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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Every page is so full of references to literature, mythology and music, word play, etc. that it's a very challenging, slow read. But Rushdie is such a good writer, with original ideas that sometimes made me laugh out loud. There are many passages and phrases that I remembered from reading this over twenty years ago, that's how much his book made an impression on me back then.
This time, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did back then. Obviously I knew what was going to happen, but I also changed as a person and my views on relationships and love triangles changed quite a bit. It wasn't emotional for me this time. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.
This time, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did back then. Obviously I knew what was going to happen, but I also changed as a person and my views on relationships and love triangles changed quite a bit. It wasn't emotional for me this time. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.
So how long did this take me to read? 3 months? That's pathetic.
This book is brilliant. Rushdie writes in an amazingly textured voice here, creating an entire universe that revolves around the lovers. After reading this book, it's hard to believe that Vina and Ormus aren't international pop sensations. Only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars from me was that I felt that Rushdie's heart wasn't in the more "supernatural" (I use the term loosely) aspects of the novel; he just didn't own it, which made it seem a little silly. Other than that: muah, brilliant.
This book is brilliant. Rushdie writes in an amazingly textured voice here, creating an entire universe that revolves around the lovers. After reading this book, it's hard to believe that Vina and Ormus aren't international pop sensations. Only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars from me was that I felt that Rushdie's heart wasn't in the more "supernatural" (I use the term loosely) aspects of the novel; he just didn't own it, which made it seem a little silly. Other than that: muah, brilliant.
I was attracted to this by the promise of a story about a fictional rock band — and I kind of got it, but not quite. Sure, the big part of this is a story about how powerful music is, and various made-up details about the made-up band called VTO, created by the central characters, are sprinkled throughout. But I got to say, David Mitchell's Utopia Avenue (the book I initially thought is stilted a bit and kind of faux rock'n'roll) is more about the music industry and musicians than this story.
This is one of those books that spends a lot of time establishing our main characters starting from their parents, and it takes many detours while doing so. This is a story about love, a modernised myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (and probably other myths I didn't recognise). Two worlds exist here, and the band is in a different one from ours. This side of the book was actually quite fun, it's entertaining to pick up all the differences (Watergate is only a novel in this world, Elvis Presley is named Jess Parker, but The Beatles are still The Beatles, etc.). Not quite the human world and the underworld of Hades though, just two different worlds. I'm sure if I dive into various articles about this book, I'll learn more about the mythological context of it all. But even without diving in, the surface was enjoyable enough to keep me interested even when I didn't like what the characters were doing. They are often unlikeable, but, with their backstories present, it's understandable why they're doing what they're doing.
Overall, I liked the book and its story more than I thought I would.
This is one of those books that spends a lot of time establishing our main characters starting from their parents, and it takes many detours while doing so. This is a story about love, a modernised myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (and probably other myths I didn't recognise). Two worlds exist here, and the band is in a different one from ours. This side of the book was actually quite fun, it's entertaining to pick up all the differences (Watergate is only a novel in this world, Elvis Presley is named Jess Parker, but The Beatles are still The Beatles, etc.). Not quite the human world and the underworld of Hades though, just two different worlds. I'm sure if I dive into various articles about this book, I'll learn more about the mythological context of it all. But even without diving in, the surface was enjoyable enough to keep me interested even when I didn't like what the characters were doing. They are often unlikeable, but, with their backstories present, it's understandable why they're doing what they're doing.
Overall, I liked the book and its story more than I thought I would.
This is simply one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read, and a prime example of the creativity and beauty that is Salman Rushdie. Part alternate-history of rock n' roll, part mythological tragedy, this book is a wonder to read, and then to read again.
Salman Rushdie’s novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a window into the wild world of rock’n’roll in the 1950’s through the 1970’s. I am not a huge rock’n’roll fan, but Rushdie is my favorite novelist, and so this was one of the last of his novels that I read. This was a mistake. It is quite possibly my favorite of his novels precisely because of its ambition. In this story, Rushdie seeks to capture the sound and feel of rock’n’roll into the pages of a novel. He succeeds, and with this success comes a serious investigation of two huge themes: the feeling of belonging and relationship between art, love, and death.
There are always humans who feel that they do not belong to the place in which they were born. This feeling is often discussed as if it were not common, but Rushdie suggests that it is. Even if we do not believe that we belong somewhere else, our dreams betray our true desires. He writes, “Alone in our beds, we soar, we fly, we flee. And in the waking dreams our societies permit, in our myths, our arts, our songs, we celebrate the non-belongers, the different ones, the outlaws, the freaks…if we did not recognize in them our least-fulfilled needs, we would not invent them over and over again, in every place, in every language, in every time.”
This feeling of not-belonging is common to humanity, and Rushdie’s storytelling device demonstrates this. The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a reimagination of the famous Orpheus and Eurydice myth. In Rushdie’s take on the myth, his Orpheus is a Bombay-born singer named Ormus Cama, and his great love is the international star Vina Apsara. In the classic story, Eurydice dies, and Orpheus attempts to save her, so naturally this dynamic occurs in the modern story—Ormus tries to save Vina. However, there is also a story in Hindu mythology where Shiva reduces Kama—love—to a pile of ash, and his love Rati must bring him back to life. In Rushdie’s work there are moments when Vina saves Ormus, which echoes the Hindu myth. It is the same story from two different cultures. The fact that the same ideas can creep up into the same stories displays the fact that the feeling of un-belonging is common to humanity. Rushdie’s story then unites us further.
Rushdie’s other great theme is an exploration of the complex relation between love, death, and art. He explains that at the center of his story is a triangle, and on the points rest love, art, and death. His story, like the Orpheus myth, manipulates this triangle into every combination: love, through art, can overcome death; death despite art, will destroy love; or art can explain love and death. These interpretations all make sense, which displays the extraordinary depth of this novel. Orpheus’ music nearly saved his beloved Eurydice from the Underworld, but in the end he couldn’t. However, Rati was able to bring Kama back to life. Love triumphing over death, or art failing to save love? Rushdie displays a deep trust in the reader as he or she must decide individually what the story wishes to say. Rushdie asks the question but allows us to answer.
The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a grand novel in scope and size. Rushdie’s brilliance shines through every sentence, and his characters breathe life into his great examination of ideas common to humanity.
There are always humans who feel that they do not belong to the place in which they were born. This feeling is often discussed as if it were not common, but Rushdie suggests that it is. Even if we do not believe that we belong somewhere else, our dreams betray our true desires. He writes, “Alone in our beds, we soar, we fly, we flee. And in the waking dreams our societies permit, in our myths, our arts, our songs, we celebrate the non-belongers, the different ones, the outlaws, the freaks…if we did not recognize in them our least-fulfilled needs, we would not invent them over and over again, in every place, in every language, in every time.”
This feeling of not-belonging is common to humanity, and Rushdie’s storytelling device demonstrates this. The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a reimagination of the famous Orpheus and Eurydice myth. In Rushdie’s take on the myth, his Orpheus is a Bombay-born singer named Ormus Cama, and his great love is the international star Vina Apsara. In the classic story, Eurydice dies, and Orpheus attempts to save her, so naturally this dynamic occurs in the modern story—Ormus tries to save Vina. However, there is also a story in Hindu mythology where Shiva reduces Kama—love—to a pile of ash, and his love Rati must bring him back to life. In Rushdie’s work there are moments when Vina saves Ormus, which echoes the Hindu myth. It is the same story from two different cultures. The fact that the same ideas can creep up into the same stories displays the fact that the feeling of un-belonging is common to humanity. Rushdie’s story then unites us further.
Rushdie’s other great theme is an exploration of the complex relation between love, death, and art. He explains that at the center of his story is a triangle, and on the points rest love, art, and death. His story, like the Orpheus myth, manipulates this triangle into every combination: love, through art, can overcome death; death despite art, will destroy love; or art can explain love and death. These interpretations all make sense, which displays the extraordinary depth of this novel. Orpheus’ music nearly saved his beloved Eurydice from the Underworld, but in the end he couldn’t. However, Rati was able to bring Kama back to life. Love triumphing over death, or art failing to save love? Rushdie displays a deep trust in the reader as he or she must decide individually what the story wishes to say. Rushdie asks the question but allows us to answer.
The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a grand novel in scope and size. Rushdie’s brilliance shines through every sentence, and his characters breathe life into his great examination of ideas common to humanity.
oops! i did it again. i started it for the third time. and i'm determined to finish and like it [i intend the same thing with ulysses and foucault's pendulum - i'll see about the rest]. if only i could get over the first 100 pages. wish me luck. i can't believe i paid 43.8 RON in 2005 to get this book. well, this might be just another reason for reading it ;)
U2 feat. rushdie wrote a beautiful song based on the book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-XKz0eNb8
***
24.10.2008
"The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame."
*i'm sort of happy i didn't read the book earlier, i just discovered some cinematographic referrals to fellini, bergman and godard i would have certainly skipped back then.
*i still fail to picture rushdie's art deco (?!) bombay. i can't separate india from malaria, cholera or typhoid.
*rai reminds me of nick carraway narrating gatsby's love story.
26.10.2008
70's Bombay through a photographer's lenses:
"There was too much money, too much poverty, too much nakedness, too much disguise, too much anger, too much vermilion, too much purple. There were too many dashed hopes and narrowed minds. There was far, far too much light."
and a beautiful tribute to [a: James Joyce|5144|James Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1418595211p2/5144.jpg] ([b: Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428891345s/338798.jpg|2368224])
"The hanged man and I were alone for a long time. His feet swung not far from my revolted nose and yes I wondered about the heels of his boots yes when I got the ropes off I made myself approach him yes in spite of his pong like the end of the world and the biting insects yes and the rawness of my throat and my eyes sore from bulging as I puked I took hold of his heels one after other yes I twisted the left heel it came up empty but the right heel did the right thing the film just plopped down in my hand yes and I put an unused film in its place from my own boot yes and I could feel his body all perfume and my heart was going like mad and I made my escape with Piloo's fate and my own golden future in my hand yes and to hell with everything I said yes because it might just as well be me as another so yes I will yes I did yes."
27.10.2008
i have the feeling that if i update my reading status more often, i'll finish the book sooner. i already imagine myself reading something light, kinsella or smth similar ;p
so far, i don't like vina's character. dunno why.
30.10.2008
"After a tense initial period during which they sometimes see each other in the evenings, with painfully awkward results, they agree to meet only to rehearse with the other band members, to discuss their finances and to perform. They are never alone together any more, they never eat a meal or take in a movie in each other's company, never phone each other, never go dancing, never feed animals in the zoo, never touch. Like divorced couples, they avoid each other's gaze. Yet, mysteriously they continue to say they are both deeply, irreversibly, forever-and-a-day in love.
What can this mean?
It means they are with each other constantly even while they are apart."
***
No dear, it means that they're both stupid.
Stupid oath. Stupid Ormus for accepting Vina's eccentricities and caprices.
31.10.2008
some final notes:
rushdie is indeed a skillful writer, and his use of language is absolutely beautiful. i liked the many references he made to literature, cinema and mythology, though at some point i was fed up with remarks about orpheus and eurydice.
speaking of the two mythological characters and the multiple connections between them and the larger-than-life characters of ormus and vina, i prefer mortals like rai.
i really don't get why rai and ormus would both worship the ground beneath vina's feet.
i'll reward myself with a whole box of chocolate for finishing this :d
oh, and one final thing: it was the last place where i thought i'd read about ceausescu and targu secuiesc [misspelled târgul-sačuesc] :)
U2 feat. rushdie wrote a beautiful song based on the book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-XKz0eNb8
***
24.10.2008
"The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame."
*i'm sort of happy i didn't read the book earlier, i just discovered some cinematographic referrals to fellini, bergman and godard i would have certainly skipped back then.
*i still fail to picture rushdie's art deco (?!) bombay. i can't separate india from malaria, cholera or typhoid.
*rai reminds me of nick carraway narrating gatsby's love story.
26.10.2008
70's Bombay through a photographer's lenses:
"There was too much money, too much poverty, too much nakedness, too much disguise, too much anger, too much vermilion, too much purple. There were too many dashed hopes and narrowed minds. There was far, far too much light."
and a beautiful tribute to [a: James Joyce|5144|James Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1418595211p2/5144.jpg] ([b: Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428891345s/338798.jpg|2368224])
"The hanged man and I were alone for a long time. His feet swung not far from my revolted nose and yes I wondered about the heels of his boots yes when I got the ropes off I made myself approach him yes in spite of his pong like the end of the world and the biting insects yes and the rawness of my throat and my eyes sore from bulging as I puked I took hold of his heels one after other yes I twisted the left heel it came up empty but the right heel did the right thing the film just plopped down in my hand yes and I put an unused film in its place from my own boot yes and I could feel his body all perfume and my heart was going like mad and I made my escape with Piloo's fate and my own golden future in my hand yes and to hell with everything I said yes because it might just as well be me as another so yes I will yes I did yes."
27.10.2008
i have the feeling that if i update my reading status more often, i'll finish the book sooner. i already imagine myself reading something light, kinsella or smth similar ;p
so far, i don't like vina's character. dunno why.
30.10.2008
"After a tense initial period during which they sometimes see each other in the evenings, with painfully awkward results, they agree to meet only to rehearse with the other band members, to discuss their finances and to perform. They are never alone together any more, they never eat a meal or take in a movie in each other's company, never phone each other, never go dancing, never feed animals in the zoo, never touch. Like divorced couples, they avoid each other's gaze. Yet, mysteriously they continue to say they are both deeply, irreversibly, forever-and-a-day in love.
What can this mean?
It means they are with each other constantly even while they are apart."
***
No dear, it means that they're both stupid.
Stupid oath. Stupid Ormus for accepting Vina's eccentricities and caprices.
31.10.2008
some final notes:
rushdie is indeed a skillful writer, and his use of language is absolutely beautiful. i liked the many references he made to literature, cinema and mythology, though at some point i was fed up with remarks about orpheus and eurydice.
speaking of the two mythological characters and the multiple connections between them and the larger-than-life characters of ormus and vina, i prefer mortals like rai.
i really don't get why rai and ormus would both worship the ground beneath vina's feet.
i'll reward myself with a whole box of chocolate for finishing this :d
oh, and one final thing: it was the last place where i thought i'd read about ceausescu and targu secuiesc [misspelled târgul-sačuesc] :)
As soon as I read that The Ground Beneath Her Feet was an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, I was ready to be captivated by it. That turned out to be a very loose claim, but the story of Ormus Cama and Vina Apsara was just as beautifully tragic. In some books, the plot shines. In others, it's the characters. In this one, it is the narration. It spans days and decades, able to capture huge trends while also being laser focused on the smallest of details. And it is the reason I was most conflicted in how to rate this book. Every line reads like poetry in the most wonderful way. But, as poetry tends to do, it gets heavy quickly. At the beginning, reading feels like floating in a luxury hot tub. By the halfway mark, it became trudging through a lake of maple syrup. Some people would likely find this narration style to be gorgeous. I thought so at the beginning, but by the end, it was just too much for me.