Review

Intimacy
by Hanif Kureishi
published by Faber and Faber
"How do I like to write? With a soft pencil and a hard dick- not the other way round."

Hanif Kureishi is good looking and writes popular books. He is a nineties literary babe. The mainly female audience at the Pavilion Theatre last weekend were charmed and entertained by his dry wit and honest insight into sex, relationships and literature. Reading from his new novel, "Intimacy" he proved, despite recent controversy, he is as popular as ever.

Kureishi is no stranger to Brighton. He has appeared at the festival many times before. When reading from his last novel, "The Black Album" he told us how his characters went to The Zap, took E's and partied the night away. He said he carried out the research personally.
Again his new book is based around personal experience. Nothing new for a writer, so why has Kureishi recently attracted so much media attention? Following an interview in the Guardian supplement, his sister wrote to the letters page of the paper and accused her brother of lying about their upbringing in the suburbs of London, the subject of his celebrated first novel, "The Buddha of Suburbia."
Last weekend in Brighton, referring to his sister's letter, Kureishi said: "I am a writer of fiction. I tell stories in which I intrepret my experiences. People interpret their experiences differently."
So how did his ex-partner feel about his new novel about a man leaving his wife and two children. In Sunday's Observer she said: " There are sections of the book which are intended for me only and only I can understand them." She said she knew nothing about the book until two months before its release. A young girl in the Pavilion audience said she thought the book was written by a weak man, and condemmed Kureishi to the dustbin of crap men she had met. Kureishi said: "There is nothing wrong with being weak. It's completely natural." The audience chuckled.
In "Intimacy" Jay is a pleasure-seeking, sex-driven screen writer suffering a mid-life crisis. He has decided to leave his wife who nags him, bores him and doesn't want to sleep with him. He has a young mistress whom he meets secretly in his studio.
Jay says: "People don't want you to have too much pleasure, they think it's bad for you. Desire is the original anarchist and undercover agent - no wonder people want it arrested and kept in a safe place."
When his second child is born, Jay leaves the hospital to visit his lover at the time. His children do seem important to him and he knows leaving will hurt them. "Tomorrow I will do something that will damage and scar them." In Brighton he said: "You never leave your children emotionaly, it's all a very complex matter."
The sychophantic compere at the Theatre introduced Kureishi as a product of his time. Moulded by seventies hedonism and working it all out in the nineties. His honesty is refreshing and talking about his actions in the way be does you can't help but forgive him slightly. He still smokes pot and believes in free love.
It's all too easy to blame the seventies for your lack of regard now for what your family will think of your literature. He's an artist he can do what he likes. If only everyday mortals had the same excuse.

Ayshea Buksh


Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi published by Faber and Faber *"How do I like to write? With a soft pencil and a hard dick- not the other way round."*
	Hanif Kureishi is good looking and writes popular books. He is a nineties literary babe. The mainly female audience at the Pavilion Theatre last weekend were charmed and entertained by his dry wit and honest insight into sex, relationships and literature. Reading from his new novel, "Intimacy" he proved, despite recent controversy, he is as popular as ever.
	Kureishi is no stranger to Brighton. He has appeared at the festival many times before. When reading from his last novel, "The Black Album" he told us how his characters went to The Zap, took E's and partied the night away. He said he carried out the research personally. Again his new book is based around personal experience. Nothing new for a writer, so why has Kureishi recently attracted so much media attention? Following an interview in the Guardian supplement, his sister wrote to the letters page of the paper and accused her brother of lying about their upbringing in the suburbs of London, the subject of his celebrated first novel, "The Buddha of Suburbia." Last weekend in Brighton, referring to his sister's letter, Kureishi said: "I am a writer of fiction. I tell stories in which I intrepret my experiences. People interpret their experiences differently." So how did his ex-partner feel about his new novel about a man leaving his wife and two children. In Sunday's Observer she said: " There are sections of the book which are intended for me only and only I can understand them." She said she knew nothing about the book until two months before its release. A young girl in the Pavilion audience said she thought the book was written by a weak man, and condemmed Kureishi to the dustbin of crap men she had met. Kureishi said: "There is nothing wrong with being weak. It's completely natural." The audience chuckled. In "Intimacy" Jay is a pleasure-seeking, sex-driven screen writer suffering a mid-life crisis. He has decided to leave his wife who nags him, bores him and doesn't want to sleep with him. He has a young mistress whom he meets secretly in his studio. Jay says: "People don't want you to have too much pleasure, they think it's bad for you. Desire is the original anarchist and undercover agent - no wonder people want it arrested and kept in a safe place." When his second child is born, Jay leaves the hospital to visit his lover at the time. His children do seem important to him and he knows leaving will hurt them. "Tomorrow I will do something that will damage and scar them." In Brighton he said: "You never leave your children emotionaly, it's all a very complex matter." The sychophantic compere at the Theatre introduced Kureishi as a product of his time. Moulded by seventies hedonism and working it all out in the nineties. His honesty is refreshing and talking about his actions in the way be does you can't help but forgive him slightly. He still smokes pot and believes in free love. It's all too easy to blame the seventies for your lack of regard now for what your family will think of your literature. He's an artist he can do what he likes. If only everyday mortals had the same excuse.
	Ayshea Buksh