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A review by thebobsphere
Grimus by Salman Rushdie
3.0
Although Rushdie disowns his first novel, it is not that bad. In fact I see it a sort of potential for what was to follow in later novels. Saying that Grimus does have a lot of flaws.
The story focuses on Flapping Eagle, who drinks an elixir which gives him eternal life, given to him by his sister, who deserts him. After 777 years he wants mortality and to find his sister, eventually ending up on the metaphysical Calf Island. After meeting a bizarre cast of characters, while embarking on his two quests, Flapping Eagle also tries to unveil the mysterious Grimus and discover why Calf island is so strange.
Philosophers, prostitutes, hunchbacks, ghosts, frog gods and tons of people crop up during the novel and they all leave an impact on Flapping Eagle's psyche but drag him into the weirdness of Calf Island and change his destiny. Flapping Eagle himself has to control himself in order to complete his quest.
As such this is a rich plot with some Rushdie trademarks, puns, jokes, references to popular culture and mythology but somehow things just don't gel that well and there quite a few dull stretches which hamper the plot's progress. Also Rushdie's writing is restrained, considering that by his second novel his penmanship improved, Grimus' style comes as a tiny shock.
Definitely not a book for a Rushdie beginner but if you want to see the seeds which later developed in his later novels then Grimus is worth a read but prepare to be underwhelmed.
The story focuses on Flapping Eagle, who drinks an elixir which gives him eternal life, given to him by his sister, who deserts him. After 777 years he wants mortality and to find his sister, eventually ending up on the metaphysical Calf Island. After meeting a bizarre cast of characters, while embarking on his two quests, Flapping Eagle also tries to unveil the mysterious Grimus and discover why Calf island is so strange.
Philosophers, prostitutes, hunchbacks, ghosts, frog gods and tons of people crop up during the novel and they all leave an impact on Flapping Eagle's psyche but drag him into the weirdness of Calf Island and change his destiny. Flapping Eagle himself has to control himself in order to complete his quest.
As such this is a rich plot with some Rushdie trademarks, puns, jokes, references to popular culture and mythology but somehow things just don't gel that well and there quite a few dull stretches which hamper the plot's progress. Also Rushdie's writing is restrained, considering that by his second novel his penmanship improved, Grimus' style comes as a tiny shock.
Definitely not a book for a Rushdie beginner but if you want to see the seeds which later developed in his later novels then Grimus is worth a read but prepare to be underwhelmed.