by Salman Rushdie
Could the Booker Prize have gone to a novel that treats three generations of an extended family but remains emotionally dead-flat aside from twin swellings of self-pity and self-love? Was a career launched by a book that contains 50 years of intricately plotted interconnections, parallels and synchronicities across the breadth of the subcontinent but scarcely a single meaningful insight? Am I tired of snide snark sarcasm and twee wordplay all in the service of convincing us of the cleverness of the author? Did I really give up on a book that bloats to 700 pages with endless never-ending repeating repetition and flashback throwback foreshadow for every one plot point? Friends, it could. It was. I am. I did.
Not just the Booker but the Best of Bookers too.
I have never been able to finish a novel of Rushdie’s, but I keep my thoughts to myself because people are quick to assume that I dislike him for the “wrong” reasons, regardless of what I say. However, this review was too short for catharsis, lol.
Hah! I chose this one, thinking if it was ok, I’d have to read *that* one just to see what the fuss was about. I’m glad not to feel any obligation anymore.