First posted on asuiterclarke.com:Studying a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing made me a critical reader. That was one of the many benefits of doing that degree, besides the obvious insights and instruction for my own writing. But still, I really hate to be critical. I like to look for positive aspects of things and brush over the negative.In book reviewing, however, I need to throw that habit out the window. Otherwise, I will beat around the bush and never really say what I want to say, which is this:I did not like The Black Album. I wanted to–really, I did. Because it just so happens that I’ve met the author, and it’s always harder to be harsh about someone’s writing when you know him. However, as much as I tried throughout the reading of this book, I couldn’t find anything to like. Hanif Kureishi is undoubtedly a good writer, well respected in the writing community, and a multi-award-winner. And there are obviously plenty of people who liked his second novel.I’m just not one of them. I enjoy reading diverse writing, and I do think that there isn’t enough of it in the mainstream these days. In that way, this was a refreshing read because I got to see inside the mind of someone very different from me: a young man, just starting uni in London, who grew up in a family from Pakistan.There was a slight familiarity to his circumstances because I, too, have been a foreigner leaving home for the first time to attend university in London. I understand the uneasiness and excitement of arriving in London, being on my own, living among strangers and trying to make friends while I discover who I really am. Those things I understand, and for that reason I was able to empathize with Shahid, even if just in the smallest way.Within weeks of arriving in London, Shahid meets his radical Muslim neighbors and falls for his married, liberal university professor. He is torn between his love of literature and hunger for knowledge, his sexual feelings for Deedee and the excitement of exploring the world of drugs and alcohol with her, and the passionate beliefs of his neighbor Riaz and his small band of followers.There’s a lot to work with here, but somehow, nothing much really happens. I found Shahid a weak character in every sense of the word. He seems incapable of making up his mind from one chapter to the next. At first, he’s going to leave Deedee and commit wholeheartedly to following Riaz and fighting for the Islamic faith. Then, pages later, he’s in bed with Deedee and ready to give up any interest in religion in order to be with her. And then, all of a sudden, he’s in his room and wishing he could just be alone and read his books.Now I suppose that’s not entirely unrealistic. We all face tough decisions in life, especially when we’re young and just starting out and don’t know our place in the world. That part of it is real to me. This is a coming-of-age story, after all, and that often involves a great amount of indecision.The issue I have is that even with all of the militant religion; the obscene sexual discussion; the imbibing of multiple illegal substances and alcohol; and the drama with Shahid’s brother becoming a cocaine addict and losing all his money, his wife, and his child because of it–I still felt like nothing happened. No one changed, at least not in any satisfying way.Kureishi’s writing isn’t bad. Some of the dialogue snaps on the page and his descriptions of London are certainly familiar to me, even though they were of London 20 years ago. There are moments of intensity when Riaz’s band of followers decide to burn Midnight’s Children on the university campus, or when they chase down Deedee and Shahid toward the end.As a reader, though, I always want at least one character to love. Even if it’s a person that I would never get along with in real life, I want to love him or her because I’m seeing the world through that character’s eyes. Unfortunately, I looked for 276 pages and that character, for me, was not to be found.
Scris în 1995, The Black Album este cel de-al doilea roman al lui Hanif Kureishi (primul și ultimul, Buddha din suburbie și respectiv Am ceva să-ți spun, au fost traduse în română la editura Humanitas). Și de această dată personajul principal este prins în dilema proprei identități – un pakistanez musulman, născut și crescut în Anglia, oscilând între cele două culturi și căutând aproape cu disperare să se integreze. Tiparul e simplu: prima generație de imigranți sosește în Occident în căutarea unei sorți mai bune și muncește din greu ca să și-o croiască. Copiii sau nepoții lor însă se trezesc la mijloc între cultura occidentală și cea musulmană, fără să se regăsească în întregime în nici una din ele și, mai mult, de multe ori simțindu-se respinși de ambele. Tentațiile și pericolele sunt multe: sex, băutură, droguri, fundamentalism, rasism, violență.Dar Albumul negru e de fapt un răspuns la celebra fatwa din februarie 1989 a ayatolahului Khomeini împotriva autorului Versetelor satanice, astfel încât cartea e și o explorare a rolului literaturii și a dreptului scriitorului de a nu își cenzura imaginația. Cât de periculoase sunt cărțile, sunt ele o provocare de a gândi cu capul tău sau doar capcane din cuvinte care să îți strecoare în suflet îndoieli și gânduri periculoase? E religia alternativa mai bună (și autosuficientă)? Pot fi cuvintele un păcat capital, sau pot fi și un joc, o explorare, un experiment, o glumă?E justificată arderea unei cărți?Cartea lui Hanif Kureishi nu e scrisă rău, dar din păcate nu am găsit-o nici un moment prea convingătoare. Mi s-a părut prea demonstrativă, prea polarizată și simplificată (literatură vs. religie, a gândi vs. a crede, dragoste și individ vs. datorie și comunitate), personajele prea schematice, motivațiile și acțiunile lor reduse la niște clișee care vin în demonstrația unei idei: în ciuda pericolelor și a tentațiilor, e mai bine să explorezi și să îți trăiești viața la intensitate maximă, decât să îi lași pe alții să decidă pentru tine ce e bine și ce rău. Sunt de acord, literatura te învață să gândești, însă tocmai asta e ideea, un scriitor mai mare știe să își ascundă mai bine propriile concluzii și încearcă mai puțin să și le impună.
What do You think about The Black Album (1996)?
I read this for two reasons - I'm currently living in East London, and working my way through the 'Revolutionary Writers' series. The London portrayed seems very realistic, and the book seems to be prescient about the spread of the influence of Islam in the capital - the politician 'Rudder' brought to mind George Galloway who became an MP here after the period covered. The Asian students certainly seem similar to those amongst whom I live - a mix of Western hedonism and religious/cultural fervour. The rather depressing world of drugs and materialism has also continued unchecked from the situations presented in this novel. The thing I really disliked about the book was the apparent 'love' between the main character, Shahid, and his white college lecturer. It was basically lust - abusive, unbelievable, and written in terms that rarely moved beyond the pornographic - certainly no relationship. It ruined the book for me in the end as it detracted so much from the important political and cultural issues under investigation.
—Karen
This book seemed like a prophecy of things to come for modern Britain. Set in the late 80s around the time of Salman Rushdie's fatwah, it investigates the relationship between young British muslims and the mainstream white culture. The central character is torn between being devout and sharing the virtues and values of his muslim brothers and launching into the rave culture and free wheeling morals of his fellow students. It all comes to a head over the burning of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses and the protaganist gets caught between two worlds, forcing him to choose which one he wants to live in.
—Leonie
so yeah...i read about this one here...and so here i am, looking at it. Kindle version. I read the extended intro that this guy writes...i take it is about islam...and more so and so forth. i can't get over the idea that we can never escape the playground, you are IT!....and there's things that are happening here, according to the intro...along those lines.interesting intro, rather protracted, full of ideas...i'm curious to see if those ideas are...told in the telling? reading this one and another at the same time, something i rarely do...done....12 SEP 11...i think this is the version that i read....there is no Kindle version....and so much refers to a "novel" although this that i read is written like a play. so...also, there is a long and interesting essay prior to the story.for moi, it was hard to get into. one problem is the names. male? female? what? it is not like tom dick and harriet. and, in play-form, there is missing much of that other stuff, setting and scene, action. so...compare it to....what? a tale of two cities. off with their heads!so...um...read it for the ideas expressed in the essay: "one of the uses of literature is that it will enable individuals to enlarge their sense of self--their vocabulary, the store of ideas they use to think about themselves."yes.ideas about revolution here....as in dostoyevsky....where, say like in the idiot, the brothers k, etc, as well as tolstoy, there is this expression of self-hatred....and that translates to hatred, or call it 'self-hatred of country'....hey, the rest of the world hates the u.s. of a. so why shouldn't i too, put on a white sheet and begin to holler at the house?he quotes george bataille: 'man goes constantly in fear of himself. his erotic urges terrify him."but all this is in the setting of london....i take it...england for sure...and a group of pakistanians.has the fatwa been issued at yet? not by them....but by the PC in my country? perhaps this too will be defined as a hate crime, this review. anyway, these guys/gals w/islam on their shoulder, their back, go about the times....salman rushdie's satanic verses figure big big in the story. as does religion. ideas.one idea, as above: "the telling of stories helps us all. it starts a conversation, however hard that may be."from shahid.another from him: "then can't you accept that the writer is also being playful, and his new work will only make the faith stronger?"this poem by riaz gets rewritten....big big."isn't it funny that nudists always keep their shoes on?"yes, that is hilarious.from riaz: whose poetry got interpreted, censored or so: "a religion that's lost its hatred is not a religion--it is empty!"yes...there's that.perhaps a re-reading would bring about a 5-star rating as honestly, 3-stars is a bit low.....
—wally
