April 9th, 2008
Salman Rushdie and the fear
Having been terribly disappointed by the last couple of Salman Rushdie books, I can tentatively say that I’m enjoying The Enchantress of Florence. Midnight’s Children - winner of the Booker of Bookers - is one of my favourite books of all time. I also loved The Satanic Verses and Haroun and The Sea of Stories, but Shalimar The Clown frustrated me and I found The Ground Beneath Her Feet quite cringy and irritating. So while I’m enjoying his new work - allusions and mystery rolled up in a pan-continental adventure - I say it with a smidge of fear in my heart that it won’t stay the pace. Hopefully I’m wrong.
Rushdie will be giving a public interview with Fintan O’Toole as part of the Dublin Writer’s Festival on Sunday April 20th at The Gate Theatre. Details here.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Oooh, Midnight’s Children is quite simply stunning. Are you going to go to the thing in the Gate?
April 9th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I loved Midnight’s Children so much, but nothing else has done it for me since. Rememeber the bit about the spinster aunt, cooking bitterness into all the food when the family goes to live with her?
I read a bad review of the new one, so it’s nice to see an alternative view.
Hey Edel, I think you’re interviewing my husband (and his band)on Friday, or at least you will be if he can get off work
April 9th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Oo, Sinead, I just read your Enright post. Did you get your copy of Making Babies, I have one too if not. I’m a bit scared to see what she has to say about breastfeeding.
I liked Making Babies, but she and I are very different mothers, perhaps. I do find her vision dark. She impresses me though.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Edel - I’m not sure I will go. Is it just me or is 18 euro quite expensive to see a writer give a talk? Although, I was at a talk with Rushdie in the TBMC a few years ago, and he was very interesting.
Jo - it’s an exceptional work, but Rushdie - for me anyway - has been very inconsistent and disappointing over the last decade.
I did indeed get Making Babies from a friend. It’s a totally refreshing antidote to all those irritating mommy books.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
which rushdie book is the best to start with? all i know is it isn’t meant to be the satanic verses.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
The bad review of the new Rushdie book was in the Sunday Times Culture (or the one I read anyway) - a rather enjoyable in a gossipy way piece of patronising/bitchy/sneering.
I have a suspicion that the ST review ‘line’ is all about either a) bigging up certain writers to a ridiculous degree or b) skewering the really big reps; there’s rarely a middle ground taken (except for the Irish reviews).
Is there some sort of ST style guide out there!?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I think I read the Irish Times, no more ST for me…
April 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am
The Ground Beneath Her Feet was actually my first Rushdie book and I quite enjoyed it, though it was a tad overblown. I was really excited when Fury came out and it started brilliantly but descended into complete and utter contemptible chaos that just smacked of an author who thought he could do whatever the hell he wanted.
Good to hear he’s back on form.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I’ve never actually read any Rushdie books - I gather he’s rather good?
April 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
bono likes him anyways.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
“…bono likes him anyways….”
ooh-er
April 12th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
B: I’d recommend Midnight’s Children to start, followed immediately by Shame. On no account should you read Grimus, ever. It’s shite.
Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a charming fairytale written for his son while he was in hiding.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
i first read The Moor’s Last Sigh and i think it’s probably a good one to start with - sprawling, epic, funny and more accessible than most of the others (apart from Haroun, which is one to be read again and again).
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 am
Here’s Salman’s own take on the book: http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0421/theartsshow.html