A review by jfaberrit
The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

4.0

Salman Rushdie can write, and while this one might not be his best novel of all time, it is actually very good, in part because of and in part despite some of the literary pretensions here. The strongest elements of the book are the most narrative ones: Apu's in particular in his search for meaning, D's search for identity, Nero's story of why the family left India in particular. Drawing in the Mumbai terror attacks works effectively because it fits within the broader narrative and explains so much of the family's buried history. By contrast, the modern-day political take on the rise of trump is largely forgettable, since Rushdie never really manages to tie it into any real aspect of the characters lives, mostly just their times. Petya maybe, but his character is the least formed of the family and primarily there for the quirkiness, which is endearing, and not the social commentary, which is not. Overall, it's a large and messy tale but one with some amazing writing and enough story to keep things proceeding from the fated beginnings to the equally fated conclusions, kind of Shakespeare adjacent but in a much more ironic way.