Rating: 
Summary: A great allegorical novel
Review: "Shame" is an absolutely brilliant allegory about the political and social chaos that helped give birth to Pakistan and, later, to Bangladesh. If you're up on your modern history, some of the characters will be instantly recognizable. Bhutto is the Virgin Ironpants; and Zia ul-Haq, who wanted to throw Pakistan back into the middle ages, is General Raza Hyder, who ends up fleeing for his life, only to be destroyed, in an ending similar to a Greek tragedy, by the Three Furies, in the guise of the three "mothers" of the protagonist, Omar Khayyam, a lazy, indolent man without shame or much of a conscience either. Neatly balancing Omar is the book's other protagonist, a little girl so engulfed in shame that her blushes burn everyone who touches her and almost set water to boil; when she grows up and loses her shame and thus her modesty, all hell breaks loose. Rushdie is also a terrific humorist, and some sections of the book will have you on the floor laughing. Above all,"Shame" is a tour-de force, a non-stop page-turner, a dizzying melange of allegory, parody, fantasy, mythology and modern history, told by a writer whose love/hate relationship with his country is reflected all over the book. It's Rushdie at his finest and helps to secure his place as one of the best writers of his generation.
Rating:
Summary: A great allegorical novel
Review: "Shame" is an absolutely brilliant allegory about the political and social chaos that helped give birth to Pakistan and, later, to Bangladesh. If you're up on your modern history, some of the characters will be instantly recognizable. Bhutto is the Virgin Ironpants; and Zia ul-Haq, who wanted to throw Pakistan back into the middle ages, is General Raza Hyder, who ends up fleeing for his life, only to be destroyed, in an ending similar to a Greek tragedy, by the Three Furies, in the guise of the three "mothers" of the protagonist, Omar Khayyam, a lazy, indolent man without shame or much of a conscience either. Neatly balancing Omar is the book's other protagonist, a little girl so engulfed in shame that her blushes burn everyone who touches her and almost set water to boil; when she grows up and loses her shame and thus her modesty, all hell breaks loose. Rushdie is also a terrific humorist, and some sections of the book will have you on the floor laughing. Above all,"Shame" is a tour-de force, a non-stop page-turner, a dizzying melange of allegory, parody, fantasy, mythology and modern history, told by a writer whose love/hate relationship with his country is reflected all over the book. It's Rushdie at his finest and helps to secure his place as one of the best writers of his generation.
Rating:
Summary: A great allegorical novel
Review: "Shame" is an absolutely brilliant allegory about the political and social chaos that helped give birth to Pakistan and, later, to Bangladesh. If you're up on your modern history, some of the characters will be instantly recognizable. Bhutto is the Virgin Ironpants; and Zia ul-Haq, who wanted to throw Pakistan back into the middle ages, is General Raza Hyder, who ends up fleeing for his life, only to be destroyed, in an ending similar to a Greek tragedy, by the Three Furies, in the guise of the three "mothers" of the protagonist, Omar Khayyam, a lazy, indolent man without shame or much of a conscience either. Neatly balancing Omar is the book's other protagonist, a little girl so engulfed in shame that her blushes burn everyone who touches her and almost set water to boil; when she grows up and loses her shame and thus her modesty, all hell breaks loose. Rushdie is also a terrific humorist, and some sections of the book will have you on the floor laughing. Above all,"Shame" is a tour-de force, a non-stop page-turner, a dizzying melange of allegory, parody, fantasy, mythology and modern history, told by a writer whose love/hate relationship with his country is reflected all over the book. It's Rushdie at his finest and helps to secure his place as one of the best writers of his generation.
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive for those in the mood
Review: A curious novel, written in what I'm coming to believe was Rushdie's early style: a satire comprising of a mix of realistic narrative and fable.It's by no means an easy read: both time and place are mutable; characters shift from being seemingly true to life, to being thinly-disguised allusions to real historical figures, and then again to being exemplifications of human traits. You could almost think of "Shame" as a kaleidoscopic novel, aimed at modern Pakistan and Pakistani history. I suppose this is great stuff if you like a challenging novel and are in to this kind of writing. I found it too clever by half to be enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining political satire
Review: Although Rushdie makes a half-hearted attempt to argue otherwise, Shame is obviously an allegory of Pakistani politics from the time of Pakistan's creation to the downfall of General Zia. Many of Rushdie's trademarks are on display. Historical and cultural influences are important to Rushdie, as he likes to trace families back several generations in order to explain the development of his main character(s). Once again we have several characters representing chauvinist, extremist elements, and Rushdie astutely portrays how they gain influence in political circles at the highest level. Rushdie also likes to blend fantasy with reality, and it is often difficult to know when to take him literally or not. I just recently read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" for the first time, and I realize retrospectively how much Rushdie borrows from Marquez and other magical realists. Thus, if you like this kind of writing, you will love this book. Even if you don't care for the magical realist style, however, you can still appreciate Rushdie's political and social insights. And even if you don't know or care about Pakistan, you can enjoy his remarkable wit and his flowing prose.
Rating:
Summary: The Shame Game
Review: Better than the award winning 'Midnights Children'? Yes, by a mile. More coherent (and shorter). This is my favourite Rushdie novel (and I have read them all). Deepest black comedy of the finest sort.
Rating: 
Summary: still a good read... but disappointing
Review: Everything's relative, but compared to _Midnight's Children_ and _Satanic Verses_ Rushdie's novel about Pakistan left me a bit dubious of my distinction of him as an unwavering literary superstar. I always enjoy his writing style, but I wonder if his strict political satire of the ruling classes in _Shame_ is as powerful as the epic parody in _MC_. This novel just appeared a bit more of a closed text with such seemingly visible agendas that I wondered to what extent crossing the fictional borders of countries could affect someone's writing.
Rating:
Summary: Salman Rushdie's funniest most lucid book.
Review: I don't know what I remember most from this book. Was it Bhutto being parodied as Virgin Ironpants or the only pure characters taking off to the hill to be guerrilla soldiers, only to find themselves debating over whether sheep or goats make better sex partners. With what little I know about Pakistani history I could piece together who Rushdie was mocking and what was happening. This is a deep intellectual novel, that is disguised as a burlesque. While you read it you'll be thinking of the big issues that Rushdie presents. Afterwards you'll admit how much more memorable were the dirty jokes.
Rating:
Summary: Pure brilliance
Review: I have to say that I found this book much more comprehensible than The Satanic Verses. It's basically about Pakistan with all of its contradictions, faults and absurdity. It's eitehr a love letter or a hate letter to his home country and it's a history told in the magical realism style where every major political movement is started by a private incident and evey private exchange is fraught with dangers. He also calls Bhutto Virgin Ironpants - which I'm sure would have annoyed many feminists as much as the Ayatollah passages in The Satanic Verses annoyed the entire country of Iran. (oh, I'm sorry the official stance is that it was the Muhammed passages) But for all its brilliance and nuance what I and my friends remember is the debate among the rebels over whether to have sex with teh docile sheep or the wild goats. Not even the people fighting the hostile regime are safe from scorn and ridicule. The central metaphor is in two characters - one a man without shame and the other a woman who is embarrassed and overtly modest from birth. When she loses her modesty, she becomes a vicious animal destroying all in her path. I think that is the theme in that the country might be run by the shameless and the crass, but when the silent ones are pushed too far - watch out. Even as a minor book this proves Rushdie's clarity of vision and his place as one of the greatest writers of teh 20th century.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Allegorical Look At Pakistan's History
Review: I salute Salman Rushdie for his temerity and literary excellence in creating a brilliant allegorical satire on his former country. It sizzles with much energy and crisp prose, as a hysterical, hilarious look at Pakistan's birth and history through the 1980's. Rushdie draws freely on ancient Greek and Roman mythology as well as Shakespeare to create his fictitious country; he confesses in brief, almost memoiresque asides, that it is indeed Pakistan. Pakistan's leading historical figures are portrayed as sex-crazed bumbling fools; one wonders how they managed to give birth to Pakistan and retain political control over the country for so many decades. I suppose Pakistanis may consider "Shame" as blasphemous as "The Satanic Verses", yet Rushdie is both a shrewd, as well as sarcastic, observer of Pakistan's history and politics. Without question this is one of Rushdie's finest novels.
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