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IV Becoming a novelist, 1986–1991
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Ruvani Ranasinha
Abstract
After the astonishing success of My Beautiful Laundrette, now in his mid-thirties and wondering where to go next with his writing, Kureishi was encouraged by literary heavyweights Salman Rushdie and V.S. Naipaul to write a novel. Casting around for a subject, he realised the wider political implications of his personal story. His father’s migration and his own upbringing formed a huge, yet still unnoticed, subject: he was living through a revolution in how Britain saw itself. But he also wanted to reinvent what a novel might do, and especially to entertain the reader. From the collaborative medium of film, Kureishi moved to the first-person novel form to explore an unmediated relationship with his audience. The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) cemented his literary reputation, scooping up the Whitbread Award for best first novel.
You are currently not able to access this content.
Abstract
After the astonishing success of My Beautiful Laundrette, now in his mid-thirties and wondering where to go next with his writing, Kureishi was encouraged by literary heavyweights Salman Rushdie and V.S. Naipaul to write a novel. Casting around for a subject, he realised the wider political implications of his personal story. His father’s migration and his own upbringing formed a huge, yet still unnoticed, subject: he was living through a revolution in how Britain saw itself. But he also wanted to reinvent what a novel might do, and especially to entertain the reader. From the collaborative medium of film, Kureishi moved to the first-person novel form to explore an unmediated relationship with his audience. The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) cemented his literary reputation, scooping up the Whitbread Award for best first novel.
You are currently not able to access this content.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Plates x
- Family tree xii
- Works by Hanif Kureishi xiv
- Preface xvi
- Note on the text xxxi
- I Origins 1
- 1 Audrey 2
- 2 Shanoo 8
- 3 Boyhood 25
- 4 School days 38
- 5 Bromley Technical High School 42
- 6 David Goatley 54
- 7 Made in suburbia 59
- 8 James Baldwin 67
- 9 E.R. Braithwaite and ‘Run Hard Black Man’ 71
- 10 Rafiushan Kureishi, The Nation of Pakistan 78
- 11 Uncle Omo 84
- 12 ‘A turning point’ 86
- 13 The tribe of Kureishi 90
- 14 Family fractures 95
- 15 College years with Julia Cutmore 98
- II Plays, 1973–1983 107
- 16 University of Lancaster 108
- 17 Whitehall Road, again 115
- 18 King’s College London 119
- 19 The Royal Court 124
- 20 Paul Holub and philosophy at King’s 129
- 21 King’s Road and the Bromley Contingent 134
- 22 Sally Whitman and friends 139
- 23 Punk libertarianism 145
- 24 Leaving King’s 151
- 25 ‘A room of one’s own’ 156
- 26 Riverside Studios 159
- 27 Soho Poly Theatre 163
- 28 Postcolonial rancour 166
- 29 Salman Rushdie 173
- 30 Max Stafford-Clark 177
- 31 Outskirts and Tomorrow-Today! 180
- 32 Borderline 188
- 33 The politics of race 202
- 34 Birds of Passage 207
- 35 New directions 211
- III Films, 1984–1988 213
- 36 Karachi 214
- 37 Return to London 230
- 38 The genesis of My Beautiful Laundrette 236
- 39 Stephen Frears 241
- 40 Developing and filming My Beautiful Laundrette 245
- 41 Robert McCrum 257
- 42 Success 260
- 43 America 268
- 44 Writing and filming Sammy and Rosie Get Laid 278
- 45 Tracey Scoffield 290
- 46 A new politics of representation 298
- IV Becoming a novelist, 1986–1991 305
- 47 Journalism and short stories 306
- 48 ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ 312
- 49 Deborah Rogers 319
- 50 Defining his project 322
- 51 ‘Baby Girl’ 326
- 52 ‘England’s a nice place if you’re rich, but otherwise it’s a fucking swamp of prejudice, class confusion . . .’ 331
- 53 Hanif and Karim 336
- 54 Collaborations 342
- 55 ‘The first crow . . . flying across the sky’ 348
- 56 ‘Esther’, London Kills Me and ‘Associations’ 361
- 57 The reception of The Buddha of Suburbia 374
- 58 Filming London Kills Me 390
- V Fathers and sons, 1991–1998 399
- 59 Aftermath 400
- 60 ‘Mysteries of London’ 406
- 61 The Black Album 409
- 62 Without Shanoo 433
- 63 Adam Phillips 438
- 64 The TV adaptation of The Buddha of Suburbia 442
- 65 Class of 1993 452
- 66 The Faber Book of Pop 456
- 67 Becoming a father 460
- 68 ‘My Son the Fanatic’ 466
- 69 My Son the Fanatic 469
- VI Private lives, new beginnings, 1995–2001 479
- 70 Monique Proudlove 480
- 71 Love in a Blue Time 485
- 72 Intimacy 503
- 73 New beginnings 522
- 74 Sleep With Me 531
- 75 Kier Raphael Proudlove Kureishi 537
- 76 Fresh shoots 542
- 77 Gabriel’s Gift 547
- 78 ‘Goodbye Mother’ 553
- 79 Filming Intimacy 556
- VII The turn inwards 561
- 80 9/11 562
- 81 Dreaming and Scheming 566
- 82 The Body and Other Stories 571
- 83 The Mother 584
- 84 New collaborations 594
- 85 When the Night Begins 598
- 86 My Ear at His Heart 600
- 87 Venus 622
- 88 The Word and the Bomb and ‘Weddings and Beheadings’ 633
- 89 For God and the Empire 641
- 90 Something to Tell You 645
- 91 The Black Album 662
- VIII Love and hate, 2008–2014 667
- 92 Family affairs 668
- 93 Kingston University and creative writing courses 673
- 94 John Cheever and Collected Stories 678
- 95 Istancool Liberatum Festival, Pinter Prize and Jaipur 685
- 96 The right fork 688
- 97 Adam Woricker 691
- 98 Karachi Literary Festival 695
- 99 Le Week-end 702
- 100 Reading, writing and life-writing in a post-literary culture 711
- 101 Creative writing courses, again 729
- 102 Approaching sixty 734
- 103 ‘It really was the end of something, for all of us’ 739
- 104 Love+Hate 741
- 105 ‘To Sir, With Love’ 749
- IX Late style 757
- 106 ‘If Their Lips Weren’t Sealed by Fear’ 758
- 107 The Nothing 760
- 108 What Happened? and ‘This is the End’ 771
- Afterword 786
- Postscript 794
- Acknowledgements 797
- Notes 799
- Index 859
- Plates 876
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Plates x
- Family tree xii
- Works by Hanif Kureishi xiv
- Preface xvi
- Note on the text xxxi
- I Origins 1
- 1 Audrey 2
- 2 Shanoo 8
- 3 Boyhood 25
- 4 School days 38
- 5 Bromley Technical High School 42
- 6 David Goatley 54
- 7 Made in suburbia 59
- 8 James Baldwin 67
- 9 E.R. Braithwaite and ‘Run Hard Black Man’ 71
- 10 Rafiushan Kureishi, The Nation of Pakistan 78
- 11 Uncle Omo 84
- 12 ‘A turning point’ 86
- 13 The tribe of Kureishi 90
- 14 Family fractures 95
- 15 College years with Julia Cutmore 98
- II Plays, 1973–1983 107
- 16 University of Lancaster 108
- 17 Whitehall Road, again 115
- 18 King’s College London 119
- 19 The Royal Court 124
- 20 Paul Holub and philosophy at King’s 129
- 21 King’s Road and the Bromley Contingent 134
- 22 Sally Whitman and friends 139
- 23 Punk libertarianism 145
- 24 Leaving King’s 151
- 25 ‘A room of one’s own’ 156
- 26 Riverside Studios 159
- 27 Soho Poly Theatre 163
- 28 Postcolonial rancour 166
- 29 Salman Rushdie 173
- 30 Max Stafford-Clark 177
- 31 Outskirts and Tomorrow-Today! 180
- 32 Borderline 188
- 33 The politics of race 202
- 34 Birds of Passage 207
- 35 New directions 211
- III Films, 1984–1988 213
- 36 Karachi 214
- 37 Return to London 230
- 38 The genesis of My Beautiful Laundrette 236
- 39 Stephen Frears 241
- 40 Developing and filming My Beautiful Laundrette 245
- 41 Robert McCrum 257
- 42 Success 260
- 43 America 268
- 44 Writing and filming Sammy and Rosie Get Laid 278
- 45 Tracey Scoffield 290
- 46 A new politics of representation 298
- IV Becoming a novelist, 1986–1991 305
- 47 Journalism and short stories 306
- 48 ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ 312
- 49 Deborah Rogers 319
- 50 Defining his project 322
- 51 ‘Baby Girl’ 326
- 52 ‘England’s a nice place if you’re rich, but otherwise it’s a fucking swamp of prejudice, class confusion . . .’ 331
- 53 Hanif and Karim 336
- 54 Collaborations 342
- 55 ‘The first crow . . . flying across the sky’ 348
- 56 ‘Esther’, London Kills Me and ‘Associations’ 361
- 57 The reception of The Buddha of Suburbia 374
- 58 Filming London Kills Me 390
- V Fathers and sons, 1991–1998 399
- 59 Aftermath 400
- 60 ‘Mysteries of London’ 406
- 61 The Black Album 409
- 62 Without Shanoo 433
- 63 Adam Phillips 438
- 64 The TV adaptation of The Buddha of Suburbia 442
- 65 Class of 1993 452
- 66 The Faber Book of Pop 456
- 67 Becoming a father 460
- 68 ‘My Son the Fanatic’ 466
- 69 My Son the Fanatic 469
- VI Private lives, new beginnings, 1995–2001 479
- 70 Monique Proudlove 480
- 71 Love in a Blue Time 485
- 72 Intimacy 503
- 73 New beginnings 522
- 74 Sleep With Me 531
- 75 Kier Raphael Proudlove Kureishi 537
- 76 Fresh shoots 542
- 77 Gabriel’s Gift 547
- 78 ‘Goodbye Mother’ 553
- 79 Filming Intimacy 556
- VII The turn inwards 561
- 80 9/11 562
- 81 Dreaming and Scheming 566
- 82 The Body and Other Stories 571
- 83 The Mother 584
- 84 New collaborations 594
- 85 When the Night Begins 598
- 86 My Ear at His Heart 600
- 87 Venus 622
- 88 The Word and the Bomb and ‘Weddings and Beheadings’ 633
- 89 For God and the Empire 641
- 90 Something to Tell You 645
- 91 The Black Album 662
- VIII Love and hate, 2008–2014 667
- 92 Family affairs 668
- 93 Kingston University and creative writing courses 673
- 94 John Cheever and Collected Stories 678
- 95 Istancool Liberatum Festival, Pinter Prize and Jaipur 685
- 96 The right fork 688
- 97 Adam Woricker 691
- 98 Karachi Literary Festival 695
- 99 Le Week-end 702
- 100 Reading, writing and life-writing in a post-literary culture 711
- 101 Creative writing courses, again 729
- 102 Approaching sixty 734
- 103 ‘It really was the end of something, for all of us’ 739
- 104 Love+Hate 741
- 105 ‘To Sir, With Love’ 749
- IX Late style 757
- 106 ‘If Their Lips Weren’t Sealed by Fear’ 758
- 107 The Nothing 760
- 108 What Happened? and ‘This is the End’ 771
- Afterword 786
- Postscript 794
- Acknowledgements 797
- Notes 799
- Index 859
- Plates 876
