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Brick Lane (Abridged) Audiobook
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(2.54) - 22 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Set in the gritty Tower Hamlets area of East London, Brick Laneis the story of Nazneen, an Asian immigrant girl and how she deals with issues of love, cultural differences and the human spirit. Nazneen is forced into an arranged marriage with a much older man whose expectations of life are miserably low. When they flee the oppression of their Bangladeshi village for a high-rise block in the East End, she finds herself cloistered and dependent on her husband. It soon becomes apparent that of the two, she is the real survivor and more able to deal with the ways of the world and the vagaries of human behavior. Through her friendship with another Asian girl, she begins to understand the unsettling ways of her new homeland.
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"It was a great ride. I love the narration style. The accents were so effective. The book will come as boring if you expect an eventful book. 'Brick Lane' is more about the daily routine of the protagonist and the evolution of her thoughts. Its a female emancipation story that feels down to earth."
— irem (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“It usually takes [writers] two or three books to establish their form—and yet Monica Ali already has a sense of technical assurance and an inborn generosity that cannot be learned. Brick Lane inspires confidence about the career that is to come.”
— New York Times -
“At once sophisticated and innocent, compassionate and entertaining.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“Splendid…Daring…Brilliant…Refreshing…Brick Lane is a great achievement of the subtlest storytelling.”
— New Republic -
“Brick Lane is as crisp and urgent as a headline…But the true pleasure of this wonderful novel comes from its timeless sense of wonder and affection for the haplessness of human nature.”
— Boston Globe -
“Already one of the most significant British novelists of her generation.”
— Observer (London) -
“Ali describes in quite an intricate way how a Muslim housewife might think and behave and what her aspirations might be. Brick Lane is a brilliant book about things that matter.”
— Granta -
“Brick Lane effortlessly dissolves the gendered false barrier between the social-political and domestic novel, often without ranging far from Nazneen’s cluttered flat and the pangs of her increasingly adventurous mind.”
— Village Voice -
“The immigrant world Ali chronicles in this penetrating, unsentimental debut has much in common with Zadie Smith’s scrappy, multicultural London…Carefully observed and assured, the novel is free of pyrotechnics, its power residing in Ali's unsparing scrutiny of its hapless, hopeful protagonists.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“[Monica Ali] is one of those dangerous writers who sees everything.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Awards
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Winner of the 2003 Barnes & Noble Discover Award for Fiction
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A 2003 Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Prize for First Fiction Finalist
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Winner of the 2004 Audie Award
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A 2003 New York Times Editor’s Choice
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A 2003 Guardian First Book Award Finalist
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A 2003 Man Booker Prize Finalist
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A 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Brick Lane Listener Reviews
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" This book was/is the worst ive ever read its so insignificant and boring its really sad "
— Benji, 2/17/2014 -
" Couldn't keep up with it. Wasn't very interested in it. Skipped to the end nothing really worth noting besides don't think you should read it.<br/> "
— Jayden, 5/18/2011 -
" This is a hard book to rate. I really liked some parts of it and didn't care for others. Overall I'd give it a 3.5. However, I think it would make great discussion for a book club, and I know I'll be thinking of this book for a while to come. "
— Leah, 5/15/2011 -
" The story of a young woman who is taught to accept her fate, and what happens when she finally decides to shape it instead. It wasn't a quick read for me, but I did enjoy it. Nazneen's life is just so different from mine, so it was like a glimpse into another world. "
— Jill, 4/26/2011 -
" I wanted to like this book, but just. couldn't. finish. it. "
— Whitney, 4/16/2011 -
" LbW selection, October, 2008. Enjoyed this story of Bangladesh immigrants in London and in their native country. <br/><br/>The movie is good, too. "
— Lily, 4/11/2011 -
" Eh. I remember trying to start this book a while ago and not being able to finish it. This time I stuck with it but not one of the best books Ive read. "
— Suzanne, 4/7/2011 -
" The story started off slow, but got me hooked in the middle---I wanted to know if the protagonist who was a passive woman explicitly, but bold/daring mentally would actually leave her husband for her lover---the ending was sub-par and out of nowhere... "
— Tina, 3/28/2011 -
" I would rather stick forks in my eyes than read this novel again. <br/><br/> "
— Kerrie, 3/17/2011 -
" Interesting book about the clash of cultures, generations and radical/tradional muslin religion. Worth the read. "
— Dgoll, 3/12/2011 -
" A female version of the Kite Runner. "
— Barb, 3/9/2011
About Monica Ali
Monica Ali was named one of the 20 best young British novelists under 40 by Granta. She is the author of five novels, including Brick Lane, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Guardian Book Prize, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was named a winner of the 2003 Discover Award for Fiction and a New York Times Editors’ Choice that same year. She was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in England. She lives in London with her husband and two children.
About Elizabeth Sastre
Elizabeth Sastre has narrated dozens of audiobooks, including Bed Rest by Sarah Bilston, Brick Lane by Monica Ali, and The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, which was an AudioFile Best Audiobook of the Year in 2004.