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"How far are we willing to go to stay young? Hanif Kureishi - acclaimed author of The Buddha of Suburbia and Intimacy - explores the possibilities in this provocative story of an older man whose brain is surgically placed in a younger man's body by a network of underground doctors." Adam is offered the chance to trade in his sagging flesh for a much younger and m...more
Paperback, 159 pages
Published
2006
by ورد للطباعة والنشر والتوزيع -سوريا
(first published 2002)
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...هل فكرت يوما ماذا يؤول إليه حالك حين يصبح جسدك عبئا عليك , حين يمتد بك العمر طويلا ويكون جسدك الذي حملك طويلا وأنت في موفور صحتك شبابك عافيتك ونشاطك مجرد جثة هرمة تتعثر بها فلا تعرف الأفراح طريقها إليك ! ويصبح عليك أنت أن تبحث عن الفتات منها هنا وهناك , حين تلتفت ستجد أن هناك الكثير من الأحلام التي خلفتها ورائك , وهناك الكثير من الأماني التي سعيت لتحقيقها لكن وقفت الظروف جدارا بينك وبينها , هل يمكن أن تتدارك كل هذا وقد وصلت إلى الأحاسيس التي تشعرك إنك خارج هذا العالم !
حنيف قرشي و...more
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Kureishi uses sci-fi as a way to explore some of the philosophical questions that haunt all his work: What is my relationship to my body? To your body? How necessary is the pursuit of pleasure? How can we come to terms with old age? Can I reinvent myself? How much of myself do I owe my partner? In other words, Who am I? "The Body" is different from his other work in style as well as genre. The style is almost contemporary Japanese, like Haruki Murakami or Banana Yoshimoto. (I...more
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Adam is a famous playwright who is floundering through his twilight years. His body isn’t what it used to be, and neither is his patience. He isn’t dissatisfied with his life – he has children, a wife that still loves him, and he has succeeded in making a living, and a name for himself, from his creative works.
One night at a party, a young man tells Adam he is a big admirer of his work. He offers an opportunity to be young again by undergoing an operation that would transplant his ...more
One night at a party, a young man tells Adam he is a big admirer of his work. He offers an opportunity to be young again by undergoing an operation that would transplant his ...more
I really wanted to like this more as it was a present from a friend whose opinions on books I really respect.
It was well written, and it gave me a lot to think about, but it all just seemed a bit too well-planned, a bit too technically great. I didn't really care about the characters- I felt he was exploring the nature of the human condition all the time rather than thinking about how an actual person would actually behave.
The first story sees an older man has his brain trans...more
It was well written, and it gave me a lot to think about, but it all just seemed a bit too well-planned, a bit too technically great. I didn't really care about the characters- I felt he was exploring the nature of the human condition all the time rather than thinking about how an actual person would actually behave.
The first story sees an older man has his brain trans...more
What if you could have your brain transplanted into a younger body for a second chance at life?
Well, that's what this book explores. Adam is an aging playwright and teacher living in London who undergoes a pioneering medical "miracle" by having his brain transplanted into a dead, young body. He then leaves his home and family in London for six months to take a "vacation." What ensues is a hedonistic debauchery as he wanders through Europe encountering women and e...more
Well, that's what this book explores. Adam is an aging playwright and teacher living in London who undergoes a pioneering medical "miracle" by having his brain transplanted into a dead, young body. He then leaves his home and family in London for six months to take a "vacation." What ensues is a hedonistic debauchery as he wanders through Europe encountering women and e...more
This is beautiful prose with a gem of speculative fiction plot. Kureishi handles a successful man at mid-life beautifully, not going for the obvious. And he gets women so right, which I sometimes feel even the best male writers have a difficult time doing. Made me think.
i read this book a very long time ago but I remember having hated it. Perhaps I should re-read it in order to write a more honest review
An interesting book by Kureishi, vaguely sci-fi, but again touching on his favorite topics of age and sexuality.
Old man - young body.what is all the fuss about - very average. Other stories good / weird but a bit 'samey'.
Interesting collection of short stories. A good read that makes you think.
[Read as part of my ongoing quest to see whether I can truly enjoy short stories]
I really quite like Hanif Kureishi, especially when he writes about the kind of philosophical wonderings that preoccupy me.
A couple of times over the last year I've drifted into a daydream about the possibility of a brain transplant and what the result might be - which is what he deals with in the long short story that occupies the large part of this collection.
The other storie...more
I really quite like Hanif Kureishi, especially when he writes about the kind of philosophical wonderings that preoccupy me.
A couple of times over the last year I've drifted into a daydream about the possibility of a brain transplant and what the result might be - which is what he deals with in the long short story that occupies the large part of this collection.
The other storie...more
For me, the best surprise in this collection of short stories wasn't the main one, "The Body" (even if it was quite entertaining with its sympathetic main character, an old man willing to try a second youth), but the touching story untitled "Goodbye, Mother", in which a middle-aged man analyses his relation with his mother. I would also recommend "The Real Father". In my opinion, those two illustrate pretty well the lack of understanding that can exist between peopl...more
The short stories were a surprise cos I didn't read the front cover... Felt they were a bit of a rip off of Carver short stories - but perhaps after reading Carver, everything feels like that!
The novella was pretty absorbing and I was disappointed when it seemed to come to a rather abrupt halt. However, I do think this subject has been covered pretty fully in other literature - namely, of course, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The novella was pretty absorbing and I was disappointed when it seemed to come to a rather abrupt halt. However, I do think this subject has been covered pretty fully in other literature - namely, of course, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Instead of a novel of 240 pages, it appears that the book I was holding contained one novella and 7 short stories. I didn't expect the end yet, and it was therefore much too abrupt for my taste. What happens with the main character (Adam or Leo as you wish)...? Does he confess to his wife? I would have liked a more 'conclusive' ending...
Raises questions on the nature of identity and self. Very very thought-provoking. I found this book on our $4.95 paperback table, but Kureishi is a prolific and highly respected British writer so track his works down, wherever you can find them!
This is a short, quick read--a novella--about a topic that is very salient: our quest for perfection and youth. It's a kind of sci-fi, fantastical plot that's actually not that far-fetched. Not deep, but fun. Good plane ride reading.
This speculative fiction about the buying of new bodies is well thought out, well written, and grim, grim, grim. Probably right on target too. I suspect we'll find out soon enough (groan).
Glynn
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Humans
Recommended to Glynn by:
Ex-ex-ex-girlfriend
Five stars for The Body - a really gripping story of man who acquires a younger body, and struggles to get his old one back - but I can take or leave the other seven stories.
Super kratke zgodbe! Po moje vama bi bla vsec - zal ne vem, kam je izginila iz moje omare ...
liked it better than his novels, easier read maybe?
Worth reading, if only for Kureishi fans like me.
Another great book by Kureishi.
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Kureishi was born in London to a Pakistani father and an English mother. His father, Rafiushan, was from a wealthy Madras family, most of whose members moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. He came to Britain to study law but soon abandoned his studies. After meeting and marrying Kureishi's mother Audrey, he settled in Bromley, where Kureishi was born and worked at the Pakistan E...more
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“إن الأشخاص الذين يعيشون حياة ثانية، كالأشخاص الذين يتزوجون للمرة الثانية، يأخذون كل ما يقومون به عادة على محمل الجد على نحو أكبر مما كانوا يفعلونه من قبل. إذ"يبدو لهم أن كل لحظة هي أثمن من اللحظة التي سبقتها”
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“لعله من الخطأ أن عدم معرفة المرء بالأشياء الإيروتيكية والرغبة الدنيوية تساعد في قتل الرغبة. إذ يمكن للرغبة أن تجد أصغر فجوة تسلل منها”
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