tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post5784452742793953069..comments2024-03-18T11:56:15.953+00:00Comments on A Yorkshire Memoir: Salman Rushdie: Midnight’s ChildrenTasker Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-47332832887094358852021-04-18T10:33:05.113+01:002021-04-18T10:33:05.113+01:00Thanks for looking down my review list. I write th...Thanks for looking down my review list. I write them mainly to remind myself of what I've read and it also helps make better sense of there books. As a teenager I would have given both Chariots of the Gods and Stranger Than Science five stars for sure. Education has spoilt them for me, definitely a good thing. I haven't heard of Rohinton Mistry, but it sounds as if A Fine Balance covers some of the same ground as MC. Probably a better future read than The Satanic Verses. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-15206563390315880862021-04-17T18:08:04.407+01:002021-04-17T18:08:04.407+01:00I had a quick look at your review page and it seem...I had a quick look at your review page and it seems we have similar tastes. Our star rating seemed off, though...only 2 stars for Chariots of the Gods? I can remember loving that when it came out. I read your review and I won’t be revisiting the book as I suspect it would now annoy me as much as it annoyed you.<br /><br />Moon tiger was a delight.<br /><br />If you are up for another visit to India I would recommend A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Not sure where it would sit on the demanding/difficult scales but it was, for me, a mighty fine read.Travellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02069278767333726796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-1332561748463775582021-04-15T19:57:48.838+01:002021-04-15T19:57:48.838+01:00Difficult/ Demanding applies to many good books wi...Difficult/ Demanding applies to many good books with the exception of wonderful Wodehouse and thick-eared thrillers.<br />*The Europeans* by Orlando Figes is a pleasure to read at the day's end, but academic history read late at night sends me to sleep.<br />The novels you cited are too unpleasant to be read at night.<br /><br />As for magical realism, it has its roots in Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Shakespeare, Spencer, Dante as much as it does in Machado de Assis, Gunter Grass, Marquez and Carlos Fuentes. <br /><br />Jorge Luis Borges, under the influence of hermeticism as well as Poe and RL Stevenson, reviewed books which had never been written.<br />Hermes Trismegistus would have appreciated such a magical quest.<br />A statue of Hermes, the Divine Pymander, once stood in a high alcove in a building in John Street, Glasgow.<br />I wonder if it is still there?<br /><br />OEigeartaigh Trismegistus<br />Haggertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13428937273804366081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-78254186723058317592021-04-15T08:52:32.711+01:002021-04-15T08:52:32.711+01:00That's a useful distinction I've never con...That's a useful distinction I've never considered - difficult/demanding - and probably applies to all books, not only novels. Midnight's Children is demanding not difficult. That's OK. But difficult not demanding? - maybe The White Hotel which I read many years ago, maybe Rites of Passage which I read last year - both difficult because they are unpleasant. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-45964991735423858152021-04-15T08:44:46.096+01:002021-04-15T08:44:46.096+01:00Thank you for the suggestions. I think I can say w...Thank you for the suggestions. I think I can say with some confidence that I will not be following many of them up, if any. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-15507623440562010672021-04-15T01:31:29.938+01:002021-04-15T01:31:29.938+01:00I failed to distinguish between demanding fiction ...I failed to distinguish between demanding fiction and difficult fiction.<br /><br />Toni Morrison's novel *Beloved* and Leslie Marmon Silko's *Ceremony* are demanding novels, but not difficult; one dealing with black experience after Emancipation, the other with life on a Native American reservation after World War II.<br />These books enjoyed a wide readership because the writing is fairly transparent and the characters memorable.<br /><br />A lot of original American fiction is like that; I'm thinking about Christina Stead's *The Man Who Loved Children* or Carson McCuller's <br />*The Heart is a Lonely Hunter* or Anne Tyler's *Digging to America*.<br /><br />Kazuo Ishiguro is not difficult yet his novels demand our attention to such a degree that we remember them long after. He deserved the Nobel, but so did Graham Greene and Amos Oz who were passed over.<br />Haggerty<br /><br /> Haggertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13428937273804366081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-62461533456370581832021-04-14T23:15:10.967+01:002021-04-14T23:15:10.967+01:00Demanding readers want demanding novels rather as ...Demanding readers want demanding novels rather as some travellers need a gruelling journey - down the Indian subcontinent say.<br />Rushdie would be gratified to learn that you are still thinking about his book.<br /> <br />Attentive readers go on thinking about The Recognitions (William Gaddis) Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon) The Last Samurai (Helen DeWitt) <br />Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace) The Runaway Soul (Harold Brodkey) and Underworld (Don DeLillo).<br />All these writers are American and maybe that explains the ambition of Rushdie, Amis, McEwan: America is where the novel is at.<br />It's troubling to learn the problems Helen DeWitt had with her editors (YouTube) who couldn't see they had a masterpiece on their hands.<br /><br />In metafiction language is as much a character as any of the actual characters; think what fun Dickens had with David Copperfield narrating the story of his birth and reporting on household conversations. How could David in utero know these things? Readers of Dickens didn't care.<br /><br />Obscurity is the garnish for demanding readers. Think of the annotated edition of Joyce's Ulysses by Don Gifford and Robert J Seidman which runs to over 630 pages plus the index: and this is a LARGE book.<br />You are going to need it just to get Joyce's references, and a copy of the Critical Essays edited by Clive Hart and David Hayman is handy too.<br /><br />You might enjoy *The Burgess Variations* and *Anthony Burgess Speaks 1985: the Rage of DH Lawrence*, both YouTube.<br />Also YouTube, *The Mystery Behind Thomas Pynchon* by a man who may have captured the reclusive novelist on video.<br /><br />OEigeartaigh Hamel(d) Haggerty by another name. <br />Haggertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13428937273804366081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-34129517350915862562021-04-14T22:53:13.294+01:002021-04-14T22:53:13.294+01:00Silly me! I hope that a fatwa is not put on me for...Silly me! I hope that a fatwa is not put on me for that error.Yorkshire Puddinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06019673884543913089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-40373738324765339032021-04-14T20:53:29.501+01:002021-04-14T20:53:29.501+01:00Thanks for commenting. In places I did find the la...Thanks for commenting. In places I did find the last part of the book disturbing and felt quite angry, especially where it dealt with the forced sterilization programme. I haven't read an of his others. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-59586590106936402092021-04-14T17:45:37.047+01:002021-04-14T17:45:37.047+01:00I read Midnight's Children ages ago and liked ...I read Midnight's Children ages ago and liked it, but found finishing the last third or so tough going. The Moor's Last Sigh is my favorite book by Rushdie.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12512800812290518552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-8268741150777280972021-04-14T15:48:04.919+01:002021-04-14T15:48:04.919+01:00Thanks Traveller. We see to be in a clear minority...Thanks Traveller. We see to be in a clear minority in liking his writing. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-74053537836352985092021-04-14T13:06:00.247+01:002021-04-14T13:06:00.247+01:00A good review. Have read quite a few of his books,...A good review. Have read quite a few of his books, including Satanic Verses. For me his is a novelist who peaked early as I find his later books less interesting.Travellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02069278767333726796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-38097256642173539332021-04-14T10:04:34.016+01:002021-04-14T10:04:34.016+01:00Thank you. An easy error to make, but none the les...Thank you. An easy error to make, but none the less surprising from an ex- Head of English. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-1411949859012214122021-04-14T00:35:07.486+01:002021-04-14T00:35:07.486+01:00Like many of the others, I have not read Midnight’...Like many of the others, I have not read <i>Midnight’s Children </i> but enjoyed and appreciated your review. It is gratifying that I knew something Yorkshire Pudding didn’t.rhymeswithplaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870439618129001633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-42912929243388768562021-04-13T20:59:46.526+01:002021-04-13T20:59:46.526+01:00Exactly...Exactly...Debbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09531125606268748793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-80823497170738426612021-04-13T20:40:10.253+01:002021-04-13T20:40:10.253+01:00As mentioned above, I've no plans to read it b...As mentioned above, I've no plans to read it but it is an astonishing opening. Like him or not, there's no denying that Rushdie is a skilled and powerful writer. I understand that the two men survive and then one becomes the archangel Gabriel and the other the Devil. The plots of both MC and SV have been described as 'magical realism'. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-23332748323013099482021-04-13T20:34:37.783+01:002021-04-13T20:34:37.783+01:00Thanks, Bonnie, and thanks for reading the review....Thanks, Bonnie, and thanks for reading the review. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-13670151608471321712021-04-13T20:00:07.600+01:002021-04-13T20:00:07.600+01:00In a completely different view, the opening paragr...In a completely different view, the opening paragraph to the Satanic Verses was probably the most astonishing opening paragraph to a novel that I've ever read. Specifically, this line: <i>"Just before dawn one winter’s morning, New Year’s Day or thereabouts, two real, full-grown, living men fell from a great height, twenty-nine thousand and two feet, towards the English Channel, without benefit of parachutes or wings, out of a clear sky."</i>Debbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09531125606268748793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-72021211127891867302021-04-13T19:42:36.122+01:002021-04-13T19:42:36.122+01:00Thank you for your review as I have not read it an...Thank you for your review as I have not read it and this gave me some understanding of the book. It does not sound like one I would choose to read but I did enjoy your review. Bonniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17738727252267659979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-47039785832761847632021-04-13T17:35:14.290+01:002021-04-13T17:35:14.290+01:00I took Howard Jacobson's the Finkler for my re...I took Howard Jacobson's the Finkler for my reading on the Trans Siberian which gave me plenty of reading time to go through it twice, and I enjoyed it. I agree they are rarely a quick read. Some I have attempted and not enjoyed at all and tend to think of all Booker prize novels as a no no, and when American authors were allowed, I was put off even more. Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-8022484837270141582021-04-13T17:18:54.192+01:002021-04-13T17:18:54.192+01:00I feel quite a responsibility there Tigger. Phoebe...I feel quite a responsibility there Tigger. Phoebe didn't like it because it caused me to ignore her for long periods. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-84919340798550205032021-04-13T17:17:29.728+01:002021-04-13T17:17:29.728+01:00Thank you. As commented above, his public image do...Thank you. As commented above, his public image does tend to put people off (although I wouldn't mind an image like that if it gave a chance to meet Padma Lakshmi). Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-56721771345916637772021-04-13T17:14:47.415+01:002021-04-13T17:14:47.415+01:00It was the first (and possible last) of his I'...It was the first (and possible last) of his I've read and it is very good, but needs to be approached in the right frame of mind. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-16221180696515639362021-04-13T17:13:46.634+01:002021-04-13T17:13:46.634+01:00Rushdie's rather arrogant public image does te...Rushdie's rather arrogant public image does tend to put people off. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-51066309369969770952021-04-13T17:12:50.530+01:002021-04-13T17:12:50.530+01:00I write these reviews partly to help remember the ...I write these reviews partly to help remember the books and partly to help understand them. I'm more than happy if it helps others decide whether or not they'd like to read them too. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.com