Tourism (Vintage Original)
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Review
"* 'The best debut novel I have ever read - monumentally sexy, seriously shocking and touched with genius' - Julie Burchill"
Eliza Charlton – Sunday Telegraph
‘promising debut’
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A disparaging review in the Metro had the perverse effect of making me rush to Waterstones. I guess there really is no such thing as bad advertising. I saw the cover, skimmed the blurb and bought the book. Being a twentysomething Sikh guy living in london for the past few years, I wondered if the book chimed with my experiences.
There is some overlap in the protagonist's childhood and mine. In parts my views agreed with the author's, some admittedly politically unfriendly. Ultimately though, the overlap is superficial. Instead of seeing myself, I visualised the handful of arrogant idiots I'd met when first arriving in london.
Puppy is loathsome. I have no problem with people spending their lives smoking, drinking, screwing and aimlessly drifting through life. It's a free country. It's the lying, free-loading and cheating that's difficult to stomach. Puppy succeeds in being a loser, despite innate intelligence. He experiences fleeting moments of happiness, instead being generally depressed. He certainly doesn't live up to the billing of "living life to the full".
The author is harsh in his view of london, clinically disecting races and the sexes into predefined stereotypes. The book also contains a shed-load of sex scenes, making it often read like it's written by a frustrated teenager, or someone frustrated they missed out on that aspect of their youth. Nevertheless I found Tourism entertaining. It certainly isn't for everyone's tastes, being too blunt in many respects.
There is some overlap in the protagonist's childhood and mine. In parts my views agreed with the author's, some admittedly politically unfriendly. Ultimately though, the overlap is superficial. Instead of seeing myself, I visualised the handful of arrogant idiots I'd met when first arriving in london.
Puppy is loathsome. I have no problem with people spending their lives smoking, drinking, screwing and aimlessly drifting through life. It's a free country. It's the lying, free-loading and cheating that's difficult to stomach. Puppy succeeds in being a loser, despite innate intelligence. He experiences fleeting moments of happiness, instead being generally depressed. He certainly doesn't live up to the billing of "living life to the full".
The author is harsh in his view of london, clinically disecting races and the sexes into predefined stereotypes. The book also contains a shed-load of sex scenes, making it often read like it's written by a frustrated teenager, or someone frustrated they missed out on that aspect of their youth. Nevertheless I found Tourism entertaining. It certainly isn't for everyone's tastes, being too blunt in many respects.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I must admit the cover of this book caught my eye, I am quite sure that the sales would have been much lower if not for the image on the book. I was really put off by the author's freeloading attitude towards life, total self obsession and disregard for anything else but his own needs. This book is obviously largely autobiographical in parts and Nirpal must believe he is God's gift. It was only after I was half way through the book that I twigged that he was the geezer married to Liz Jones, they make a living displaying their lives to the general public. I must say that I thought that the parts describing his life as 'minority' school child were great and really struck a chord with me. I thought the ending was disappointing and stupid, he could have done so much better. I enjoyed the sex scenes.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If Tourism were a package holiday, it would be a gerry-built Spanish resort dump on the Costa Del Crap, circa 1974. This is a truly woeful piece of construction - a muddled, confused, half-baked "creative" writing course novel-by-the numbers. It's full of bad sex, banal dialogue and characters so wooden, the author should take up carpentry and ditch writing. Had it not been for the gratuitous support of his columnist wife, Liz Jones, Tourism would've crashed and burned long ago. Utter rubbish.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tourism
I saw this book at my local Library and kept waiting for it to come back in to the system so i could borrow it. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Rubber Duck
Probably more autobiography than first novel
I wanted to read this because I've been addicted to Liz Jones' columns for years.
Dhaliwal is very clever, but very conscious of it. Read more
Dhaliwal is very clever, but very conscious of it. Read more
Published 14 months ago by HC1977
Self loving rubbish
I got this when I was going out with a truly lovely Sikh girl, hoping for a bit of insight. This book did absolutely no favours to either Sikh men, men, Londoners or humans in... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Andy M
Amazingly written...
... Actually I am halfway through this novel and I am amazed- extremely completely and utterly dazed by this glorius, dark, sexy yet vulgar, excruciatingly painful novel... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2007 by Ms. Rakhee Shivraj
Dreadful
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. My dog could have done a better job. The story was unrealistic and boring. Don't waste your money on it.
Published on 28 May 2007 by S. Hetherington
Well worth a read
This was slated by many critics, which after reading, i believe was due to sour grapes at him getting a book deal so easily - being Mr Liz Jones isn't going to hurt when looking... Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2007 by NB
Deeply unpleasant, but not in an interesting way
It seems really disturbing that in an age dominated by celebrity TV and soul-baring Hello-style interviews, even supposed "literary fiction" is not immune. The reason I say this? Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2007 by John Fraser
On the edge
Is this really a good book? It is certainly readable.
It seems to me that the author has taken the nihilistic ambitions of Houllebecq, the pop attraction of Bret Easton... Read more
It seems to me that the author has taken the nihilistic ambitions of Houllebecq, the pop attraction of Bret Easton... Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2006 by Goose
Rough going
Thought I'd read this book after seeing quite a controversial book cover in my local book store. I read the reviews inside and thought 'hey, why not'! Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2006 by Uncle Moley
Couldnt stand "Puppy", but I couldnt put it down.
In all honesty, I couldn't stand the main character, the lewd gratuitous descriptions of sex, there didn't seem to be any kind of plot or direction - but I simply COULD NOT put it... Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2006 by Hardeep
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