Though I can't profess to be too far long in my reading of Rushdie, I have to say that I love his style. It's just so wonderfully amusing and literate. I know that part of the reason that I love his writing so much is simply that he's more contemporary, and so of course I am more prone to appreciate things in line with my own paradigm/culture/period. Still, he's fantastic. He's witty, his tone is gently mocking, sort of ironic, aware. His narration is so amusing, and his vocabulary so large. His prose is at once funny and beautiful. He is a fluid writer, clearly a master of the English language. His depiction of India during those times is brilliant, fascinating, clear and vivid.
I really like Rushdie. Also, I can attest that he is an excellent public speaker.
I, like Michelle, am not very far in "Midnight's Children", but I did read his "Satanic Verses". The intense symbology and magical realism are masterfully used. Again like Michelle, I love Rushdie's style which simultaniously raw and refined.
I agree with Michelle in that Rushdie is writes very well. I just find this...boring. Maybe I should just read more of it, but so far I've fallen asleep every 5 pages
i like how the book reads as though he's telling you a story. i do get confused on the descriptions of people though. i think the whole deal about the big nose is really funny.
Yeah, I'm having trouble deciphering the sentences. They're really long and wordy, and it's been taking me a while. I was very happy when Mrs. Scandurro told us we probably wouldn't understand the sentences.
I think the Indian culture we discussed in class was really interesting... like it being masculine for men to hold hands yet homosexuality is looked down upon greatly. It's so wierd to me...
I agree with Caroline on the holding hands part. It also surprised me that women only wear pants as pajamas. I would have thought that because India is such a globalized country, they would wear more business-like clothing like pants.
I agree with andrew at the moment. Im sure i would enjoy this book but currently i am burned from the last two books i read. His style in the first chapter is unique though
It is interesting that Salman Rushdie uses the Tin Drum and One Hundred Years of Solitude as influiences for his work. I like how he relates Indian culture to Latin American culture in that they were at some poinnt ruled by the West, so now they are realizing their own identity and getting in touch with their past.
I can definitely see the relation between Marquez and Rushdie. Not only does Rushdie's beautiful language and subtly humorous style reflect Marquez's, but he represents his long-oppressed, undervalued culture much like Marquez does. As I said today, though, Rushdie is different from Marquez in that he writes knowing that he is recording a culture not only for his people, but for the outside world. Marquez's novel gained popularity outside his country, as I understand it, somewhat on accident. Rushdie is taking the Marquez model as his own with the same aim in mind.
I will not rule out the possibility that Rushdie was influenced by Marquez. However, I will state that they were both influenced by the same global event: colonialism. Their native cultures were irrevocably effected by foriegn cultures. In my readings of Rushdie and Marquez, magiacal realism was used to address the cognitive dissonance within the cultures: it acts a literary devise to blend conflicting cultures. And India is a melting pot of multiculturalism.
I think that it is interesting that Marquez and Rushdie in a way are developing their culture because we can relate that in a way to the developement of America. Although we don't necessarily have one dominant writer who records our history, America did develope its own identity from that of its European ancestors with its ability to spread out west and form its identity.
i agree with stephen's first point. i think that it's easy for rushdie to relate indian culture to latin american and german because people are really the same in all cultures. sure, this is a great indian novel, but it's also showcases humanity.
I do think that the close relationship between men that we have discussed in Indian culture can also be related back to some cultures we have already studied. I remember when we were studying antiquity, Doc said it was not unusual for the Greeks and even the Roman men to take young boy lovers but was considered sensual love rather than lustful
An interesting side effect of reading Midnight's Children and 100 Years of Solitude and discussing the books' respective cultures in class is it has changed my perception of other cultures in relation to American culture. At first I kind of viewed many foreign cultures as "weird" - and I will still say that some aspects of some cultures are objectively weird, as can be seen by going on YouTube and searching "Japanese game show" - but now I can see that in its own way America is just as weird as any other culture.
When every culture is weird, I think the very idea of a "normal" culture becomes moot. I guess since the beginning of time people have been getting together and making up goofy things that they all should do (or think).
I think it is nice the way Rushdie adds certian words from his native language to make the book seem more like it actually happened rather than a mere fictional piece. In my opinion, such an addition seems to personalize the book and make the storytelling more interesting and fun to read.
I also liked the fortune telling part in the story. Not only did it serve as foreshadowing, but it helped clear up alot of certain confusions and loose ends from the previous pages and things that occured later. Another interesting foreshadow was when his grandfather disappears because it explains his current state.
And laslty, I would like to say that I enjoyed Rushdie's magical relaism. It is interesting to be able to say he was influenced by certain authors, but he still kind of change their style to fit his own. For example, the part when the men are in the forest during the war. There were hints of Marquez, but still reamined different. Sorry about all the blogs at once, I had free time at intership, and needed to post for the quarter. Sorry.
To anyone who has started to read Midnight's Children.
22 comments:
Though I can't profess to be too far long in my reading of Rushdie, I have to say that I love his style. It's just so wonderfully amusing and literate. I know that part of the reason that I love his writing so much is simply that he's more contemporary, and so of course I am more prone to appreciate things in line with my own paradigm/culture/period. Still, he's fantastic. He's witty, his tone is gently mocking, sort of ironic, aware. His narration is so amusing, and his vocabulary so large. His prose is at once funny and beautiful. He is a fluid writer, clearly a master of the English language. His depiction of India during those times is brilliant, fascinating, clear and vivid.
I really like Rushdie. Also, I can attest that he is an excellent public speaker.
ok so i just realized this but salman rushidie is in the moive bridget jones's diary lol
I, like Michelle, am not very far in "Midnight's Children", but I did read his "Satanic Verses". The intense symbology and magical realism are masterfully used. Again like Michelle, I love Rushdie's style which simultaniously raw and refined.
All I have to say is that I'm very interested to find out that he was once married to Padma...
yea i know that's so crazy. she's so pretty and he's..........
What do you all think of his use of magical realsim?
I agree with Michelle in that Rushdie is writes very well. I just find this...boring. Maybe I should just read more of it, but so far I've fallen asleep every 5 pages
i like how the book reads as though he's telling you a story. i do get confused on the descriptions of people though. i think the whole deal about the big nose is really funny.
Yeah, I'm having trouble deciphering the sentences. They're really long and wordy, and it's been taking me a while. I was very happy when Mrs. Scandurro told us we probably wouldn't understand the sentences.
I think the Indian culture we discussed in class was really interesting... like it being masculine for men to hold hands yet homosexuality is looked down upon greatly. It's so wierd to me...
I agree with Caroline on the holding hands part. It also surprised me that women only wear pants as pajamas. I would have thought that because India is such a globalized country, they would wear more business-like clothing like pants.
I agree with andrew at the moment. Im sure i would enjoy this book but currently i am burned from the last two books i read. His style in the first chapter is unique though
It is interesting that Salman Rushdie uses the Tin Drum and One Hundred Years of Solitude as influiences for his work. I like how he relates Indian culture to Latin American culture in that they were at some poinnt ruled by the West, so now they are realizing their own identity and getting in touch with their past.
I can definitely see the relation between Marquez and Rushdie. Not only does Rushdie's beautiful language and subtly humorous style reflect Marquez's, but he represents his long-oppressed, undervalued culture much like Marquez does. As I said today, though, Rushdie is different from Marquez in that he writes knowing that he is recording a culture not only for his people, but for the outside world. Marquez's novel gained popularity outside his country, as I understand it, somewhat on accident. Rushdie is taking the Marquez model as his own with the same aim in mind.
I will not rule out the possibility that Rushdie was influenced by Marquez. However, I will state that they were both influenced by the same global event: colonialism. Their native cultures were irrevocably effected by foriegn cultures. In my readings of Rushdie and Marquez, magiacal realism was used to address the cognitive dissonance within the cultures: it acts a literary devise to blend conflicting cultures. And India is a melting pot of multiculturalism.
I think that it is interesting that Marquez and Rushdie in a way are developing their culture because we can relate that in a way to the developement of America. Although we don't necessarily have one dominant writer who records our history, America did develope its own identity from that of its European ancestors with its ability to spread out west and form its identity.
i agree with stephen's first point. i think that it's easy for rushdie to relate indian culture to latin american and german because people are really the same in all cultures. sure, this is a great indian novel, but it's also showcases humanity.
I do think that the close relationship between men that we have discussed in Indian culture can also be related back to some cultures we have already studied. I remember when we were studying antiquity, Doc said it was not unusual for the Greeks and even the Roman men to take young boy lovers but was considered sensual love rather than lustful
An interesting side effect of reading Midnight's Children and 100 Years of Solitude and discussing the books' respective cultures in class is it has changed my perception of other cultures in relation to American culture. At first I kind of viewed many foreign cultures as "weird" - and I will still say that some aspects of some cultures are objectively weird, as can be seen by going on YouTube and searching "Japanese game show" - but now I can see that in its own way America is just as weird as any other culture.
When every culture is weird, I think the very idea of a "normal" culture becomes moot. I guess since the beginning of time people have been getting together and making up goofy things that they all should do (or think).
I think it is nice the way Rushdie adds certian words from his native language to make the book seem more like it actually happened rather than a mere fictional piece. In my opinion, such an addition seems to personalize the book and make the storytelling more interesting and fun to read.
I also liked the fortune telling part in the story. Not only did it serve as foreshadowing, but it helped clear up alot of certain confusions and loose ends from the previous pages and things that occured later. Another interesting foreshadow was when his grandfather disappears because it explains his current state.
And laslty, I would like to say that I enjoyed Rushdie's magical relaism. It is interesting to be able to say he was influenced by certain authors, but he still kind of change their style to fit his own. For example, the part when the men are in the forest during the war. There were hints of Marquez, but still reamined different.
Sorry about all the blogs at once, I had free time at intership, and needed to post for the quarter. Sorry.
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