Hanif Kureishi Knihy

Karim žije so svojim indickým otcom a anglickou matkou na londýnskom predmestí. Roky jeho dospievania zmení otcova premena zo sivého úradníka na „budhu z predmestia“, ktorý si opantá skupinku ľudí veriacich, že jeho východná múdrosť nie je len zásterka a spôsob, ako sa vymaniť z nudného života. Veľkú úlohu zohráva aj otcova nová známosť, krásna a ambiciózna Eva a ďalší ľudia, prichádzajúci do Karimovho života zo starého indického aj nového britského prostredia. Nastávajú roky plné dramatických zmien, sexuálnych eskapád, ale aj politických a spoločenských zmien. Román preložený do dvadsiatich jazykov voľne a veľmi vtipne reflektuje autorovo dospievanie na začiatku sedemdesiatych rokov v súvislosti s vtedajšou revoltou mládeže a celkovou spoločenskou situáciou. Veľkú úlohu v ňom zohráva aj populárna hudba, autorom soundtracku k štvordielnemu televíznemu spracovaniu románu bol David Bowie. Kureishi za svoj román získal Whitbreadovu cenu za najlepší debut roka.

Čo znamená byť otcom v čase, keď sa ženy o seba dokážu postarať samy ? Opustením Susan, ženy, o ktorej Jay vie všetko, aj to, že už s ňou nič nechce mať, sa príbeh jednej prebdenej noci začína i končí. A predsa ho čítame ako detektívku: zostane po tom všetkom niekto ešte nažive?

Od divadelného debutu Predmestie z roku 1981 je anglo-pakistanský rebel Hanif Kuresihi (1954) stálicou súčasnej britskej literatúry. Za scenár k filmu Moja krásna práčovňa získal v roku 1884 nomináciu na Oscara, román Budha z predmestia si v roku 1990 vybojoval Whitbreadovu cenu za najlepší debut. Po prvej zbierke poviedok Láska v čase smútku (1997) a kontroverznom románe Intimita (1998) sa Kureishiho precízny, chirurgicky presný hlas ešte zintímnil v útlej poviedkovej zbierke Polnoc celý deň (2000).

Hanif Kureishi je dramatik a spisovateľ pakistansko-britského pôvodu. Jeho knihy sú pre úmprimnosť výpovedí často pokladané za škandalózne, je nositeľom viacerých prestížnych literárnych cien a niektoré jeho knihy boli sfilmované. V slovenčine vyšli jeho romány Budha z predmestia, Intimita a poviedková zbierka Polnoc celý deň. Slávny filmár Waldo je vo svojom londýnskom byte ako vo väzení. Medzi štyrmi stenami ho drží vek a zlý zdravotný stav. Frustrovaného chradnúceho muža opatruje jeho krásna – a mladšia – manželka Zee. Waldo však nadobudne podozrenie, že Zee ho podvádza s Eddiem, ktorý je im „vyše tridsať rokov viac než známym a menej než priateľom“. A tak musí konať. Je odhodlaný previnilcov odhaliť, potvrdiť si podozrenia a pomstiť sa.

Love in a Blue Time is Hanif Kureishi's first collection of short fiction, gathering ten stories that explore identity and its relationship to sexuality, ethnicity, and gender. The stories are set in the post-Thatcher Britain of the mid-1990s, presenting a vision of a London depressed by economic stagnation, social disintegration, and the ubiquity of mass-mediated culture. Although Kureishi's exploration of these themes is rooted in a specific space and time, his book has broader resonances. Its exploration of the radicalization of Muslim youth in Britain became particularly pertinent after September 11, 2001, and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its treatment of relationships would be developed in Kureishi's later work, notably his controversial 1998 novella Intimacy.

The protagonist of Hanif Kureishi's delightful novel is Gabriel, a fifteen-year-old North London schoolboy trying to come to terms with a new life, after the equilibrium of his family home has been shattered by the ousting of his father. Fending for himself, as well as providing emotional support to his confused (and confusing) parents, Gabriel is forced to grow up quickly. The only support he can draw upon is from his remembered twin brother, Archie, and from his own 'gift', which is accompanied by sensations that urge him into areas of life requiring the utmost courage and faith. A chance visit to seventies rock star Lester Jones crystallizes the turbulent emotions inside Gabriel, and helps him to recognize and engage with his gift . . . 'A charming, light-textured fable about talent, about how single-minded creativity might embrace and even be buoyed by the heartbreaking muddle of everyday life.' Observer

Hanif Kureishi was voted the Most Promising Playwright of the Year in 1981 by the London Theatre Critics for his plays "Borderline" and "Outskirts". This selection of plays shows his development as a writer from his own perspective and from the perspective of the British theatre of the 1970s.

'Kureishi's screenplay is one of his most focused and engaging since My Beautiful Laundrette.' Allan Hunter, Screen International At sixty-five years of age, May fears that life has passed her by - that she has become just another invisible old lady whose days are more or less numbered. When she and her husband travel down from the north to visit their grown-up children in west London, she finds them characteristically inattentive. But then her husband's unexpected death pulls the ground from under her, and she subsequently embarks on a passionate affair with Darren, a man half her age, who is renovating her son's house and sleeping with her daughter, Paula. In the midst of this tumultuous situation, May begins to understand that it can take a lifetime to feel truly alive.

This acclaimed collection charts the course of Pop from its underground origins through its low and high art phases to its current omnipresence; it takes in fiction, reportage, fashion, art and fantasy as filtered through pop music and includes work by Michael Bracewell, Angela Carter, Nick Cohn, Bob Dylan, Simon Garfield, Nelson George, Germaine Greer, Peter Guralnick, John Lennon, Norman Mailer, Greil Marcus, Iggy Pop, Neil Tennant, Lou Reed, Simon Reynolds, Hunter S. Thompson, Nick Tosches, Andy Warhol, Tom Wolfe and Malcolm X, amongst others. Covering more than 50 years of writing from 1942 on, The Faber Book of Pop is the most stimulating collection of writing on popular music ever published.