darsicle290's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
siddharthagolu's review
5.0
Now that I've moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as "productive" as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.
I had not expected the journey to be this beautiful!
Salman Rushdie doesn't need an introduction. He has been routinely hailed amongst one of the best contemporary writers of our time. It only speaks of my ignorance that I had only heard about him because of his controversies - outcry for Satanic Verses, fatwa issued against him - and only knew that one of his novels, Midnight's Children, had won a Booker Prize. I don't have a fond memory of reading Booker Prize winning books, bitter from the day I read White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. But as I got sucked into the universe created by Rushdie, my initial skepticism gave way to awe and admiration.
Rushdie has a peculiar way with words, an authoritative stance where the sentences bend over backwards to dance to the master's tunes. He weaves them in and out and creates intricate relationships between the story, storyteller and reader. You need to be acquainted with the history of India and Pakistan, or at least be familiar with the events surrounding the partition, in order to grasp fully what he has set out here to do. The book is filled with brilliant uses of metaphors and similes, creating a parallel universe of Pakistan during the tumultuous years after partition. The sentences are measured and precise, neatly packed with an intricate plot and the social commentary (with a tinge of satire) leading you towards the destination.
If it's not yet clear, I unashamedly loved every part of Shame and I'm excited to dig more into Rushdie's works!
-------------------------------
This is also available on my website here.
I had not expected the journey to be this beautiful!
Salman Rushdie doesn't need an introduction. He has been routinely hailed amongst one of the best contemporary writers of our time. It only speaks of my ignorance that I had only heard about him because of his controversies - outcry for Satanic Verses, fatwa issued against him - and only knew that one of his novels, Midnight's Children, had won a Booker Prize. I don't have a fond memory of reading Booker Prize winning books, bitter from the day I read White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. But as I got sucked into the universe created by Rushdie, my initial skepticism gave way to awe and admiration.
Rushdie has a peculiar way with words, an authoritative stance where the sentences bend over backwards to dance to the master's tunes. He weaves them in and out and creates intricate relationships between the story, storyteller and reader. You need to be acquainted with the history of India and Pakistan, or at least be familiar with the events surrounding the partition, in order to grasp fully what he has set out here to do. The book is filled with brilliant uses of metaphors and similes, creating a parallel universe of Pakistan during the tumultuous years after partition. The sentences are measured and precise, neatly packed with an intricate plot and the social commentary (with a tinge of satire) leading you towards the destination.
If it's not yet clear, I unashamedly loved every part of Shame and I'm excited to dig more into Rushdie's works!
-------------------------------
This is also available on my website here.
funneemonkee's review against another edition
4.0
There's a lot to be critical of here but it's enjoyable
neil_denham's review against another edition
1.0
Pretentious, overwritten, almost unreadable in places. I resent the fact I spent 10 days reading this when I could have been reading something else.
amoghsinha's review
4.0
It's an amazing book that challenges the way you think in the way it writes. I was a little taken aback by the fourth wall breaking and chaotic meta narrative structure, as if he was telling this story to a group of people after a party, but once I got past that and embraced the magical realism, it was a great ride.
The vividly colorful characters challenged the typical narrative of a "hero". Everyone was a bit shitty in this story. There were times when you couldn't wait for their downfall and times when you mildly acknowledged their decisions. Everyone had an entangled, crazy, dark arc. I particularly enjoyed Iskander (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) and Arjumand (Benazir) and thought their Machiavellian process was actually quite apt for the times they were in.
Tough read, but amazing nonetheless.
The vividly colorful characters challenged the typical narrative of a "hero". Everyone was a bit shitty in this story. There were times when you couldn't wait for their downfall and times when you mildly acknowledged their decisions. Everyone had an entangled, crazy, dark arc. I particularly enjoyed Iskander (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) and Arjumand (Benazir) and thought their Machiavellian process was actually quite apt for the times they were in.
Tough read, but amazing nonetheless.
lenaasty's review
interesting and well written, but not my personal cup of tea reading wise. loved studying everything about the book and the author though
stephh's review against another edition
4.0
I've been wanting to try reading a Salman Rushdie book for a couple of years now, but I just never found the time, and felt the weight of pressure of *needing* to enjoy his books because I'd heard how important they are. I'm pretty annoyed now that I put reading his works off for so long, and I'll definitely be picking up another soon!
Set in post-colonial Pakistan, Shame is a really great example of magical realism done well. We follow the life of the main character Omar Khayyam Shakil, who is born from three sisters who are so close that they all function as his mother, and are pregnant with him simultaneously. They live outside of society, and he never learns who his father is. As he grows older, he trains to become a doctor and meets Iskander Harappa and General Raza Hyder, two other key characters in the story.
The book (as the title implies) is all about shame. Each character embodies shame in the novel, and there's a constant reminder that shame begets violence. One character in particular is born with a deformity and the shame that she feels because of her family's shame in having her forces her into uncontrollable and extreme outbursts of violence. The magical realism blends into the important political lessons and tone of the book, and it really is a work of art.
I would recommend for readers who are fans of Ian McEwan's novels or those who enjoyed The God of Small Things.
Set in post-colonial Pakistan, Shame is a really great example of magical realism done well. We follow the life of the main character Omar Khayyam Shakil, who is born from three sisters who are so close that they all function as his mother, and are pregnant with him simultaneously. They live outside of society, and he never learns who his father is. As he grows older, he trains to become a doctor and meets Iskander Harappa and General Raza Hyder, two other key characters in the story.
The book (as the title implies) is all about shame. Each character embodies shame in the novel, and there's a constant reminder that shame begets violence. One character in particular is born with a deformity and the shame that she feels because of her family's shame in having her forces her into uncontrollable and extreme outbursts of violence. The magical realism blends into the important political lessons and tone of the book, and it really is a work of art.
I would recommend for readers who are fans of Ian McEwan's novels or those who enjoyed The God of Small Things.