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Intimacy

By Hanif Kureishi

(60)

| Paperback | 9780571195701

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Book Description

"Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately."

Jay, the narrator of Hanif Kureishi's third novel, tells his story on the night that he is preparing to leave his lover, Susan, and their two boys. His departure will not be impulsive: "I have contemplated this rupture from all sides," Continue

"Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately."

Jay, the narrator of Hanif Kureishi's third novel, tells his story on the night that he is preparing to leave his lover, Susan, and their two boys. His departure will not be impulsive: "I have contemplated this rupture from all sides," he says. But it will happen. He and Susan live comfortably in London. Each loves the children. Yet Jay, "lost in the middle of [his] life," craves and depends on passion in life, and it is no longer there.

Known for "very funny works about serious topics" (San Francisco Review of Books) and his uncanny ability to capture the mores of our time, Kureishi strips away all posturing and self-justification to expose the flaws of his own protagonist and the failure of intimacy. Searingly honest, he explores the fears and desires that drive a man to leave a woman. Rarely has such challenging and complex emotion fit into so compact a novel; rarely has an experience both common and uniquely devastating been so courageously portrayed.

Critics

  • Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi - Review by Waterstone's Books Quarterly Online

    ... (read full critics)

    wbqonline published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

  • Intimacy

    “Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately," Hanif Kureishi writes. But wherein lies the fascination? In the rush of experiencing true love, or in the emotional schizophrenia of infidelity? Or is it hidden in the drudgery of serial monogamy? P ... (read full critics)

    raintaxi published on Fri, 3 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

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  • 1 person find this helpful

    "Telling the truth [about a couple] is always a precarious business, but Kureishi does it with seriousness, tenderness and upsetting aplomb"

    Is this helpful?

    venus said on Nov 28, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • "Tonight my predominant emotion is fear of the future. At least, one might say, it is better to fear things than to be bored by them, and life without love is a long boredom. I may be afraid but I am not cynical. I am trying to be resolute. Tonight, don't worry, I will set the record crooked.
    I sho ... (continue)

    "Tonight my predominant emotion is fear of the future. At least, one might say, it is better to fear things than to be bored by them, and life without love is a long boredom. I may be afraid but I am not cynical. I am trying to be resolute. Tonight, don't worry, I will set the record crooked.
    I should, too, consider what it is I love about life and other people. Otherwise I will turn the future into a wasteland, eliminating possibility before anything can develop. It is easy to kill oneself off without dying. Unfortunately, to get to the future one has to live through the present."
    [...]
    "The world is made from our imagination; our eyes enliven it, as our hands give it shape. Wanting makes it thrive; meaning is what you put in it, not what you extract. You can only see what you are inclined to see, and no more. We have to make the new."

    Is this helpful?

    araihC said on Jan 7, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • is easier sometimes to read that listening...
    is it easier to write than to talk?

    Is this helpful?

    Monica said on Jun 6, 2008 | Add your feedback

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9780571195701 Paperback $12.86 $8.61 The Book Depository
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