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The Buddha of Suburbia

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The Buddha of Suburbia

By: Hanif Kureishi
Narrated by: Christopher Simpson
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About this listen

 A Radio 4 Book Club Selection.

The hero of Hanif Kureishi's debut novel is a dreamy teenager, desperate to escape suburban South London and experience the forbidden fruits which the 1970s seem to offer. When the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre announces itself, Karim starts to win the sort of attention he has been craving, albeit with some rude and raucous results.

©1990 Hanif Kureishi (P)2003 BBC Audiobooks Ltd Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"An astonishing book, full of intelligence and elan." ( Publishers Weekly)
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I loved the book , have read it several times and have seen the TV dramatization several times but this for me was nearly spoilt by the standard of the recording. The tone of the narrators voice changed in different periods of the recording which I wonder was a fault in the production as on passage of narration would sound completely different to the next.

Wonderful story but spoilt by the awful narration

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The Buddha of Surburbia is a delight. It’s extremely frank, gloriously indecent, and perverse - and very funny. Be warned though it is raw and extremely explicit at times and definitely not for the easily offended.

Sadly though this Audible version is awful, it sounds like it’s recorded in an empty room on an old cassette recorder, and there’s something in the background, a TV or radio or something. Also the quality fluctuates from bad to worse and back again. As for the narrator himself, he sounds like one of my attempts to read out loud in English literature at school, although this does improve (or is it that I just got used to it?). Playing it at 1x2 helps a bit but not a lot. Also the chapters are out of sync, the physical book chapters starting in the middle of the Audible book chapters. Sadly this Audible version is a messy affair.

Brilliant book but Audible version is awful.

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I loved the book and the TV version was great too. All the actors are just as you’d imagined them in the story. It’s so funny in parts, it made me laugh so much. The narrator does a good job, but the recording is so bad in parts.
Worth listening to though.

Great book…

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Buddha of Suburbia is a much more subtle and complex novel than I thought it was going to be from watching one episode of the tv series as a kid, it is still so very pertinent in its observations and commentary. There is a lot of sex, for sure, and if he means it to or not, it is a lens through which to understand better the nature of the relationships. It’s a fascinating book, especially about ethnic minority identity in the U.K. and makes me wonder who else there is until Zadie Smith who even attempts to tread this ground with so much complex reality and honesty since.

A masterpiece!

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I enjoyed the story but it was spoilt by the editing of the narration. The narrator was fine it was just the editing. It was obviously not checked before being released. I listen to many audible books and this is the first time with this problem

Good story, terrible editing

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Worst quality audiobook I had listened to, you can clearly notice the start of a new recording session. I think at times the narrator left room while still reading and still recording.

Worst quality audiobook I had listened to

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...just as enjoyable as an audiobook. Now working my way through the other Kureishi books on here.

loved this book on first reading...

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Sound quality is slightly tinny but the performance is excellent, so just ignore it.

I’ve just watched the RSC’s adaptation of this and realised that I’d forgotten so much of this truly wonderful book.

Really really enjoyed it, and can’t recommend it enough. A modern classic.

Great choice of narrator

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The audio book editing was very poor with poor continuation and footsteps in one part.

Funny and thought provoking story.

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The audio is echoey and even has the sound of people talking in the background. A disservice to an otherwise good book.

Terrible Recording, Good Book.

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