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etakloknok's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
anaiira's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to write an entirely different review - one about how exhausting this book was to read and how pretentious it comes across, while fully missing the underlying point.
Much ado has been made about the comparisons between Nero and Trump, the tragicomedic rise to fame and power. What is much more clever, more subtle, and completely within our cultural blind spot is how René (the narrator) is the DNC. Or he represents the Democratic voters. He is a highly educated, erudite lover of popular and classical culture, of books and travel and film. He is a left leaning artsy type whose closest friends are bohemians and despite never saying anything about leaving New York manages to convey a worldliness obtained from vicarious living.
Far more than superficial stereotypes, Rushdie captures the aura of curiosity that surrounded the typical Democrat reaction to the rise of Trump. There's a sense that Rene is rubbernecking and intruding at the site of a traffic accident, curious about the fires enough to fan the flames yet still desiring some sort of distance and impartiality. His implicit disapproval and mild superiority (maybe it is actually defensive egotism) give him this air of standoffishness, but like iron to lodestone, he is dragged back into the Golden House to observe and dissect the inexplicable. His involvement with Russia was more discrete than the open marriage between Nero and Vasiliya, but more fruitful and more illicit, because it was not meant to be (perhaps echoing the DNC stance on American-Russian relations).
So then, the ending reads as if prophecy (or hope!) for the future. A sappy Hollywood ending where the dictator and the Russian strength backing him are killed by the ghosts of dirty deeds, after those ghosts have killed off any abnormalities in his genetic offspring (those of non-conservative mental, emotional, identities) and the dictator has learned to regret those losses and bemoan his ghosts. The DNC wins back his true love (the Democratic voters) with sweet words and patience and promises to never stray again. And we, the child of the DNC and Russia will be raised bathed by the the love between Rene and Suchitra.
---------
So yes. I was meant to be exasperated by René, as I am exasperated by the documentarian left leaning media and its consumers, all talk and no action, and what talk there is descends from the ivory tower. Clever. Subtle.
Also brilliant is the section on gender politics and identity. Eminently quotable. "But that is what we are, aliens, all of us. [] The point is to become more precise about the types of aliens we choose to be." And, very Wachowski-like, "To be forced into narrow definitions is a falsehood. To be told, if you are not one thing you are nothing, is to be told a lie."
Much ado has been made about the comparisons between Nero and Trump, the tragicomedic rise to fame and power. What is much more clever, more subtle, and completely within our cultural blind spot is how René (the narrator) is the DNC. Or he represents the Democratic voters. He is a highly educated, erudite lover of popular and classical culture, of books and travel and film. He is a left leaning artsy type whose closest friends are bohemians and despite never saying anything about leaving New York manages to convey a worldliness obtained from vicarious living.
Far more than superficial stereotypes, Rushdie captures the aura of curiosity that surrounded the typical Democrat reaction to the rise of Trump. There's a sense that Rene is rubbernecking and intruding at the site of a traffic accident, curious about the fires enough to fan the flames yet still desiring some sort of distance and impartiality. His implicit disapproval and mild superiority (maybe it is actually defensive egotism) give him this air of standoffishness, but like iron to lodestone, he is dragged back into the Golden House to observe and dissect the inexplicable. His involvement with Russia was more discrete than the open marriage between Nero and Vasiliya, but more fruitful and more illicit, because it was not meant to be (perhaps echoing the DNC stance on American-Russian relations).
So then, the ending reads as if prophecy (or hope!) for the future. A sappy Hollywood ending where the dictator and the Russian strength backing him are killed by the ghosts of dirty deeds, after those ghosts have killed off any abnormalities in his genetic offspring (those of non-conservative mental, emotional, identities) and the dictator has learned to regret those losses and bemoan his ghosts. The DNC wins back his true love (the Democratic voters) with sweet words and patience and promises to never stray again. And we, the child of the DNC and Russia will be raised bathed by the the love between Rene and Suchitra.
---------
So yes. I was meant to be exasperated by René, as I am exasperated by the documentarian left leaning media and its consumers, all talk and no action, and what talk there is descends from the ivory tower. Clever. Subtle.
Also brilliant is the section on gender politics and identity. Eminently quotable. "But that is what we are, aliens, all of us. [] The point is to become more precise about the types of aliens we choose to be." And, very Wachowski-like, "To be forced into narrow definitions is a falsehood. To be told, if you are not one thing you are nothing, is to be told a lie."
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
A novel filled with literary and mythological references, ironic and peppered with social commentary, this is not an easy or relaxed read. But I loved most of it, yes, even when I had to go hunting for some of the aforementioned references *laughs*
This is a book that pokes fun at the American Dream, social conventions, religion and politics. It's riddled with sarcasm and questions everything while still having a firm stand on those issues.
This is a book that pokes fun at the American Dream, social conventions, religion and politics. It's riddled with sarcasm and questions everything while still having a firm stand on those issues.
”Sometimes, watching him, I thought of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, a simulacrum of the human that entirely failed to express any true humanity.”
Yeah, we get it, you despise the man. And I agree although it's quite obvious that a lot of people in the USA weren't :P
Surrealist and almost a stream of consciousness the story of Nero's family in this new land is fascinating, painful and dreamy.
And the cinema references, Oh, I love them SO much!
So yes, I really, really liked it :D
And the cinema references, Oh, I love them SO much!
So yes, I really, really liked it :D
dietsmarrissjohnson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
jellyfishnthings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
hihinotem's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
helb_rostislavovich's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
malagajames's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the story of the Golden family and the political satire, but I felt the author was all over the place. He rambled on about Film Noir, Bollywood, Greek/Roman mythology. The ending was predictable and disappointing.
numail4me's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot. Rushdie is among the best. But I dont like when the storyteller keeps going back or diverts to tell about their knowledge of mythology, shakespeare, history, film, etc. We know you're the smartest person in the room, but just tell us a story, and keep the rest of that to a low hum. And can somebody please figure out how to end a book when it's over. It seems like every book I read lately has at least two chapters that go beyond where the book ended.I enjoyed this a lot.