Summary of The Buddha of Suburbia
“The Buddha of Suburbia” follows Karim, a teenager who grows up in 1970s London as the son of an English mother and a Muslim Indian father. To Karim’s surprise, his seemingly dull, middle-aged father embarks on his own quest for identity and enlightenment. Reinventing himself as a spiritual guru, his father begins giving talks on yoga and Buddhism and moves in with Eva, one of his followers. In the second half of the book, Karim’s life takes a turn when he joins a theatre company and meets people from social classes far removed from his own, such as his girlfriend Eleanor and Terry, a Trotskyist from Wales.
Reasons to read The Buddha of Suburbia
“The Buddha of Suburbia” is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel that explores themes of identity, race, class, and sexuality in 1970s Britain, and paints a vivid portrait of immigrant Indian communities in South London. The novel won the 1990 Whitbread Award (now the Costa Book Award) for Best First Novel and was adapted into a 1993 BBC mini-series with music by David Bowie. Hanif Kureishi, an English author of Pakistani-Indian heritage, is also renowned for his screenwriting, notably the film “My Beautiful Laundrette”.
Setting: London – Bromley (England, UK)
Original title: The Buddha of Suburbia
Year of publication: 1990
Nr of pages: 304
