The Buddha of Suburbia (novel)

The Buddha of Suburbia ( Original: The Buddha of Suburbia ) is a Bildungsroman of the British writer Hanif Kureishi. It was first published in 1990 ( ISBN 978-0-571-14274-3 ). The book was awarded the Whitbread Book Award for Best First Novel. It has been translated into over 20 languages.

Content and themes

The Buddha of Suburbia is very autobiographical. This is Karim Amir, a 17 -year-old half - Indian, half - English. He finds it due to its origin difficult to find his identity, and therefore makes new experiences in London in the 1970s.

His story of how he met the city and makes both cultural and heterosexual and homosexual experiences, as portrayed an odyssey.

Pop music plays a significant role in the novel. So Karim speaks in the book by a sound that London had.

An important topic are also class differences in England. So Karim meets a Welshman who is the supporter of Trotskyism and tried to persuade Karim to a party admission. At the same time Karim along with Eleanor, who belonged to the upper middle class. Karim learns thus that people respond differently due to their different educational background.

In the novel, is also the emerging conservatism which does not prejudge the Thatcherism described. A time when the foreigners in Britain were often treated as invaders and were excluded.

Mini - series

In 1993, the novel by the BBC has been implemented as a mini - series by the director Roger Michell for television. The role of Karim Amir embodies Naveen Andrews.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the mini- series The Buddha of Suburbia is by David Bowie. With the exception of the title song " The Buddha of Suburbia " to distinguish the songs of the album published by those who played in the series.

The song reached number 35 on the UK Singles Charts.