It has taken me exceptionally long to read this book.. Too much was happening around me and within me as well! Approx 3 months to be precise ;) If you allow me, I can boast of having my own book published in this duration!!
Well, being an ardent Rushdie fan, I had very high expectations from it. His last book that I had read was Shalimar the Clown, with which I started this blog! Master of metaphors, God of magic realism that he is, I was hoping to find in this book all the Rushdie masala! Am not sure if am disappointed or not, but it certainly wasn’t one of his best! At best an average!
Thankfully, Rushdie was in the first person narrative in this one, which never fails to add a special feel to the whole story. But what was disappointing was that the narrator from whose eyes the story is seen has hardly any presence in the story. The story, like the two male protagonists, belongs to Vina Apsara! A Madonna of sorts, she is the ultimate ageless diva, loved across the continents. She gives voice to the music of Ormus Cama and fuels the passion in the heart of Rai, the narrator & a photographer. Troubled childhood forces her to come to live in India and grow-up with both these boys. India! A land she hates in the beginning; but falls in love gradually.. not just with India but Ormus as well. Theirs is a true love. Love that the poets talk about, endless, till the end of life and beyond. Vina & Ormus form a rock n’ roll band which is revered across the globe, while Rai becomes an accomplished photographer accidentally. As the story progresses, the lovers come together and separate and then unite again to separate for ever.
After this, Rushdie finally decides to give us a flavour of the magic that he is known for. Surrealism. As the earthquakes begin to shake the earth, Rushdie describes the collision of our world and another world. A world, which is similar to ours, and is different at the same time. The way he has dealt with this part of the story is amazing.
I am still a great fan of his. So great that I hope that someday he visits this blog and reads my request! Please please please make the central pages of your books a bit more interesting. Like all his other books I have read, even this one opened beautifully and ended magnanimously! But the middle part was quite dragging! I hope his latest – Enchantress of Florence is better!
Till I lay my hands on it, I have One Hundred Years of Solitude to accompany me! ;)
Well, being an ardent Rushdie fan, I had very high expectations from it. His last book that I had read was Shalimar the Clown, with which I started this blog! Master of metaphors, God of magic realism that he is, I was hoping to find in this book all the Rushdie masala! Am not sure if am disappointed or not, but it certainly wasn’t one of his best! At best an average!
Thankfully, Rushdie was in the first person narrative in this one, which never fails to add a special feel to the whole story. But what was disappointing was that the narrator from whose eyes the story is seen has hardly any presence in the story. The story, like the two male protagonists, belongs to Vina Apsara! A Madonna of sorts, she is the ultimate ageless diva, loved across the continents. She gives voice to the music of Ormus Cama and fuels the passion in the heart of Rai, the narrator & a photographer. Troubled childhood forces her to come to live in India and grow-up with both these boys. India! A land she hates in the beginning; but falls in love gradually.. not just with India but Ormus as well. Theirs is a true love. Love that the poets talk about, endless, till the end of life and beyond. Vina & Ormus form a rock n’ roll band which is revered across the globe, while Rai becomes an accomplished photographer accidentally. As the story progresses, the lovers come together and separate and then unite again to separate for ever.
After this, Rushdie finally decides to give us a flavour of the magic that he is known for. Surrealism. As the earthquakes begin to shake the earth, Rushdie describes the collision of our world and another world. A world, which is similar to ours, and is different at the same time. The way he has dealt with this part of the story is amazing.
I am still a great fan of his. So great that I hope that someday he visits this blog and reads my request! Please please please make the central pages of your books a bit more interesting. Like all his other books I have read, even this one opened beautifully and ended magnanimously! But the middle part was quite dragging! I hope his latest – Enchantress of Florence is better!
Till I lay my hands on it, I have One Hundred Years of Solitude to accompany me! ;)
4 comments:
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Thanks Anonymous!
SO how did you find one hundred years.. I have been meaning to pick it up since a long time..
I tried reading it. Reached 150 pages n didn't find it going anywhere, so just left it midway.. :-\
One of those books that keep growing, branching out like a tree, without really heading anywhere..
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