741. Shame

Shame 
Salman Rushdie
1983
Around 320 pages

I fear our dazzling streak of excellent novels is drawing to a close. I know it is ironically sacrilegious to dislike Salman Rushdie, but I never feel like he has much regard for his audience. And his comedy falls flat for me. That being said, I enjoyed this more than Grimus or Midnight's Children, so we are moving in a positive direction.

The story takes place in a country that is not quite Pakistan. One of the three sisters (Chunni, Munnee, and Bunny Shakil) gives birth to Omar Khayyám Shakil, but they act as a unit of mothers, and never reveal Omar's birth mother or father. Eventually, Omar Khayyám Shakil's team of moms let him leave. He enrolls in a school and is convinced by his tutor to become a doctor. Over time, he comes in contact with both Iskander Harappa (assumed to be based off of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) and General Raza Hyder, (assumed to be based off of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq).

Honestly, I have no idea who these people are, so I always feel like I miss out on the depth of Rushdie's themes. Of course, this isn't a flaw in his writing, but I definitely feel shut out. Other writers, like J.M. Coetzee, also write stories that are heavily based on real people and events. But even though I am not well-versed in South African history, I don't feel at sea as much when I'm reading Coetzee's works. 

But I do enjoy the exploration of shame as a theme, and the three sisters were great characters that felt like they were straight out of mythology. So my favorite Rushdie so far? But that's not really saying much. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Shortlisted for the 1983 Booker Prize.

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