My First Rushdie Novel!!!
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A really enjoyable read!!! From the beginning Rushdie's narration is driven from the perpective of his protagnist Malik Solanka(a philosopher cum popular dollmaker) a character, who one can assume, is not unlike Rushdie (middle aged, tempremental and member of privilegded arty circles). The emphasis on Malik's perceptions gives Rushdie a platform to explore ideas that are seemingly specific to him but which are surprisingly universal. Plot wise it revolves around Malik fleeing to New York from London and his family. This escape is a result of a strange incident which has led him to believe he may possibly harm his family. In New York he is forced to make sense of himself and the world around him. This done by a his exploration of; the strange city he finds himself in; his roots in India; his marriages; his sexual daliances; his success as the creator of doll which has become a media sensation; his high soceity friends.
Due to the Fury's autobigraphical slant Rushdie indulges himself in a fair degree of -thinly veiled- self-aggrandisement. This is particularly evident in the media impact Malik's creation (a doll) has on mainstream culture. Also, Malik's other creations bizzarely become an integral part of coup on a politically tumultuous pacific island (think Fiji). However in spite of this, Fury is a good novel. In a lot of ways I found it similar to Saturday by Ian McEwan, not in regards to plot or even in terms of tone...however both Fury and Saturday seem to explore post-middle aged angst in a universal and human way.
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Its Rushdie, therefore it is brilliant
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This is Salman Rushdie's most autobiographical novel. It is also his most readable. Fury tells the story of Cambridge Philosopher turned legendary doll maker Malik Solanka who is struggling to control his furious anger. His famous creation, Little Brian, has been appropriated by the media and transformed into everything he most detests about consumerist marketing and one night he finds himself standing over his sleeping child with a knife in his hand. Fearing for the safety of his young family Malik retreats to New York City where he finds refuge amidst a city more furious than himself. This is a city where cab drivers froth with hatred, petty resentments tear relationships apart and a serial killer is murdering women with a slab of concrete. Against this backdrop Malik Solanka tries to rebuild his life and unexpectedly developed a new doll. But will it be a success? Does the internet offer the chance for him to determine every aspect of his creation? And what about those periods of memory loss, could he be the serial killer?
This is a novel about the relationship between an artist and his creation. Only Salman Rushdie could combine the mythic Furies with contemporary popular culture and do so with such high-tempo panache. It is a terrific joy to read Rushdie, no other writer is able to combine so many themes and bring them together seamlessly and with such ease. If you have never read anything by the pre-eminent author of our time, this is the first place you should start. You will not be disappointed.
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More like mildly annoying
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I suppose it was worth reading, it keeps bumping along, but there are way too many loose ends in Fury to make it thoroughly recommendedable. The main problem with this novel is there are dozens of ideas and none of them are properly worked out. First it's an old man's sadness at the passing of time, then it's a murder mystery, then it's an allegory, then it's a satire. The whole 'beautful young women can't resist rich old intellectuals' is also a bit tiresome, especially when it happens twice in the storyline. Still, the language is fruity and witty, and the plot - jagged as it is - at least swerves enough time to keep you interested. So in the end it's probably worth the effort.
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Make sure you've got a dictionary
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As a Salman Rushdie fan I thoroughly enjoyed this book as its filled with his trademark very amusing anecdotes on society and people. Its not got the original storyline of some of his other works the story being a very simple one, the life of an academic who has run away one night from his family and cosy life in England to catch a flight and eventually live in in New York. Does it sound familiar? well I guess a lot of the book is based on the personal experience of being an ''indian'' british national forced by death threats to leave your country - very run of the mill!. I have my doubts however that Salman has had as much with luck the young ladies as does his male lead, but I guess that unexpected success can be attributed to a wishful male author. The male lead Professor Solanka is a middle aged professor who once had an idea which was snatched and marketed by the media to the extent that he is not only able to finance his departure from the mother country but also to do as he pleases with his time.. The book follows his life for a while so we encounter the various individuals he meets along the way as well as his doubts, his musings on life and society in particular American society. Like all Rushdie books the language is intriguing and whitty though far too clever and he must be showing off at times, who else would come up with a phrase like ''necromantic strides of science'' so be sure to have a dictionary to hand. A ''real'' storyline is eventually imposed upon the day-to-day life of the professor as he comes up with a successful sci-fi idea, meets a stunningly, overwhelmingly attractive political activist (see wishful thoughts aove) and generally events overtake him. I found this real story not as interesting as the musings of the professor on society and life or his descriptions of the people around him and I felt it eventually ran out of steam. Maybe the book needs another 50 pages to fill in the peices, but, as its the language and not the story that is the interest for this reader I'll simply knock off one star. If you have never read Rushdie then I'd recommend one of his other famous books but if you are a fan you won't be disappointed in the ramblings of this lost sheep wandering around a chaotic terrestial world as well as the world of his imagination.
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Fury
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This is the second Rushdie book I have read, and despite almost being put off the author by his self absorbed attitude, my faith has been renewed. Fury is an excellent book with some fantasic 'one liners' which really made you sit upright and think. His ability to stike a chord with the readers own life experience is amazing, even though the plot is far fetched, relevancy is still maintained. A great read - and I feel a slight sense of loss that closing the book waves goodbye to the main character.
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