Brick Lane

Rating:
Summary: Is it thought provoking? Um, yes.
Review:
I got through maybe half of the book and put it down for a week. I thought it might not apply to me, that maybe I was too different or too far from that culture for it to feel relevant.

In that week, I realized that she was struggling with almost exactly the same questions I was. She was coming to the same unacceptable, or desireable, answers. And she was getting there by a completely different route.

I started reading it again.

I keep thinking about it even though I finished it a month ago. Perhaps it's a slow-acting book. At least it's working that way on me. Every now and then I get a glimmer of the wisdom that's there.

It's a good book. It's well written. I suppose I'm disappointed because what I'm seeing in it isn't magical, cure-all wisdom. It's the wisdom that people gain and use, almost only when it's not easy.

Rating:
Summary: Just a bit boring
Review: After 160 pages, I finally gave up. I tried and tried and waited for it to turn a corner and turn interesting, but it just never did, so I stopped and moved on to my next book. The writing is pretty good, but the story is very slow moving and a bit dull. Disappointing, considering so many others have said they liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Black Book Lover TOP 10 of 2004!!
Review: AS THE NEW YEAR IS UPON US, I OFFICIALLY OFFER YOU MY LIST OF THE 10 BEST BOOKS THAT I'VE READ IN 2004. THIS IS OUT OF ABOUT 84 BOOKS THAT I'VE READ THIS YEAR. EVERY SINGLE BOOK ON THIS LIST IS A MASTERPIECE WORTH BUYING. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED WITH GREAT LITERATURE LIKE THE FOLLOWING:

"THE DARKEST CHILD"--Delores Phillips

The finest, most dramatic debut I've read in years. Top notch and gut-wrenching. This is by far the best book of 2004.

"BRICK LANE"--Monica Ali

Superb entry into a world foreign yet all too familiar. Flawless, beautiful writing.

"HOTTENTOT VENUS"--Barbara Chase Riboud

A True Story. Which makes this book all the more shocking and tragic. By now you've heard of the kidnapped and dehumanized South African woman paraded in the 1800's Europe as a "freak" because of her huge posterior and the apron over her genitals. Chase Riboud chronicles the tale perfectly and makes it far more interesting than just history. The fact that "Sarah" was like a Pop Superstar of her day makes it all the more chilling in my opinion. A definite Must-Read.

"FLESH AND THE DEVIL"--Kola Boof

Totally original, unexpected black love story. Chock full of African history, U.S. black history, fantastic plot twists, pulsating sex, equally dazzling "lovemaking", brilliant observations about race, color and sexism and plenty of risk-taking by the sensational Sudanese-born Kola Boof, truly a NEW STAR in the "epic" sense. Fabulous!

"ERASURE"---Percival Everett

I know. I'm late reading this one. But it's classic, fantastic, the greatest book ever written about being a "black" writer today. SUPERB. 10 Stars.

"A DISTANT SHORE"--Caryl Phillips

Great novel about "human beings" ripped apart in their own world and then thrown together in new equally dreadful surroundings. A black man and a white woman are juxtaposed in England with terribly beautiful insight by the writer. It's a hard book to explain, except that it's about human beings finding their real true minds. Superb!!!! I give this one 10 stars.

"DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE"--Z.Z. Packer

The breakout debut of the new Alice Walker and Toni Morrison rolled into one. Z.Z. Packer is outrageously talented and brilliant. These sparse, witty, intelligent, insightful short stories will bring you to tears, make you laugh and truly astonish you.

"THE KNOWN WORLD"--Edward P. Jones

This book starts off kind of "slow", but once you get into it, it's quite shocking, easily one of the most important stories told in a decade. Jones deserves all the accolades and awards he's received for this masterful masterpiece of the new century.

"LOVE"--Toni Morrison

Still the undisputable greatest writer writing. Toni Morrison offers up one of her very best novels, the most underrated and overlooked novel of the year. Absolutely meszmerizing, a bute.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Brick Lane, by Monica Ali, is a beautifully written novel that tells the story of a woman named Nazneen, who comes from a Bangladeshi village. Obeying the traditions of her culture, Nazneen marries a man that her parents choose for her and is forced to move to London with him. In London, Nazneen feels out of place and lonely...until she meets a man with whom she falls madly in love with. She decides to push fate aside and take control of her own life, by making the choice to start a relationship with this man behind her family's back. Nazneen finally begins to discover the attachment she feels toward her family and the hardships this sense of freedom brings to her.
From the moment I began to read this novel, I was absorbed into the life of Nazneen. Ali's descriptive writing makes one feel as if they are there with the character, going through her struggles and feeling her pain. I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy moving love stories, learning about new cultures, and experiencing the emotions of life.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and did not make me care
Review: For someone who never puts a book down once I have started no matter how little it appeals to me, I did the impossible and gave up reading the rest of Brick Lane when I arrived at 200 pages. The reviews on Monica Ali's book promised so much, but gave so little. A long drawn out book with a few redeeming scenes (when Nazneen's first child was ill in hospital and she and Chanu took turns to keep watch), Brick Lane is tough going. Especially annoying was the gibberish from Nazneen's sister which I assumed was meant to be Bengali expressed in direct transliteration. The characters were neither fascinating nor inspirational nor interesting nor deserving of empathy. Of course if I had plodded on I might have changed my mind, but the point being that it was so un-engaging there was no desire on my part to get to the end of it.

Rating:
Summary: Culture Clash
Review: For the first 200 pages, Brick Lane is absolutely fascinating and the story of Nazneen, her childhood in Bangladesh and how he she is married off to London really grabs. But from then on, the story starts to drag a bit (like some other reviewers, I couldn't get into the 40 pages of Hasina's letters, written in broken English).
Still, all in all I think the hype for this book is deserved: The alienation of Bangladeshis in London is very well described, the characters in the book are multilayered and believable (for example, Chanu, Nazneen's husband, is a gem and Mrs Islam adds some color, too) and there is enough substance, inelligence and feeling to fill half a dozen of lesser books. With a bit of pruning, Brick Lane could have been a perfect 350 page novel.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Read
Review: I bought this book months ago during a book-buying frenzy and just got to it this month. The beginning of the book is so much better than the middle and the end. I never really got to know Nazneen well enough to care what happened to her. The book dragged way too much: the prolonged speeches by Chanu were unnecessary. Once we (the readers) figured out that Chanu liked to talk on and on and on rather than take action, all his subsequent speeches are unneccessary (so I skipped them). The long letters from her sister Hasina are also very annoying. The broken English (which I guess is supposed to be broken Bengali) really dragged the story down. When faced with 20 pages or more of italic printing (Hasina's letters) my interest waned. Not a good way of showing the passage of time. To better show the contrast of lives between the sisters, the author should have written chapters alternating between the two sisters' lives. That would have made Hasina seem more real to me, not just another annoyingly long letter I had to skim through. Also, because the description of the book tells the reader that Nazneen gets involved with a young man, I was looking forward to this event and was (again) ultimately disappointed. The love affair doesn't seem very intense and I don't see how it changed Nazneen at all. Although I applaud Nazneen's decision regarding the direction of her life, it seemed to come about it a rather ho-hum type of way. I found the book less than thrilling and am amazed at the 2-4 pages of quotes inside the book from critics (and other authors) deliriously declaring that this book is genuis and beautiful and worthy of tears of joy upon finishing it. I think they are crazy. I have read books worthy of shouting and crying, but not this one. If you want a good read by a new author, read The Time-Traveler's Wife. It is wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Great Novel, A Classic
Review: I do a lot of reading, and this was the best novel I've read in the last year. Ali has an amazing sense of the rhythms of language, imagination, a keen eye for character and human nature, and a wonderful sense of humor. The work spills over with such subjects as assimilation, the patriarchal use of religious faith as a cudgel against women (of course, this could be true of any organized religion), global economic inequities, the post-9-11 world for Muslims, and incisive observations of what it means to be a human being. It's a heady mix that sometimes feels like too much but I couldn't put the book down; I became engrossed in Nazneen's plight through vivid language and Ali's fearless and intuitive storytelling.

There were some places where the conflict between the characters felt glossed over, but overall I think this is great work that will stand the test of time.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, but boring...
Review: I had the biggest problem with the way the novel jumped around. I agree with the reviewer who wondered about white people in England- as much as I love reading about other cultures and the nitty-gritty of the way immigrants live, I began to feel kind of claustrophobic after about 50 pages. The characters aren't always convincing. Ali's style is likely so highly regarded because it is solid. It lacks the flair of Zadie Smith and Jhumpa Lahiri, though. The novel is kind of subdued from beginning to end, which isn't exactly suited to what Ali tries to do with the plot. Overall, this book is better than 80 percent of what's being published today, but I think that's the only reason people are so quick to praise it.

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.