Dizzyingly beautiful at times, but a difficult read.

books:


	• The Ground Beneath Her Feet: A Novel Salman Rushdie Picador, 2000 - 592 pages average customer review:based on 112 reviews view larger image
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Moderate masterpiece

Salman Rushdie's setting is always mesmerizing. His language vultures clssical music into my ears. His problems with the GOD idead are stil the same. Always. Not bad though. The idea that religion cause war and it is better off irriligious is accepltable, but it feels like an ache under his tooth that he can't write without anymore.

On the other hand he definetly missed out on the rockstar world. I have never been part of it either and he talks about it the way I would. Which is embarresing and lacking knowledge.

Still, Salman Rushdie books are unique in the art of literiture but I need them to become more entertaining and not purpose driven.

Moderate masterpiece

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For crying out India

Michael Pakenham of the Baltimore Sun is quoted on the back cover of the copy I bought of this book by saying, 'It's the best thing ever written about rock and roll. It is rock and roll ..' One question: How much did this guy get paid to say that.

Multiple too many times, now, I've been steered totally wrong from critics who are joltingly convinced of how good a piece of art/entertainment is only to find out I was misguided and led by the wrong hands.

As a writer, Salman Rushdie expresses many natural giftings which he's nurtured through his wizard-like way of splatting prose all over the pages, but, for as evidently gifted as he is, he can also come across like a writing hack, with no control over his material.

This book is all over the place and while some critics may say that's his intent, his unneveness is very distracting and certainly not enjoyable.

And what on earth is he doing writing about rock music. He doesn't seem to know that much about it. Also, if you're wanting to read this book because, like me, you are interested in a novel about rock music, stay away from this one because there's not much about rock music in this 575 page volume.

This book seems to be another excuse for Rushdie to write about what he knows well and has an authentic passion for, India. In a story that's supposed to be about two rock musicians, Ormus Cama and Vina Apsara, Rushdie neverendingly curtails his story to include other things, and what those 'things' are are not very clear as this novel is very messy and with scattered trains of thought.

And how cliched to have Ormus get into an accident and be in a coma and then come back to success. It's as if Rushdie, when he decided to write a book which includes characters who are rock musicians, decided to do some research and found out that Bob Dylan claimed to have gotten into an 'accident' and he's just borrowing from that.

Almost all of the rock references in this book feel borrowed, pretentious, and lack conviction. But this is a very big book (way too long; 575 pages should be about 350-400, if you ask me) and there are passages with great insights and literary presence.

Though Rushdie possesses immense talents of the brain, he doesn't seem to have crafted his skill as a novelist. This is the first book I've read by him but it feels amatuerish; part of the reason it feels amatuerish is because of how much showing off Rushdie enjoys doing, spinning these abra-cadabras with his rhythms and rhymes, but these doings of this Indian wordsmith don't feel nurtured or well looked over, but instead feel like he didn't know what else to do.

There were too many times while reading this book in which I couldn't wait for it to be finished, and I wish Rushdie was looking out for his readers a little more by acknowledging the fact that if they're going to take the time to buy and read his book that he should spend more time honing each project he works on. This thing felt like a rough draft and as if it wasn't perused over with much critical thought.

Though there are talents and findings to enjoy in this one, I don't think I can recommend it.

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Dizzyingly beautiful at times, but a difficult read.

A reimagining of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in the modern world of rock & roll. There are many cultural references, but often twisted in interesting ways. Famous people appear, but in different roles than readers expect. I found this the most fun aspect of the book--wondering how many of the jokes I actually got.

Ormus Cama is a brilliant musician born in Bombay, India. The love of his life is Vina Apsara, a half-Indian woman who moves to Bombay when she is a young adolescent. The two lovers share enormous musical talent and bizarre families. Their love affair is a strange one, as they spend most of their lives pining for each other and very little time actually together.

The story is narrated by Rai, a childhood friend of Ormus and Vina (later Vina's secret lover).

A challenging read due to the vast number of literary and cultural references/allusions, as well as Rushdie's extensive vocabulary. Profound insights about religion, life, and love make this one worth the effort.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

In this remaking of the myth of Orpheus, Rushdie tells the story of Vina Apsara, a pop star, and Ormus Cama, an extraordinary songwriter and musician, who captivate and change the world through their music and their romance. Beginning in Bombay in the fifties, moving to London in the sixties, and New York for the last quarter century, the novel pulsates with a half-century of music and celebrates the power rock 'n' roll.