Fury: A Novel

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It's a hit!

Of all the Rushdie novels I have read, this might be the most accessible while still capturing much of his usual flavor and personality as a storyt... (show more)

Of all the Rushdie novels I have read, this might be the most accessible while still capturing much of his usual flavor and personality as a storyteller. It is interesting to see him use his unusual and engaging powers of description to portray New York and American identity, as opposed to Indian and Pakistani locales and identity such as in his (excellent) novels Midnight's Children and Shame.

The novel really makes some astute observations about the way in which the modern capitalist world is brimming over with a puzzling fury, a poison that became even more center-stage after 9/11, which happened soon after this novel was published. In a sense, this novel is a prelude to 9/11 and all that has followed -- it is uncanny how Rushdie has accurately described and predicted the political and social climates of various countries/regions around the world.

The way that Rushdie's character wrestles with his own personal rage provides a lot of insight to the "fury" that drives many people in our modern world, from deadbeat fathers and average single mothers to terrorists. Rushdie follows one story among the many who seek to understand their own terrifying emotions, both lending insight and entertaining readers... (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

It pains me to say this, as practically a Rushdie fanatic, but this book was really disappointing. This is a novel of great ideas and premises, bu... (show more)

It pains me to say this, as practically a Rushdie fanatic, but this book was really disappointing. This is a novel of great ideas and premises, but badly executed and hung together clumsily. The writing in general is typically brilliant, witty and funny, with that Rushdie magical storyteller tone that's always great. BUT This just hit so many bad notes in between the brilliance, that it just didn't come off right. All of the dialogue feels forced, and it's unnervingly apparent all the time that this is an author from overseas "doing American voices" (The stereotypical as-seen-on-TV Californian hippy voice being the most laughable), a man born before computers speaking the techno lingo of the early 2000s as if from a tourist guide. And for a story about an educated immigrant in modern New York, it had surprisingly few original insights on the place. The only explanation I can think of is that this book is not FOR an American or a New Yorker, and maybe it's out of line for me to think that it should be, but maybe this is for the rest of the world, who only know NY and America from TV or from short vacations, and are content with the reinforcing of a few humorous stereotypes.

It was also missing the magical realism that I love so much in his other work. And maybe this was intentional; as if to say, in America, there's no room for magic. The best you get is the vapid illusions of Hollywood, the voodoo of technology, and the all powerful magic of American money. These are all fine things for a novel to say, and I would have accepted them if the story had been more cohesive, the characters and the turns in the plot more believable, and the conclusion somewhat poignant. If this wasn't a Rushdie novel I probably would have given it 3 stars and not bothered writing a review, but the man has set his standard very high, and dammit, I want some follow through. (show less)

 

 

by Christopher Myers

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  Quite a disturbing book about love and violence, set at the height of 2000 Manhattan decadence. I went to a reading on Union Square and Rushdie signed this book for me but I've only gotten around to reading it now (I clearly have too big of a backlog) and I can say I wasn't really impressed. That said, a dissapointing book by an amazing author is still very strong. It's about a husband/father Malik Solanka who leaves the quiet life on the Cam for NYC and meets a cast of characters, including ... (show more)

  Quite a disturbing book about love and violence, set at the height of 2000 Manhattan decadence. I went to a reading on Union Square and Rushdie signed this book for me but I've only gotten around to reading it now (I clearly have too big of a backlog) and I can say I wasn't really impressed. That said, a dissapointing book by an amazing author is still very strong. It's about a husband/father Malik Solanka who leaves the quiet life on the Cam for NYC and meets a cast of characters, including the sort of supermodels Rushdie was dating at the time. It gets twisted, strange - and even includes a short Sci-Fi interlude in the middle and feels a bit dated. A nice volume in the Ellis, McInerney, Janowitz library of Go-Go NYC. The darker sides reminded me of What I Loved by Hustvedt, another great Gotham writer. Pretty good book by Rushdie but also quite over the top with plenty of violence for violence's sake. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Jun 14, 2009 at 01:48PM

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  The overwhelming feeling after reading this book is of an immense waste - of the reader's time, of the writer's undoubted talent and of the multitude of pages on which its printed, which could have been put to much better use. Right from the start, it seems like a pointless book. This feeling remains & intensifies throughout the book and at the end, is confirmed beyond doubt.

  The story is about a man in the grip of fury (the reason for which we aren't given until almost the end, and that... (show more)

  The overwhelming feeling after reading this book is of an immense waste - of the reader's time, of the writer's undoubted talent and of the multitude of pages on which its printed, which could have been put to much better use. Right from the start, it seems like a pointless book. This feeling remains & intensifies throughout the book and at the end, is confirmed beyond doubt.

  The story is about a man in the grip of fury (the reason for which we aren't given until almost the end, and that reason, to me at least, is not convincing enough). Anyway, he has become a threat to those he loves and so just takes off to another continent (without so much as a goodbye to his wife and son), where he tries to undo his old self, hoping that whatever is wrong with him will be destroyed along with his old identity. The book chronicles his efforts to defeat his furies with the help of the people he encounters.

  So, not a wholly stupid plot. What makes it bad is the unbelievably bad writing. Sometimes its hard to believe this is the same guy who wrote 'The Moor's Last Sigh'. There is no continuing thread through the story. It frequently runs off on tangents and doesn't bother to rejoin the main theme. Rushdie's books usually need a lot of patience and I've become quite patient reading his books, waiting for the point to appear out of the fog of fancy words and tedious abstractions; but with this book it was a hopeless exercise because there is no point to it.

  Even more unforgivable than the bad writing is the fact that the story seems forced, somehow. As if the writer's publishers told him to come up with something quickly and he started writing about the first thing that came to his mind without bothering about plots, themes, coherence and all the other things that make a decent book, trusting his reputation to ensure it would be accepted, even acclaimed. And sadly, it worked. Reading the reviews, you'd think this was a masterpiece. When in actual fact, it could be the worst book Rushdie has ever written ('Shame' was depressing, but at least it was well-written). This is just an ego-trip of sorts, most evident by the resemblance of the protagonist to the author himself, and the tiring fact that rather than battling his furies, he seems to be spending too much time encountering stunningly beautiful women with all of whom he has his way.

  In the end I'm left salvaging what little good I can from this disaster of a book. The only thing I come up with is this line - 'Do not contemplate what lies beyond failure while you are still trying to succeed!'

  Not so much a bad book, as an unnecessary one! (show less)

   

   

  by Kailash Khairnar on Jul 25, 2009 at 07:19AM

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