Rating: 
Summary: Modern myth come to life
Review: I was not sure what to expect, this being my first Rushdie novel, but I was not disappointed. The story from the start struck me as stepping a good ways away from the cut and dried storytelling method may narrators use today by conciously making the narrator a highly judgemental one, and not simply letting the story tell itself.We start out with a mythical birth: a man destined to become a fat, decidant doctor whose intellect is matched only by is weight. He finds himself, eventually, positioned between political factions desperate to cover their own rears while taking what they can for themselves from the government and country. What we see throughout is a mix of straitforward illustration of greater events mixed with fable for the day to day lives of the characters, a mix which is very appealing in such a tale. I would not recommend this book for everyone. Probably only a few, in reality. Many will get bored with it soon, where others will get drawn in. Try reading the first part (30 pages or so) at a local bookstore or on-line if possible to see if you can get into things. If so, you will not be disappointed with the rest.
Rating:
Summary: Realism and Magic can get too mixed up
Review: It is pure, classic Rushdie, and therefore a delight to read! However, in the middle of the story, the occasional prosaic references to the real can appear to be out of place, imposed. On the other hand, some of the mundane narratives (that are not too ridiculous to be untrue, especially in the context of the region's recent history) are not so easy to separate from pure fantasy, unless one is very familiar with all the characters and their personal histories. But perhaps that's where lies the author's trademark. Buyers should be aware of the fact that the recent Picador edition is annoyingly full of typographical/editorial errors. Hopefully these will be taken care of in future imprints.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Rushdie's most thematically driven novels...
Review: Let me start by saying that if you have never read a Salman Rushdie book before, I do not recommend that this be your first. My first encounter with Rushdie was Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a friend of mine began to appreciate his writing after reading Midnight's Children. Stick to those (or perhaps East, West) if you are a Rushdie neophyte. Shame is not necessarily the best introduction to one of the best writers of the 20th century. Why, you might ask? The fact is that Shame homes in on a specific theme and doesn't let go. The book is essentially about the birth of Pakistan and its painful, turbulent early years. It is so focused on these themes that Rushdie goes so far as to include personal asides in the middle of the prose in order to further clarify the points he is making. Shame is a fun, clever and tremendously enjoyable novel but I can see people being put off by an almost educational, preachy tone in these little asides. Don't get me wrong.... Shame is a GREAT book! For any of you who are familiar with Rushdie's style, you will find that he is up to form here. The plot is full of clever devices (much like in The Moor's Last Sigh) which will have you placing the book down, simply awestruck at the inventiveness and foresight. What else can I say? I am enraptured with Rushdie. Anyone interested in reading simply astounding prose needs to do themselves a favor and read this author's work. Be forewarned though, this in not a light afternoon read, it requires a certain intellectual investment.
Rating:
Summary: One of Rushdie's most thematically driven novels...
Review: Let me start by saying that if you have never read a Salman Rushdie book before, I do not recommend that this be your first. My first encounter with Rushdie was Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a friend of mine began to appreciate his writing after reading Midnight's Children. Stick to those (or perhaps East, West) if you are a Rushdie neophyte. Shame is not necessarily the best introduction to one of the best writers of the 20th century. Why, you might ask? The fact is that Shame homes in on a specific theme and doesn't let go. The book is essentially about the birth of Pakistan and its painful, turbulent early years. It is so focused on these themes that Rushdie goes so far as to include personal asides in the middle of the prose in order to further clarify the points he is making. Shame is a fun, clever and tremendously enjoyable novel but I can see people being put off by an almost educational, preachy tone in these little asides. Don't get me wrong.... Shame is a GREAT book! For any of you who are familiar with Rushdie's style, you will find that he is up to form here. The plot is full of clever devices (much like in The Moor's Last Sigh) which will have you placing the book down, simply awestruck at the inventiveness and foresight. What else can I say? I am enraptured with Rushdie. Anyone interested in reading simply astounding prose needs to do themselves a favor and read this author's work. Be forewarned though, this in not a light afternoon read, it requires a certain intellectual investment.
Rating:
Summary: Magical realism in Pakistan
Review: Mr Rushdie borrows heavily from the Gabriel Garcia Marquez ouvre and from his own sophomore effort, Midnight's Children, but comes up with something fresh, disturbing and utterly memorable. Magical realism can be a cute wordplay, a device to be precious without having the ideas to back up the innovation and at times it can seem like an adolescent game of hopscotch among the literati as to who knows more words and can mingle them most outrageously; but when the imagery works and the verbose fireworks are centered by wit and passion it is moving the way sparser prose can never be.
This particular novel, a savage parody of Pakistan since the partition, knows how to engage heart and mind and the author's graphic imagination seems never gratuitous but true artistry because his blood-thirsty, confused and deeply melancholy characters are not cartoon characters from 1001 Nights but humanity in a microcosmos, albeit with the drives and traumas of people living on the edge of sanity.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for a satire on pakistani politics? Here you go.
Review: Rushdie again is in top form here. The western world has been waiting for a long time for someone to come along and give us a good satire on pakistani politics, and Rushdie fills the void splendidly. Why, I remember just a few years ago sitting around my office during lunchtime with some of my coworkers lamenting the fact that there were almost no books at Borders that were a satire on Pakistani politics. And then along comes Rushdie, poking clever fun at that bufoon Bhutto, and that clown Jinnah, and that silly old bugger Zia, and of course let's not forget our favorite, Musharref. The jokes about the old mountain men having sex with goats and sheep were priceless and thoroughly original. Who would have thought to make fun of those Pakistani men having sex with their sheep and goats? Only a brilliant nobel-worthy humourist and social commentator like Rushdie could have come up with such a hilarious observation. Bravo, my Pakistani, yet English-accented, man of letters, bravo.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Parody
Review: Rushdie is absolutely brilliant in this novel. I have not seen any book that contains such a confluence of histories, comedies and tragedies wrapped up so neatly in 300 pages. This novel operates in several layers. The first layer is the rough history of Pakistan -- with the characters of Jinnah, Bhutto etc. The second layer fictionalizes the entire history, by changing the names of the historical figures and finally, adding Rushdie's patented "magical realism." The result is half fiction, half history and brimming with hilarious anecdotes, mysterious mythology and a gripping chronicle of the rise and fall of a military dictator and his rival, a debauched elite.
Rating:
Summary: very funny, often disturbing. wonderful fantasy-history
Review: rushdie tells wonderful stories about terrible things, and shame is often hilarious and terrifying at the same time. for all the boggling cruelty inflicted upon humans in the book, i still can't get the image of the poor turkeys out of my mind.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant.
Review: Rushdie's SHAME is absolutely brilliant. Like in Midnight's Children, he twists, reads, and writes the history of a nation as if it were a toy. Yet, somehow, his writing takes on the quality of an ancient myth - something that has always been happening and that we have only just discovered. At the center of this novel is a girl who, like Morrison's Beloved, is the embodiment/incarnation of an emotion: Shame.
Rating: 
Summary: A customer's review
Review: Salman Rushdie wrote an intriguing novel when he wrote shame. There are several plays on the definition and the combinations of shame in this novel. Through his humourous personal commentary, glimpses of a larger political agenda can be seen coated with sarcasm. Overall, the book was not bad, although a little unclear at times. The reader should have background knowledge of the situation in Pakistan to help see the the comparisons of the characters to influentual people.
| 
