Melissa_W
Melissa_W
Is it difficult for folks because it is not only set in another country but is about another culture? Here is a little about the area of Brick Lane. And something about Bangladesh which is a very poor area of India which constantly floods. It has been estimated that because of the ice caps melting etc. that the majority of Bangledesh will be permanently under water in around 20 years time so many of its people are anxious to emigrate. About 80 percent of Bangladeshis are Muslims, the rest are Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. Here is an interview with the author and small review of the book (SPOILER).
I hope this helps.
pedsphleb wrote:
For all you who aren't feeling Brick Lane, please post a bit later in the month (maybe on the second week thread or wherever you feel appropriate) why it just isn't working for you. Your opinions are always appreciated
Yes, sorry about that. I am of the age group which still thinks of India as India, as in the days of Empire and I was using that shorthand. However, India was split into the two entities of India and Pakistan by the British Administration (under Lord Mountbatten) because of the failure to agree over their respective religions. 7+ million Indian Muslims in the south were sent to the north and and 7+ million Indian Hindus in the north were sent to the south. It was after that forced partition that independence for both countries was granted at midnight 1947. A number of other smaller nations were created or broke away subsequently, like the Punjab and Bangladesh, which was once East Pakistan. Kashmir is still fighting for its independence from Pakistan.
It was not altogether case of 'breaking the power of the UK' - the UK relinquished the majority of its colonies round about this time because it could no longer afford to keep them after the expense of WWII and because the ethos of the time was against colonisation. Socialists like my father who had voted in Attlee's government were opposed to the idea of Empire which they equated with slavery. Offers of independence were made to India by Churchill in 1942, in exchange for full cooperation during the war but because of the war and religious disputes it took many more years to sort things out. It was a terrible time with large scale riots between between Muslims and Hindus and deaths ran into tens and thousands - my mother's youngest brother, a British soldier, was killed in them
.
There are still those in India and Pakistan who think that the 2-nation theory of partition should never have happened and that it was a 'botched' agreement because Britain was too anxious to divest herself of the responsibility of administering India, which had proved a thorn in the crown since around 1857 when the various wars for Indian independence erupted, famously brough to a head by Ghandi in the late 1940s. Partition was not one of Britain's finer moments
Thanks again for the correction.
Everyman wrote:Choisya wrote: And something about Bangladesh which is a very poor area of India which constantly floods.
The citizens of the independent nation of Bangladesh would be quite unhappy, I suspect, to hear their nation called an area of India. They gained independence from Pakistan in the early 1970s, which had gained its independence when it and India finally broke the power of the British Empire in 1947.
I'm not very far into Brick Lane -- about chapter 4, and chapter 2 when I read these comments! So far my points of comparison are Zadie Smith's White Teeth and Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, with a dash of Rushdie's Midnight's Children (and a pinch of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel).
P- it sounds like book soup I have all those books except for Infidel but have only read I of M and part of White Teeth
Peppermill wrote:I'm not very far into Brick Lane -- about chapter 4, and chapter 2 when I read these comments! So far my points of comparison are Zadie Smith's White Teeth and Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, with a dash of Rushdie's Midnight's Children (and a pinch of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel). At least in comparison with the first two, Monica Ali is holding her own for me, but more about that view when I have read more and when we get into the discussion itself. (I picked up an audio version at the library today, but it is at least slightly abridged, so its usefulness is open at the moment. This version is 10 CDs. As far as I know, an audio unabridged version has not been published.)
debbook wrote:
I'm not really liking it that much but I'm not giving up until I'm half-way through. If I still don't like it, then I'm done.
Everyman wrote:Has anybody started reading Brick Lane yet? I started it and found it not a book that particularly inspired me to keep reading. Has anybody else had trouble getting into it? Or are people finding it a great read?
debbook wrote:I'm not very far into Brick Lane -- about chapter 4, and chapter 2 when I read these comments! So far my points of comparison are Zadie Smith's White Teeth and Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, with a dash of Rushdie's Midnight's Children (and a pinch of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel).
P- it sounds like book soup
Deb -- that's about right! I actually had to go check my measuring spoon set to be certain that a dash is larger than a pinch! 
We did all except Rushdie's Midnight's Children as face-to-face book club reads. My favorite read of the group is Infidel -- whether or not one believes all or even just a tiny fraction of her story, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a fascinating human being. I found none of the others easy nor particularly pleasant going, but still glad to have encountered them -- well, I of M is probably the easiest read because it is broken down into a series of stories. White Teeth is easy to put down, but I found it worth finishing when I finally did -- which was probably not in time for the month's discussion, if I recall. I must have tried Midnight's Children at least three times before I finally stayed with it. Now, I would go back and read it again someday, and I read a library copy! Maybe there will be a used copy at next summer's community book sale, so I can have my own to underline if I do get to it again.
So far, I really like the recording of Brick Lane -- better than reading it.
Melissa_W
