".. Eva was constructing an artistic persona for herself. People like her loved artists and anything 'artistic'. the world itself was a philre: a whift of the sublime accompanied its mention, it was an entrance to the uncontrolled and inspired. her kind would do anythign to append the heavenly word "artist" to themselves"

"i didn't knwo what to say. This was a chance, but i was frigntened of taking it, frightened of exposing myself and my failings. Unlike Charlie, my will wasn't stronger than my misgivings"

"his purpose in life was to ensure Eleanor's happiness, which was harder work than road sweeping, since she disliked herself so intensely. yes, Eleanor loathed herself and yet required praise, which she than never believed"

I knew this author primarily as a screenwriter and one of his films, "My Beautiful Laundrette," is one of my all-time favorite movies. "Buddha" is a semi-autobiographical novel about a teenager/young 20-something named Karim growing up as a mixed-race person (British mother, Indian father) in England, coming of age, having love affairs with both men and women, traveling the world as an actor, and watching his father leave his traditional English job and marriage behind to become a Buddhist guru and living with a lover, Eva. It's funny and sexy and I enjoyed it.

C'était assez bizarre et tordu quand même, bien que j'admets que la plume crue de l'auteur et certains sujets abordés sont importants.

This novel is a trashy, name-dropping wannabe examination of Culture versus culture, littered with self-contradictory observations, farcical humour (my least favourite kind) and awkward phrasing.

i thoroughly enjoyed it....hilariously poignant and insightful, and though there were a few moments i felt like it was sort of aimlessly rambling, that feeling didn't mean i enjoyed the story any less...and any accurate depiction of life needs some aimless rambling at times...

What the heck did I just read? And for class and seeing it on stage nevertheless?

"The Buddha of Suburbia" is a fascinating take on growing up a young man, half English, half Indian, in suburban London and trying to find one's place in the world. It also allows readers an interesting glance into Britain's past: racism, class, politics, theatre business, fame, music, sex, it's all covered. Bisexual Karim doesn't know what to do with his life, his father has left his mother to be with a white woman and invents himself as a Buddhist guru. Karim's sexual exploits leave him unhappy, but things start to change when he becomes an actor...

So yes, there's parts I enjoyed about this book. It rightfully depicts Englishmen of Indian descent as complex and also in parts problematic. They are neither made pure hero or villain. Karim himself is pretty unlikeable and the book does not shy away from tackling the complex situation in 60s/70s London especially in connection to racism, but also for me personally, fails to be truly realist. The read feels like realism but everything is so over the top and discussed in such a crass way, especially sex, that I couldn't enjoy it. I'm not being a prude and I don't mind explicit sex in books but I was oftentimes just disgusted. I liked how the book explored racism, queerness, even feminism to a certain extent, but I can't say I enjoyed reading the book per se. I can also see how eye opening and honest and influential it was when it came out and how it made many people feel seen in ways that I will never understand as a white woman, but reading the book felt voyeuristic and made me uncomfortable. Karim has no filter and everything in this book was just too much over the top for me.

3 stars and let's see what my class is going to see (geeeeeez, send help)

2.5.
Originally I was thinking 3 but it did drag a little bit towards the end.
It’s an enjoyable book with parts which made me smile or laugh. A little like Kerouac if written from a mix-raced British Indian perspective in the 70s.

I read this for a college class that I hated. I can't possibly give an accurate review as a result. I've heard good things about [a:Hanif Kureishi|13081|Hanif Kureishi|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1241220089p2/13081.jpg]'s films, so maybe I should give this - or other work of his - another try.