Intimacy (novel)

This is the article about the novel by Hanif Kureishi. For others works entitled Intimacy, see Intimacy (disambiguation).

Intimacy was published in 1998 by Hanif Kureishi. The novel deals with a middle-aged man and his thoughts about leaving his wife and two young sons.

Plot summary

Set in the contemporary London, the story tells why the protagonist wants to leave his family. The timespan of the novel is roughly 24 hours. The novel was loosely adapted to a movie Intimacy (2001 film) in 2001.

He has lived with his partner for 6 years and has known her for 10, he is unhappy in his relationship and has had several affairs. The trigger for him deciding to leave his wife is more or less that his young lover one day says to him. "If you want me, I'm here". After that he gradually admits to himself that he's not happy with his wife.

There is no actual development of the main character, and in the end he leaves the family.

Style

The writing style is similar to Imre Kertész's Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért (Kaddish for a Child Not Born)--inner dialogue mixed with flashbacks, explaining and contemplating the thoughts of the protagonist.

Major themes

Some of the themes of the book is the following.

• Old family constructs in a modern society.
• Sexual desires versus intellectual desires.
• Drug use isn't always followed by drug abuse.