My Son the Fanatic
The short narrative is about a father, Parvez, and his son Ali who seem to be in conflict over their beliefs. Parvez and Ali had migrated to England a few months back to find greener pastures, but since their arrival into the new country, Parvez has noticed his son’s sudden change in behavior. After spending some days observing his son, Parvez fails to understand his son's behavior, so he decides to talk to some of his friends about it. After a long conversation, they come to the conclusion that Ali is perhaps using or dealing drugs. Parvez decides to confront his son.
However, on his way back home, Parvez meets one of his regular clients - Bettina, a sex worker he drives around in his taxi. He and Bettina are close, they protect each other. Parvez has rescued Bettina from abusive clients more than once. Parvez decides to share his dilemma with Bettina who insists on checking Ali’s health before confronting him about the drugs. Parvez observes his son for a few days and sees nothing wrong with his health, Ali has even grown a beard. Parvez, however, notices his son’s commitment to his faith. Ali prays more than five times a day and gives away his things to charity.
After confronting his son on his newly found dedication to Islam, Ali criticizes his father for forgetting his faith. According to Ali, his father has become too assimilated with the western culture that he even drinks a lot and eats pork, which is a taboo in their religion. Their arguments become heated over the days and at one point, Parvez gets home drunk and beats his son who only looks at him and asks, “so who’s the fanatic now?”
With Your Tongue Down My Throat
With Your Tongue Down My Throat tells the story of a young girl named England who is on a righteous path to reclaim her life after spending most of her teenage life working as a prostitute. The tale begins with Nina remembering her experience in an abortion clinic. During her time working as a prostitute, Nina was raped several times by her clients which led to the abortions; she also got addicted to drugs while dealing with the traumatizing experiences.
Now, she lives with her mother, Deborah, in a poverty-stricken area in London. Deborah is no different from her daughter, she has issues of her own. Deborah has had a history of dating dead-beat men, including Nina’s father, who use then dump her at the first sign of trouble. Nina’s mother has a longing for male partners which leads to her poor choice in men. Her latest boyfriend, Howard, is no different. Every Friday Howard comes over and takes Deborah out for dinner and ends up having sex with Nina.
Nina thinks her life choices are directly linked with the lack of a father figure in her life, so she decides to track him down. She first invites her half Pakistani sister, Nadia, whom she learned about at the age of 11. Nina despises her half-sister for having the life she always wanted, on with a father and mother who cared for her. After Nadia arrives in England, the two sisters become surprisingly close for a while but a dispute occurs when Nadia starts to fall for Howard’s charms. This prompts Nina to ask her to go back to Pakistan which Nina uses as a gateway into her father’s life. There she finds no love from her father, but she meets a young, kind man named, Billy and the two fall in love.
In this narrative, Hanif Kureishi, tells a tale of a young teenage boy named Karim. Born of both English and Indian parents, Karim is having trouble finding his place in the world. Karim’s father, Haroon, is an immigrant feels trapped in his life. His marriage is not doing well, and he is stuck in a job he hates.
Haroon starts having an affair with Eva, with whom he shares the same interest in Buddhism. Haroon begins his new path in Buddhism where he also invites his son. In one of these meetings, Karim sees firsthand his father’s affair which makes him uncomfortable. Karim seeks advice from his friends who prove to be of no help. The affair continues and Haroon leaves his wife and moves to the city with Eva.
Karim accompanies his father and ends up living a disappointing life. He starts a career in acting where he is faced with dealing with racist colleagues. Karim grows up hating people. However, the book ends with Karim realizing that the secret to living a happy and full life is to surround yourself with people who genuinely love and care about you.
