"Weddings and Beheadings" by Hanif Kureishi (story reading)

Hanif Kureishi is one of the greatest living writers.
Perhaps his most well-known work is a story which was made into a film "My Beautiful Laundrette" in 1985:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Beautiful_Laundrette

Even though this story is dramatised the facts are essentially true and what he reports happens every day in some parts of the world. The perpetrators are often very young. As he says, you can find plenty of such videos on the internet, if you can bear to watch them.

Books and videos can be obtained from the author's own website:
http://www.hanifkureishi.com/

The picture came from this wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanif_Kureishi

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Weddings
• Beheadings
• Hanif
• Kureishi
• War
• Video

[verysmartmart]

Wow, powerful stuff. Kureishi is a master.

[calibansvg]

Grotesque and wonderful, I loved it.

[LittlPussi]

Chilling story, well written and read. Compliments. I had to remind myself that this is a work of fiction (though inspired by a real situation) not documentary. That's how powerful it is. In its bleakness and quiet desperation it reminds me of the stories of Wolfgang Borchert.

[battlebauble]

SIGH! Devastating.

[nickidame]

Hideous-Beautiful

[jonno52]

YouTube is certainly strange at times. "Category: Entertainment". Hanif Kureishi is a magnificent writer. But I'm glad I don't have the imagination to create a piece like this.

[scifiwritir]

What a great short story! Thank you so much, Spoken, for uploading this. I've never read his stories. I love this one, the kind of sublime and painful deadpan. And you render the emotions so well. Wow! (Sorry, I'm bowled over. And when I'm bowled over all I can ever come up with is "wow!") -C

[MrHeslopian]

Beyond beautiful. The snatches of emotion in your voice almost made me cry at times. Tough and depressing, but also rewarding in a strange, strange way.