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So, what did I find in 'Brick Lane'?
Firstly, on of its themes seems to me to be alienation, not in some deeply philosophical sense, but fairly expected kind of alienation, the one that is affecting an 18 year old village girl from Bangladesh, stuck in a Tower-Hamlets high-rise with ... Read review
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
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 precisel...
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With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The pre-publicity hype aboutBrick Lanewas precisely ...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
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 precisel...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The pre-publicity hype aboutBrick Lanewas precisely ...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
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 precisel...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
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 precisel...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
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 precisel...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The pre-publicity hype aboutBrick Lanewas precisely ...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Still a teenager Nazneen finds herself in an arranged marriage to a man twenty years ... more
older. Moved away from her childhood village, Nazneen is moved to London, not knowing a word of english and confined to her flat. This title exlpores the role of fate in our lives and traces the transformation of an Asian girl.
After an arranged marriage to a man twenty years her elder Nazneen exchanges her ... more
Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London's East End. In this new world, where poor people can be fat and even dogs go on diets, she struggles to make sense of her existence - and to do her duty to her husband.
Reissue with PB edition. This exciting and deeply moving debut novel follows the ... more
tumultuous life of Nazneen from her birth in a Bangladeshi village hut, to her arranged marriage to Chanu and the subsequent move to London's Tower Hamlets.
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the ... more
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
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Advantages: rich in layers and strands of meaning, well told, easy to read Disadvantages: female perspective, long, passive heroine
...limited to few curries in Brick Lane. But she also says some things relevant to all immigrants and one of them, which is perhaps often missed or ignored by the British readers has to do with 'Going Home Syndrome'. It is not surprising that it is ignored, as it is difficult to actually believe that somebody might even think of leaving the relative security and comforts of - even - Tower Hamlets - for what can be often perceived as the unspeakable ... ...On the personal, psychological plane Brick Lane is essentially a coming of age story, a bildungsroman extended for 34 years of Nazneen's life. She has to exorcise the ghost of her mother, she has to deal with the Muslim fatalism (listen: "... happiness, for instance. That would count against her. Because fate must be met with indifference.... ") and with her lack of knowledge of language and culture in Britain.
There is already four reviews of this book on Ciao and at least two of them are remarkable and worth reading. Why then am I bothering? The fact that I am bothering at all shows probably how rich the novel I am writing about is, and how everybody can pull out something to ponder on from it.
The main reason I am bothering though is that it is simply a lovely book and a delight to read. I believe that everybody from fairly sophisticated reader looking for intellectual stimulation to a casual consumer of so called 'female fiction' read purely for fun would be able to read and enjoy this novel.
To start with, let's get the synopsis out of the way. The book tells the story of Nazneen, apparently stillborn in Bangladesh village in 1967 up to 2001 when she is a 34 year old mother, wife, lover and worker in London. Is that it? Yes, more or less that is it.
The story of Nazneen's life is told exclusively from her own perspective. We don't get ANY authorial comment, any insight into somebody else's mind, we don't look at the world through anybody else's eyes. What is not felt, thought or seen by Nazneen remains unsaid. There is a series of interludes, provided by touching, passionate (and hardly literate) letters from Nazneen's sister Hasima who is battling with life in Bangladesh. To me these letters just serve as a counterpoint to Nazneen's story as well as being part of it - after all she loves her sister, worries about her and sends her money form her own meagre earnings.
I do have a qualm with the letters though and that is that to me they seem like written by a foreigner learning English, rather than an uneducated person's attempts at writing in her native's tongue. But Hasima is writing in Bengali, not in English, isn't she? She should not sound as a foreigner, she should sound as a half-literate peasant... so this tool did not work for me.
Everything else is described in the third person, a classic narrative device of what can be called a psychological novel and it works well here as Ali's considerable penmanship can be employed to describe Nazneen's thoughts and feelings without appearing falsely sophisticated which would happen if the narration was executed in the first person.
So, what did I find in 'Brick Lane'?
Firstly, on of its themes seems to me to be alienation, not in some deeply philosophical sense, but fairly expected kind of alienation, the one that is affecting an 18 year old village girl from Bangladesh, stuck in a Tower-Hamlets high-rise with no English, no connection to the city outside, in fact being vaguely forbidden to go outside the estate. She lives in London but she neither knows or desires to see any of the sights. She is not part of it. The title 'Brick Lane' describes the extent of her world and an accidental venture outside leaves Nazneen with a sense of exhilaration and accomplishment.
But also alienation, perhaps more difficult to grasp, of seemingly more adjusted members of the Bangladeshi community. The most clear exponent of that theme is to me Chanu - Nazneen's husband. We only see him through Nazneen's eyes and she generally does not delve deeper under Chanu's surface - so we can hear his patronising, self-assured speeches and lectures, we can observe his rather hideous exterior, we can see what he does and what he doesn't do. We develop understanding and maybe even a little bit of love for him but essentially stay annoyed. By inference we can also see what is happening to him in the real, the outside world. You see, I feel that Chanu has been treated quite badly by other reviewers so I am going to tell you a bit more about him.
Chanu, whom we met as he marries 18-year old Nazneen in his late thirties, is - in his own words - an educated man. He has a degree from Dhaka University and also bizarre collection of certificates and diplomas (and even directions to the college which was the only thing supplied with one of the courses) acquired in Britain gracing his wall. We don't know anything about his degree, but overall he does seem to be a fairly literate person. He quotes from Bengali as well as English texts and at least some of his utterances suggest that he understands what he is talking about. Why, then, is he such a pathetic figure? Why does he seem like a bumbling idiot? Why his speeches and rants remain just that - speeches and rants? Is it just because he is like so many stuck-up fathers and husbands? Is it because he doesn't listen and doesn't want to hear? Well, yes, that is probably true. But also because he is so hopelessly inadequate. His expectations and responses do not fit the situation. He doesn't move up in the world - he moves down. From being a council clerk eagerly expecting promotion he descend to being a mini-cab driver. His countless projects, ventures and ambitions lead to nothing. Is he simply stupid and incompetent, or is it his essential misunderstanding of the way things work, despite living in Britain for several decades?
Another theme, or rather a meta-theme of the novel is of course the one of immigration. Ali's characters come exclusively from the Bangladeshi community (this is, by the way, another feature that makes the subjects of alienation and isolation so pervasive) and the picture of this community and culture is a fascinationg one to ignorant onlookers whose experience of is limited to few curries in Brick Lane. But she also says some things relevant to all immigrants and one of them, which is perhaps often missed or ignored by the British readers has to do with 'Going Home Syndrome'. It is not surprising that it is ignored, as it is difficult to actually believe that somebody might even think of leaving the relative security and comforts of - even - Tower Hamlets - for what can be often perceived as the unspeakable squalor and deprivation of Bangladesh. Also, the "perceptual scheme" of immigration is I believe one of the white settlers going to America, to start a new life.
This syndrome can be seen as actually responsible for causing a lot of the mental alienation of even the educated and free members of the community. If you are going to go back - one day - then there is no point in getting to know your host country too well, is there?
The last thing that struck me in "Brick Lane" was the quality of the description of the sexual - initial denial, first stirrings, development of desire, and then fulfilment. These constitute one of the most difficult tasks to tackle for a writer of psychological novel, as it is so easy to tumble towards embarrassing, faintly (or terribly!) ridiculous, over-flowery and poetic or bordering on pornographic (call me controversial but this is for me the yet most bearable direction of the slip). Monica Ali's rendition of sexual emotions was - for me - flawless and beautiful and this is no mean feat.
On the personal, psychological plane Brick Lane is essentially a coming of age story, a bildungsroman extended for 34 years of Nazneen's life. She has to exorcise the ghost of her mother, she has to deal with the Muslim fatalism (listen: "... happiness, for instance. That would count against her. Because fate must be met with indifference.... ") and with her lack of knowledge of language and culture in Britain.
Eventually the link and the motivation to grow up is provided by her love for her daughters and by the experience of sexual awakening in the arms of her lover Karim. He is essentially a tool, not that Nazneen uses him in the exploitative sense, but she - methaphorically - grows up with him and eventually grows up out of him. The body becomes a channel, a key to the social, to the spiritual. Nazneen's anxiety subsides and she becomes more confident, more happy, more of her own person; all this despite believing that she is committing a sin for which the punishment is eternal suffering. Of course her growing up is our western kind of growing up; is individuation out of the realm of family and culture.
It is not perhaps a book that will stay with you for along time and in that sense it is more a poolside reading than something to study or ponder.
Monica Ali writing is natural, like a bird singing rather than with some great artistic deliberation, but it is a lovely and moving book nevertheless and if you have not read it, please do.
The lenght might discourage (at over 400 pages it is not a short novel) but it can be read leisurely and as it is not very demanding read, it doesn't take that long.
Advantages: Can be skimmed, or delved into, rewarding however you read it Disadvantages: You need to keep your mind open
Brick Lane is a very brave book, because it is a very honest one, brutally so in parts. Yet it conveys its harsh truths lightly, gently, and with a large degree of affection. Born in Bangladesh and brought up in England, Monica Ali if not part of that precise world herself certainly has clear access to it and the credentials to support her work. The book centres upon the story of Nazneen, who is near-stillborn to a poor family in what was then East ... ...thereafter. I find Brick Lane particularly strong on these issues, because they are neither under- nor over-played, but particularly because they are never over-simplified. For a long time Nazneen is trapped outside of the society in which she has to live. Her husband, Chanu, on the other hand has spent years trying to become part of it. That Chanu is portrayed unsympathetically is inevitable (& appropriate) – Nazneen is never going to find ...
hiker 23.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brick Lane - Monica Ali
...Monica Ali wrote something like Brick Lane. There are thousands upon thousands of books about Bangladeshi women being “married-off” to a man they barely know and like. But, no book, that I’ve read at least, has gone so deep with emotion as Brick Lane. Considered “shameful” by the Bangladesh Government, and “excellent” by its readers, its something new for bookworms to dig their teeth into. This is the first ... ...though she is. It’s because Brick Lane is honest. Brick Lane is modern. Brick Lane is simply original. And that’s why it will be compared for many years to come, not only with other racial topics, but also other fiction topics. It’s one with pure emotion and Monica Ali’s honesty is outstanding. Ali isn’t scared too go too far. These are Bangladeshis without the cover-ups. This is them. This is us. This is literature ...
Mattroberts 29.01.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Advantages: Stunningly easy read. Disadvantages: I wish it had gone on and on!
Brick Lane is not the kind of book that would usually make it onto my reading list. I struggle even to fit it into any kind of genre, as this is unlike anything I have ever read before. Attracted by the title “Brick Lane”, and intrigued by the sheer number of plaudits and accolades that bedeck the cover, regarding the talent of author Monica Ali, that’s what really motivated me to buy it. My intrigue was also borne by the fact that when I first moved ... ...less than ten minutes from Brick Lane, right in the depths of Stepney, Tower Hamlets, where there was a massive Bangladeshi immigrant community.
This is the story of one Bangladeshi woman, from birth through to middle age. The first chapter takes us on a long journey in time from witnessing Nazneen’s traumatic birth in 1967, meeting her sister Hasina, her arranged marriage, emigration to London and the development of key friendships and character’s ...
fantasybeliever 15.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Advantages: Funny, thought-provoking Disadvantages: None for me
...that is now her home, Brick Lane. To begin with, she seems like the typical village girl kind of wife, who will obey her husband & stay home, leaving only for grocery shopping, but slowly she starts to seek out something for her own life. She befriends her neighbour, Razia, who recommends that she do some sewing for money. Through this she comes to meet Karim, a young muslim. He invites her to the first of a series of 'Community Meetings', of which ... ...& she is faced with the moral dilemmas that come with her involvement with him. Eventually, perhaps for the first time in her life, she must make some tough decisions of her own for her own life. Structure of the book
I have the paperback book. By excluding the extra pages, I worked out that in my book the story is about 481 pages long, which for me is a fair length for a book. Unfortunately this particular book is in bold writing, which I find ...
Ayesha- 26.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Advantages: Intriguing story and insight into immigrant community Disadvantages: I was a bit repulsed imagining Chanu's bulging stomach!
...the mother of two children. Brick Lane is her debut novel, and it has been widely acclaimed.
-----Presentation-----
The cover is white with the words 'Brick Lane' written in large, bold font across the middle. Each letter is a different colour and has a different design inside it. (For example, on is a tattoo, one looks like a patterned fabric, another has chillis in it) and I think this is very attractive. The letters are also slightly raised, ... ...much away, I promise!)
Brick Lane focuses on the Ahmed family, charting their progress through life. After a brief introduction to Nazneen's birth, the story opens on a newly married Nazneen and Chanu. Theirs was an arranged marriage, and involved Nazneen immigrating from her village in Bangladesh to Tower Hamlets in London to marry her significantly older husband.
The book explores Nazneen's period of adjustment to her new surroundings. Initially ...
electricfrog5 28.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brick Lane - Monica Ali
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Having recently read the breathtaking ?BrickLane? by MonicaAli, I thought it would probably be quite some time before I read anything quite so evocative or inspirational. I can?t really pinpoint what motivated me to pick up a copy of ?The Kite Runner?, it may have been the stunning sepia photograph on the front cover, or then again, it might just have been fate.
The author Khaled Hosseini uses the beauty and simplicity of language to deliver a powerful, emotive story, thereby creating a priceless, artistic masterpiece. In my opinion this novel should be defined as a literary classic. Khaled Hosseini?s talent as a storyteller is evident from page one as he delivers a colourful, stunning narrative that is as beautiful as it is stunning. It is written with such skill, it is hard to believe that this is his first published work. He ...
Advantages: Good writing Disadvantages: Unconvincing characters
MonicaAli's first novel, "BrickLane", received great critical and popular acclaim, being short-listed for the Booker and having become a bestseller. The story of a Bangladeshi immigrant in an arranged marriage with aspirations to be herself, Ali cleverly wove a tale of dignity amidst the decay of immigrant tower-block existence. So, what could she do after that? Would Ms Ali prove to be a one-hit wonder or do we have a major new talent on our hands. The "difficult" second novel beckoned.
It seems clear MonicaAli made a conscious decision to break completely from the Taking herself away from the new-found fame and fortune to a small village in the Alentejo in Portugal, in geographical terms somewhere between the tourist-infested Algarve and the bright lights of Lisbon, a poor, sparsely-populated agricultural region. Having done ...
Advantages: Mildly entertaining, some good characters Disadvantages: Some not so good characters, inconsistent
't the right style to use in this novel and certainly not for just a short section of the book. India is real, why should it be portrayed in this almost fictional fashion, it may be far away for many readers but describing it in this way was plain silly and jarred with the rest of the writing. In this respect I found it very like the opening section of MonicaAli's "BrickLane" which also has a fairytale feel to it when the central character recalls her childhood in Pakistan.
The success of the characterisation was mixed; I couldn't bear Shona and Parvez and their awful habit of calling each other "Goldie" and "Puppy". It made them laughable and did nothing for their credibility. The characters of Shona's parents were much more interesting and believable. I loved the depiction of Ricky as this long-suffering man who patiently bore his lot until ...
Keeping house and rearing children, Nazneen does what is expected of her. Into that fragile peace walks Karim, raising questions of longing and belonging that open her eyes to surprising truths. While Nazneen struggles in Tower Hamlets, her sister Hasina has her own dreams back home in Bangladesh.
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