sarahmichigan | What I've been reading

"The Buddha of Suburbia" by Hanif Kureishi. I knew this author primarily as a screenwriter and one of his films, "My Beautiful Laundrette," is one of my all-time favorite movies. "Buddha" is a semi-autobiographical novel about a teenager/young 20-something named Karim growing up as a mixed-race person (British mother, Indian father) in England, coming of age, having love affairs with both men and women, traveling the world as an actor, and watching his father leave his traditional English job and marriage behind to become a Buddhist guru and living with a lover, Eva. It's funny and sexy and I enjoyed it.

and

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's powers of description are magnificent, and this book has an eerie and fable-like quality to it. You get more into the characters' heads in the novel than in the movie (which is also excellent, though). The tale starts when Will and Jim, two 13-year-old boys who live next to each other and have been friends all their lives, see a mysterious, dark carnival pull into town the week before Halloween. The carnival is tempting and enticing, but seeems to wreak havoc on the town residents. The boys and Will's father set out to break the carnival's spell on the town. I've always liked Bradbury's writing and should seek out more of it.

My full comments on both books here.