A review by meganeorcx
The Black Album by Hanif Kureishi, Bernhard Robben

dark inspiring tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Pleasantly surprised by this book. Shahid floating somewhere between the fundamentalism of his Muslim friends and the liberalism of his white professor/lover was incredibly interesting and done well. The book is full of gorgeous passages, questioning religion, society, so much more. The writing did jump from one thing to another but I didn't mind as the book read easily and again, most passages were so worth it. It isn't a "fun" book, however, condemning nearly every group in society with a whole bunch of slurs attached to it. A lot of it actually helped define the characters but mostly the misogyny could have been cut in half as it more often than not felt like the writer's male gaze rather than that of the characters. That's my main critique as most of the novel was very interesting, setting and all. 
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