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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
En fantastisk historia bestående av religösa och kulturella betraktelser samt samtida kommenterar och populärkulturella referenser i denna i botten tämligen klassiska tragedi.
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have had a rough time with Rushdie in the past. I had heard about the controversy around The Satanic Verses but didn't know enough about it to truly register it. And then at university I was made to read Shame and as we all know, being made to read something significantly diminishes the chance you'll enjoy it. So Rushdie and I parted ways for a long time after that, until I saw The Golden House. And my interest was peaked again. Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Golden House is a truly modern book, a book that delights in the 21st century. Rushdie's characters live in the New York of now and throughout the novel he infuses the narrative with references to 21st century politics, pop culture and more. There is art, there is music, literature, the 2016 election, movies, clowns in the streets, so much makes an appearance in The Golden House that it is almost overwhelming. I personally adore social commentary in novels. I feel like it is one of literature's duties to reflect upon its own time and to draw lessons from it for readers. Think of how Les Miserables or War and Peace comment on Russia and France, and how both are obsessed with Napoleon. These novels told me more about the influence of Napoleon than my history teacher ever did. And so when I find a novel like The Golden House, which plunges itself headfirst into one of the oddest few decades to date, I can't help but love how topical and relevant is it. Will it feel dated in a decade or so? Perhaps, but it will always be a product of its time, a kind of ode to the optimism of the early years and the downward spiral of the latter years.
Rushdie really doesn't need me praising his writing style, and yet I will do so anyway. The Golden House is beautiful, how it blends together past and present, how its sentences run on and on and yet never lose their strength, how it doesn't forget itself in the middle of its social commentary. The style of this novel is flamboyant and effluent, and yet concise and meaningful at the same time. It always feel as if each of these words is supposed to be there, is necessary. Much like a Bach piece, take on word out and the whole thing may collapse. The Golden House is the kind of novel that comments upon the human condition, and that sounds more frightful than it is. With flawed yet human characters, plot lines that are too ridiculous not to be true, Rushdie poses the questions that lie at the core of our minds. What is good and evil? Can one be both at the same time? And what does that say about us?
I absolutely loved The Golden House and devoured it way quicker than I expected. This novel has something of everything and paints a truly human picture of the last few decades. Are any of the characters likeable? I couldn't really say, but their story will teach you something about yourself. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in Literary Fiction.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2017/09/review-golden-house-by-salman-rushdie.html
The Golden House is a truly modern book, a book that delights in the 21st century. Rushdie's characters live in the New York of now and throughout the novel he infuses the narrative with references to 21st century politics, pop culture and more. There is art, there is music, literature, the 2016 election, movies, clowns in the streets, so much makes an appearance in The Golden House that it is almost overwhelming. I personally adore social commentary in novels. I feel like it is one of literature's duties to reflect upon its own time and to draw lessons from it for readers. Think of how Les Miserables or War and Peace comment on Russia and France, and how both are obsessed with Napoleon. These novels told me more about the influence of Napoleon than my history teacher ever did. And so when I find a novel like The Golden House, which plunges itself headfirst into one of the oddest few decades to date, I can't help but love how topical and relevant is it. Will it feel dated in a decade or so? Perhaps, but it will always be a product of its time, a kind of ode to the optimism of the early years and the downward spiral of the latter years.
Rushdie really doesn't need me praising his writing style, and yet I will do so anyway. The Golden House is beautiful, how it blends together past and present, how its sentences run on and on and yet never lose their strength, how it doesn't forget itself in the middle of its social commentary. The style of this novel is flamboyant and effluent, and yet concise and meaningful at the same time. It always feel as if each of these words is supposed to be there, is necessary. Much like a Bach piece, take on word out and the whole thing may collapse. The Golden House is the kind of novel that comments upon the human condition, and that sounds more frightful than it is. With flawed yet human characters, plot lines that are too ridiculous not to be true, Rushdie poses the questions that lie at the core of our minds. What is good and evil? Can one be both at the same time? And what does that say about us?
I absolutely loved The Golden House and devoured it way quicker than I expected. This novel has something of everything and paints a truly human picture of the last few decades. Are any of the characters likeable? I couldn't really say, but their story will teach you something about yourself. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in Literary Fiction.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2017/09/review-golden-house-by-salman-rushdie.html
A friend passed the book to me after he’d finished it. “I didn’t like it very much,” he said, “but see what you think.” I was entranced at first, especially by the story of young D Golden, who struggles with issues of gender and sexuality. I know several people who have transitioned, and D’s experiences sounded familiar in all the right ways. I was frankly amazed that Rushdie, an author in his seventies, had gotten things so right.
But D disappeared from the story for most of the middle of the book, and when he did reappear, his life had changed into something I didn't recognize, something stereotypical and sad. And it wasn’t just this character but the whole book that had changed in this way, as if Rushdie was suddenly overtaken by a burst of melancholy while writing.
In the end, then, I was disappointed, but I do like the way Rushdie writes, and I hope to read more of his work one day.
But D disappeared from the story for most of the middle of the book, and when he did reappear, his life had changed into something I didn't recognize, something stereotypical and sad. And it wasn’t just this character but the whole book that had changed in this way, as if Rushdie was suddenly overtaken by a burst of melancholy while writing.
In the end, then, I was disappointed, but I do like the way Rushdie writes, and I hope to read more of his work one day.
I’ve been struggling to decide what rating to give this one - on the one hand, I love how Rushdie writes here, with clear fire in his pen, but on the other the long winded history of the family troubles pre their time in New York near the end of the novel lost me. For a book obsessed with and in a rage about our current political moment, I wish he would have allowed the past to remain ambiguous, informing the present without needing to be explicit. All that said, was engrossed for 80 percent of the novel, and would recommend a read!
This book was recommended to me by a friend who had mixed feelings about it, but I loved it. The prose is dense and somewhat pretentious, but I found the turns of phrase clever and a pleasure to read. The novel centers on the lives of a mysterious foreign millionaire and his three sons, with the narrator an observant neighbor. It's an interesting examination of the meaning of identity, wrapped around a twisting plot that kept me reading.
My first Rushdie. I can see what the hype is all about, and there were plenty of flashes of genius here, but he's no exactly coasting so much as boasting - see what I can get away with. The structure of the story is excellent - Nero Golden is an ostentatiously wealthy man who flees to Manhattan from an unnamed country (that is obvious and later named) with his 3 sons and a ton of illicitly earned money. His neighbor Rene is the narrator and tells the story of the Goldens. The story takes place during the waning Obama years, and Rushdie's best touch is the continuing commentary on Trump (who is The Joker in this tale).
Rushdie takes you out of the story with his pretentious references, never letting you forget that he is better read than you are. And he clearly is looking to impress you with his recent dive into gender studies, as he drops a massive knowledge bomb on gender identity throughout the book.
The tale gets pretty ludicrous as we go along. Rene's betrayal is not believable - it defies the reader to believe that he does what he does. And the 3 brothers slowly descend into predictable caricature. At the end, you're just glad its over. Overall, amazing writing, but a weak story. Guess I'd better do what I should have done all along and try Midnight's Children.
Rushdie takes you out of the story with his pretentious references, never letting you forget that he is better read than you are. And he clearly is looking to impress you with his recent dive into gender studies, as he drops a massive knowledge bomb on gender identity throughout the book.
The tale gets pretty ludicrous as we go along. Rene's betrayal is not believable - it defies the reader to believe that he does what he does. And the 3 brothers slowly descend into predictable caricature. At the end, you're just glad its over. Overall, amazing writing, but a weak story. Guess I'd better do what I should have done all along and try Midnight's Children.
intelligent, erudite, compelling - a story of modern times, of modern america, against the backdrop of the fabulously rich, powerful, and shady golden nero and his sons. or is it the other way around?
Though I love Salman Rushdie's creativity and his twists, I do not like his writing style. There is way to much exposition. The main character describes everything rather than having actual action. It just wasn't my favorite.