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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I genuinely don’t know if I would have made it through this book outside of a class. It’s not bad — in fact I really loved it — but it’s chaotic and detailed and hard to follow and you have to pay attention to every word and probably make a character list if you’re going to have any idea what’s going on. I guess what I'm saying is read it when you really feel like READING, like paying attention and taking notes and looking for themes, or read it with somebody else, so that when you want to throw your hands up in the air and write with a bunch of exclamation points, you have someone to encourage you.
3 stars
Read for book club and it was hard to get through, especially in the beginning. I think part of the reason I didn’t feel strongly about this book is because I literally didn’t understand most of the references - it’s a pretty intellectual book and it does make you feel a little stupid.
The magical realism is great and the human relationships are well depicted. I just don’t think I understood the allegory properly and that left me feeling like I didn’t fully grasp the book.
Read for book club and it was hard to get through, especially in the beginning. I think part of the reason I didn’t feel strongly about this book is because I literally didn’t understand most of the references - it’s a pretty intellectual book and it does make you feel a little stupid.
The magical realism is great and the human relationships are well depicted. I just don’t think I understood the allegory properly and that left me feeling like I didn’t fully grasp the book.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Classism
Once i get the character’s names in order, it becomes a fun and enjoyable read. The magical realism part of the story (or rather stories) works for me and issues of immigration/integration as well as colonizers/colonizes still as relevant as ever.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A hallucinatory sprawl of a book that drifts in and out of traditional plot and interlocking dream sequences. There's a lot going on here with regards to Islam and Indian culture that I simply don't have the necessary background to properly interpret. But more universal themes do emerge:
> The cyclical history of human nature as it relates to the experiences of emigrants and minorities, and the appeal of wild faith - religious or ideological, misguided or otherwise - to people on the margins.
> The metaphors of metamorphoses and monstrosity for the pressures of assimilation, acquiescence, and conformity on such people, and the reactions of society towards them regardless of what they do.
> The connection between religion and acting as different forms of performance, in particular the irreality of stage, screen, fantasy, illusion, dream, vision.
Maybe giving five stars to a book you don't entirely understand isn't exactly best critic practice, but anyone who gets a death sentence for writing a novel gets the highest place of honor on my shelf. (Something that frequently gets left out of the discussion, BTW, is that Rushdie, though now an atheist, was actually raised Muslim, so this isn't some interloper playing in someone else's sandbox.) Read alongside his recent memoir <i>Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder</i>.
> The cyclical history of human nature as it relates to the experiences of emigrants and minorities, and the appeal of wild faith - religious or ideological, misguided or otherwise - to people on the margins.
> The metaphors of metamorphoses and monstrosity for the pressures of assimilation, acquiescence, and conformity on such people, and the reactions of society towards them regardless of what they do.
> The connection between religion and acting as different forms of performance, in particular the irreality of stage, screen, fantasy, illusion, dream, vision.
Maybe giving five stars to a book you don't entirely understand isn't exactly best critic practice, but anyone who gets a death sentence for writing a novel gets the highest place of honor on my shelf. (Something that frequently gets left out of the discussion, BTW, is that Rushdie, though now an atheist, was actually raised Muslim, so this isn't some interloper playing in someone else's sandbox.) Read alongside his recent memoir <i>Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder</i>.
I tried. I really did. This book was so controversial, how could I not read it? I could not.
Maybe it was the timing. Maybe I will try again.
Maybe it was the timing. Maybe I will try again.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a difficult read. Not only because of the various details lost due to my lack of knowledge, but also because of how complex the prose really is. It's not at all like The Sound and The Fury, or Ulysses, but a poetic piece of writing that demands you sit with every page for several minutes to really digest what is being said.
As a result, the first half or so was a bit underwhelming for me. It wasn't until I found a companion piece via Washington State University that I began to truly understand what I was reading. Thank God for that! The second half of the novel really shines in its commentary on religion, skepticism, and the relationship between those two and the human condition. I didn't want to put it down from Part 5 onwards, which should highlight how much of a joy this was to read for me.
I've been told that this was a bad first novel to read of Salman Rushdie. I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment. Still, this effort was worth it.
As a result, the first half or so was a bit underwhelming for me. It wasn't until I found a companion piece via Washington State University that I began to truly understand what I was reading. Thank God for that! The second half of the novel really shines in its commentary on religion, skepticism, and the relationship between those two and the human condition. I didn't want to put it down from Part 5 onwards, which should highlight how much of a joy this was to read for me.
I've been told that this was a bad first novel to read of Salman Rushdie. I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment. Still, this effort was worth it.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
The narrator and his accent just seemed too over the top, it was grating to listen to. The plot of the book was really good and I'd have loved to have listened to the story if it was well told, unfortunately it wasn't. It was very convoluted and the characters were caricatures. Too overly dramatised.