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A review by christar_123
The Golden House by Salman Rushdie
5.0
After not really enjoying Two Years, Seven Months and Sixteen Days, I was wondering if Rushdie's work just wasn't for me anymore. And then, I almost didn't continue past the beginning of this one - it's tedious, the narrator keeps on talking about future events and I was kind of feeling like, "OK, just do something!" and I had heard that this novel was about the Trump presidency, so I mistakenly thought that Nero Golden was supposed to be the stand-in for Trump. It certainly fit - inflated ego, his name is closely associated with Trump's gaudy style, vastly younger second wife, weird adult children - but I thought Nero was too smart! He can speak multiple languages! So I was kind of angry with Rushdie for giving Trump more intellectual credit than he's due - and more ability to plan, think, strategize....and then I convinced myself to keep on listening (Audiobook) and I learned the truth!
Trump as the Joker was excellent, and amazingly timely. Rushdie's depiction of American society, as a place where knowledge and thought are beginning to be pushed under strange, non-nonsensical nationalism felt spot on.
I read a lot of reviews where readers criticize Rushdie's almost continual use of references, whether to history, pop culture, mythology, literature .... the list goes on and on. But I really love it. Sometimes reading feels like a scavenger hunt, or like Easter eggs spread throughout the prose when I know the reference. It adds depth to the words, making what I'm reading feel like it's part of the larger web of all these mixed up pieces.
Trump as the Joker was excellent, and amazingly timely. Rushdie's depiction of American society, as a place where knowledge and thought are beginning to be pushed under strange, non-nonsensical nationalism felt spot on.
Spoiler
Even the fall of the Golden family, and the ways that each of the son's demises presented a current, crucial issue spot on: gender identity, mental illness/ our relationship with technology and society, feelings of nationalism/country/finding one's rootsI read a lot of reviews where readers criticize Rushdie's almost continual use of references, whether to history, pop culture, mythology, literature .... the list goes on and on. But I really love it. Sometimes reading feels like a scavenger hunt, or like Easter eggs spread throughout the prose when I know the reference. It adds depth to the words, making what I'm reading feel like it's part of the larger web of all these mixed up pieces.