aggressive- it doesn't fit. Nazneen is not really shown growing as a person; all at once, she seems to acquire the courage to speak her mind. The ending-this is England, you can do anything- is reminiscent of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Bharati Mukherjee,; that the West equals freedom. and it is impossible to be free in the Third World. Of course, she reminds us that women in Bangladesh get acid thrown on their faces; this is horrifying and has been going on for several years, though many of her readers will have heard of it for the first time.So, you are meant to think, isn't Nazneen lucky, that she escaped that? Ali also misses the fact that immigrant communities are usually steeped in the values of their homeland at the time they left, so that Bangladeshis in London might be more conservative than those in Dhaka or Mymensingh.
For Westerners, maybe this book is a bit of exotica, but I don't see what the fuss is about. It's not a bad book, but I doubt I'll remember it in 5 years time.
Rating:
Summary: showed promise, but ultimately overrated
Review: I was excited to read this book when it was selected by my book club, but I found it disappointing. Though Monica Ali is a talented writer who uses words beautifully to capture the mood, look, smell, and emotion of a scene, the book introduced too many concepts and themes that either went nowhere or that were wrapped up much too easily and conveniently. Nazneen is an interesting character whose traditional upbringing and deep faith conflict with some of her life choices (such as her extra-marital affair with a much younger man), but I never felt that the author delved into how the character resolved or worked through those conflicts in any significant way. I found myself bored by the last 100 pages, skimming through the conclusion only to find out what happened, but not really caring one way or the other.
Rating: 
Summary: Exotic tale
Review: Being one for any book set in a locale that is not mine, and a locale that has extremes,(Empress Orchid, Bark of the Dogwood, The Da Vinci Code) I found this to be a quite impressive read. Perhaps it was because I wasn't expecting too much--I hadn't been privy to the hype and had no idea what the story was about, other than its setting. But for whatever reason, I came to this book unbiased and thoroughly enjoyed it. The subject of an arranged marriage should be fascinating to just about anyone, and how the main characters beings to slowly break free from her mental prison is remarkable.Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating: 
Summary: A big yawn
Review: Bought it after reading the hype and proceeded to be extremely disappointed. Just goes to show you that slick marketing by publishers can suck you in.
Rating:
Summary: Lives up to the Reviews!
Review: This is the story of Nazneen, a Bengali woman "Left to her Fate" at birth, who marries and moves to England to marry Chanu, an older, pompous man who seems unable to get anything right. The story follows Nazneen over many years as she grapples with the Big Questions of Life: Is there such a thing as fate? Can an individual control or influence it? Are you bound by it? If this sounds dull, rest assured, it isn't. This is a wonderful story filled with vibrant, unforgettable characters. The author does a wonderful job of allowing us to see Nazneen's slow progression from dutiful daughter and wife to quietly confident woman. What makes it so true to life and keeps the book from being a feminist screed is that she shows that Nazneen's progression is not without hardship: "she was as startled by her own agency as an infant who waves a clenched fist and strikes itself upon the eye." Hard to believe that this is a first novel, it is so well-written. A true pleasure!
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: Monica Ali's debut novel is a good, but not great read. Normally I devour novels such as these that have roots in Eastern culture, but this story although it opened well seemed to drag along in the middle section of the book. To me it seemed as if the story was drawn out in order to fill pages. The essence of the story, for me at least, was lost in the middle part of the novel. Fortunately the thread of the novel was found again in a triumphant conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Way overrated!
Review: I bought „Brick Lane" because of all the publicity surrounding the author Monica Ali and her debut novel: "A magnificent coup" according to the „Observer", with a "comic touch" according to the "Guardian". Neither did I find "Brick Lane" magnificient, nor a coup. Hints of a comic touch may have been there, but I must have missed missed them. Don't get me wrong, at times I did enjoy reading "Brick Lane", but it was not a book that I did not want to put down until I had finished reading the last page. It started out good, but weakened by the page. "Brick Lane" is basically the story about Nazneen's and Chanu's marriage, their life in Tower Hamlets in London and that of a woman who was left to her fate until she took fate in her own hands. Throughout Nazneen's stay at Tower Hamlets she receives letters from her sister Hazima, who ran away from home for a love marriage (whereas Nazneen submitted to her father in marrying Chanu). Hasina's letters are not only updates of life in Bangladesh but also mirror Nazneen's life in London. Some of the characters are indeed very well developed, but mostly I found the read tedious and somewhat lengthy. 200 pages less would have sufficed and a tad more spark would have been good! Result: Don't set your hopes to high on this one or you might be as disappointed as I am!
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Novel
Review: I can't remember the last novel I read that created such a wonderful character as Nazneen. I thought of Faulkner when reading the italicized passages about her sister. The little philosophic twists of insight throughout the novel completed for me what was the ultimate reading experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, in a way
Review: I can understand all the hype about the book, but it just didnt have anything to lead up too. After about page 100, it's just repeats of characters actions and stuff, it gets kinda lame. And the muslim group part makes the book sooooo slow, you gotta skim it. But then you can't help but feel pity, the way the author throws emotions about how Nazneen feels is almost real. if the book was only had the first 100 pages it would've been cool, but at then end you're just like, dude, this book blows.
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