Dear Readers, my dispatches will always be free and open to everyone. I am unable to use my hands and I’m writing, via dictation, with the help of my family. If you could become a paid subscriber and support me, it’d mean so much. The flash sale will continue to the
I am little envious that Smith got to experience a convergence of literary filth and teenage hormones, sufficient to generate an updraught that was capable of carrying a book from horny teenager to horny teenager in her peer group. That kind of heat generates sparks, and sparks can take you anywhere.
I attended a violent comprehensive school where reading was not prized. Looking back, it is astonishing what a cultural desert it was. Where you might expect allegiances to form around bands or football teams, there was instead a bannerless tribalism, crumb-fed on fragments of pornography of the pictorial variety, and later in the form of a primitive gif file of a woman performing oral sex, that would crash the school computer network whenever it was run. We were brutes. It is a miracle that our floor-dragging knuckles overcame their own friction and gained a semblance of altitude.
From the perspective of a white, British man, my experience of this book was obviously very different from Smith's. She saw elements of her own life reflected in the novel.
For me, this was my first insight into a world that I had long coexisted with, but knew absolutely nothing about. The Asian kids at my junior school tended to be studious and insular; smart enough to pass the 11+ and vanish over the educational horizon. My interactions with the Pakistani community in my home town began and ended at a newsagents, close to my home, that would open on Sundays in a time when nothing else did. I would go in there sometimes to buy sweets.
My staggered discovery of The Buddha of Suburbia began with the David Bowie song, then the TV drama, then the book. It was a while before I made the connection with My Beautiful Launderette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, which I loved, and which had Roland Gift from Fine Young Cannibals in it.
'In Search of Genitals' could easily be the title of a Victorian travelogue. The account of a bespectacled, sandy-haired English missionary, who has fallen foul of a practical joke played on him by a malevolent translator:
“Another day where I hoped to catch a glimpse of the girthy palace spire, that I am told occupies the absolute centre of the city of Genitals. My guide blames sandstorms to the east. He assures me that, by the week's end, I will surely lay eyes upon Genitals, and be the first Englishman to do so in many centuries...”
Thanks for posting this, Hanif. I loved Buddha of Suburbia when I first read it, and Zadie Smith captures so much of what I love about it. (Most of what Zadie Smith writes about things in general, especially books, makes me want to cheer out loud.)
...Off to pick up that 2015 edition so I can read the rest of the introduction.
Love Zadie Smith - I hadn’t read this intro before but it’s fantastic. Although I’ve read the Buddha so often I’m pretty sure large chunks could be recited unaided her summary still brings something fresh, things that I hadn’t spotted before, which is one of the marks of a great writer to me. And of course I continually see new things on my rereadings too. I live in Kilburn so Zadie Smith is something of a local hero and I of course love seeing my neighbourhood reflected through her work. Although I didn’t grow up in London - my background was much more provincial (those small towns even more stultifying than any London suburb to me) - I read and reread these things as a teenager and moved first to Brighton, then eventually to London in search of what I found there, so much did it speak to me.
Hi Hanif, I'm 48, I read the Buddha of suburbia when I was 17. I utterly loved it. I struggle to read, but your book thrills me and makes me want to read it again. The only other book to do this is the go-between. Oh god it breaks my heart. Have you read the go-between ?
What a fabulous analysis by Zadie Smith. I read this book soon after it came out - in fact I bought a signed copy from Hanif himself in a Covent Garden bookshop - I think, but it was a very long time ago. I devoured this book and loved it - Zadie’s introduction here makes me want to go back and read it again l I’m the same age as Hanif, so recognised so much of what he was writing about. It’s all true, and the illicit joy of knowing exactly what the author is saying in a clearly naughty, i.e. anti-establishment capacity, just made this book more joyful. Generally, I don’t re-read books, although I always keep them because they’re like old friends who are part of my family. I’m going to really enjoy revisiting this old friend again.
I am little envious that Smith got to experience a convergence of literary filth and teenage hormones, sufficient to generate an updraught that was capable of carrying a book from horny teenager to horny teenager in her peer group. That kind of heat generates sparks, and sparks can take you anywhere.
I attended a violent comprehensive school where reading was not prized. Looking back, it is astonishing what a cultural desert it was. Where you might expect allegiances to form around bands or football teams, there was instead a bannerless tribalism, crumb-fed on fragments of pornography of the pictorial variety, and later in the form of a primitive gif file of a woman performing oral sex, that would crash the school computer network whenever it was run. We were brutes. It is a miracle that our floor-dragging knuckles overcame their own friction and gained a semblance of altitude.
From the perspective of a white, British man, my experience of this book was obviously very different from Smith's. She saw elements of her own life reflected in the novel.
For me, this was my first insight into a world that I had long coexisted with, but knew absolutely nothing about. The Asian kids at my junior school tended to be studious and insular; smart enough to pass the 11+ and vanish over the educational horizon. My interactions with the Pakistani community in my home town began and ended at a newsagents, close to my home, that would open on Sundays in a time when nothing else did. I would go in there sometimes to buy sweets.
My staggered discovery of The Buddha of Suburbia began with the David Bowie song, then the TV drama, then the book. It was a while before I made the connection with My Beautiful Launderette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, which I loved, and which had Roland Gift from Fine Young Cannibals in it.
'In Search of Genitals' could easily be the title of a Victorian travelogue. The account of a bespectacled, sandy-haired English missionary, who has fallen foul of a practical joke played on him by a malevolent translator:
“Another day where I hoped to catch a glimpse of the girthy palace spire, that I am told occupies the absolute centre of the city of Genitals. My guide blames sandstorms to the east. He assures me that, by the week's end, I will surely lay eyes upon Genitals, and be the first Englishman to do so in many centuries...”
A great book and great analysis by Zadie.
Thanks for posting this, Hanif. I loved Buddha of Suburbia when I first read it, and Zadie Smith captures so much of what I love about it. (Most of what Zadie Smith writes about things in general, especially books, makes me want to cheer out loud.)
...Off to pick up that 2015 edition so I can read the rest of the introduction.
Love Zadie Smith - I hadn’t read this intro before but it’s fantastic. Although I’ve read the Buddha so often I’m pretty sure large chunks could be recited unaided her summary still brings something fresh, things that I hadn’t spotted before, which is one of the marks of a great writer to me. And of course I continually see new things on my rereadings too. I live in Kilburn so Zadie Smith is something of a local hero and I of course love seeing my neighbourhood reflected through her work. Although I didn’t grow up in London - my background was much more provincial (those small towns even more stultifying than any London suburb to me) - I read and reread these things as a teenager and moved first to Brighton, then eventually to London in search of what I found there, so much did it speak to me.
What a fabulous review.
I now want to re-read Buddha!
Hi Hanif, I'm 48, I read the Buddha of suburbia when I was 17. I utterly loved it. I struggle to read, but your book thrills me and makes me want to read it again. The only other book to do this is the go-between. Oh god it breaks my heart. Have you read the go-between ?
What a fabulous analysis by Zadie Smith. I read this book soon after it came out - in fact I bought a signed copy from Hanif himself in a Covent Garden bookshop - I think, but it was a very long time ago. I devoured this book and loved it - Zadie’s introduction here makes me want to go back and read it again l I’m the same age as Hanif, so recognised so much of what he was writing about. It’s all true, and the illicit joy of knowing exactly what the author is saying in a clearly naughty, i.e. anti-establishment capacity, just made this book more joyful. Generally, I don’t re-read books, although I always keep them because they’re like old friends who are part of my family. I’m going to really enjoy revisiting this old friend again.
Brilliant! Love Buddha and White Teeth. Brought both to Tv
X
I simply loved that book, really loved, and still do