Hanif Kureishi's writing is brilliant, witty, and stark. I just found the emotional brutality of the relationship between the famous filmmaker and his wife as s he is dying to be just that....emotionally brutal. Brutality trumped brilliance in this novel. ( )

The Nothing by Hanif Kureishi is certainly not for everyone. I enjoyed reading the vulgar, snarky, grumpy, cynical inner thoughts of an old, wheel-chair-bound, still-a-somebody-at-retirement film director. The old man listens unmoving to the fornication of his younger wife with another man in the next room as he recounts events of the past and plots his revenge. With the help of his muse, a famous and beautiful actress, he stumbles through his revenge, while creating his last masterpiece made up of the damning evidence of his wife's infidelity. Pornographic and unforgiving, at times messy, at times humorous, the plot meanders from coincidence to coincidence, taking advantage of each one with relish. Kureishi does a very good job of limiting the information to one point of view, seeding doubt at every turn about just who has the upper hand.

Recommended for film buffs, lovers of pornography, good food, and mystery.

Many thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for a copy of the novella for my review. I enjoyed reading this little gem! ( )

"One night, when I am old, sick, right out of semen, and don't need things to get any worse, I hear noises again."

So begins Hanif Kureishi’s abrasive and disconcerting novel, THE NOTHING. From that very first sentence, we're on a bizarre joyride with Waldo, one of the most unusual narrators in recent fiction. And, frankly, I wasn't always sure I wanted to be along for the ride. Thankfully, it was a short ride.

There was something about Waldo that just wasn't happening for me. Maybe it's the wrong time to be reading about dirty old men. Whatever it is, I couldn't get past my distaste. Of course, we're *supposed* to find Waldo distasteful and hard to like. But I think we're also supposed to see a certain wit and roguish charm in him and enjoy his wicked glee. Mostly, I didn't. But I'll give it to Kureishi: he isn't pulling any punches here. He certainly takes a risk and goes for it.

I hadn't read any of his novels prior to this, but I had read a few of his essays and short stories here and there, and I've enjoyed several of the movies he scripted very much indeed.

So, I certainly won't close my mind to the possibility of enjoying some of his other novels. There is intelligence and fine prose on display in THE NOTHING, and even some laughs. But, on the whole, I didn't find it to be a success.

(Thank you to Faber & Faber for a complimentary advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.) ( )

3.5 stars, I think. It's hard to rate compelling fiction with disagreeable characters.

It's always a pleasure to read Kureishi, and this is shot through with vivid descriptions and black humour on every page. A bawdy, obnoxious, clever novella about a loathsome character, Waldo, a celebrated filmmaker now confined to his home because of illness and advancing age. Waldo will probably balk if you called him a misogynist, but he thinks that "a woman is the ultimate luxury item". His wife describes him, because he's always seeing people through the lens of the camera, as having "savage eyes". That's a great commentary on Waldo's male gaze, but I'm not sure if Kureishi meant it that way.

It's a first person account of a descent into paranoia and sexual jealousy, and I laughed out loud at some points. Despite Waldo going on and on about his former fuckability and good looks, and how ugly people are to be pitied, I only felt sorry for him. The great seducer doth protest too much.

All in all, it's a great character study, but not much more.

Full review appears here: http://www.star2.com/culture/books/book-reviews/2017/07/07/book-review-the-nothi... ( )

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in a LibraryThing giveaway. I reviewed an uncorrected proof.

This is a book I struggle to assign a star rating to because there's always that voice in the back of my mind saying, "Don't give it a bad rating or you might not get more free books to review!" I didn't like it, though, so I'm biting the bullet and assigning it 2 stars. I didn't hate it - just didn't get into it - so 2 stars instead of 1.

This is the story of an elderly, infirm man with a younger wife he suspects of cheating on him. Rather than being a heartwarming story about the man's struggle with illness, change, loss of vitality, etc., it's largely a revenge story. All character development is via the man's point of view, and various factors make him an unreliable narrator. I couldn't sympathize with the protagonist even if he was dying. He was a jerk to his wife and friends, and there were far better ways to handle the events. Even if the other characters' behavior was unacceptable, Waldo is still a jerk. I can't help but think everyone would be better off with him dead. I just wish I hadn't wasted a few hours reading about this miserable cuss' last stand.

Also, this is grossly miscategorized as a black humor narrative. I love black humor, but this isn't it.

The only part of this I really hated was one dialogue about 2/3 through the book where in a conversation, a female character tells a male character he wasn't a rape victim (as an adolescent) because he wanted to be raped. No, male author, that's not how it works, whether the raped person is male or female. By definition, rape is an assault carried out against the victim's will. You cannot will something against your will. Rape is not simply rough sex and you should know better. ( )