Rating: 
Summary: So far so good
Review: So far, I have read the excerpts that were in the New Yorker, and I think the book promises to be vintage Rushdie. I also had the chance today to see him read from the same excerpts at his first public appearance/book-reading in Manhattan. From what I could see, this book is a message from his heart, and he really has been affected by the ideas deep down in the book. It was a pleasure to hear him read, complete with imitations of some of the Mexican characters in the book, and hope all of us are able to see him in person many times over.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent! Truly awe-inspiring.
Review: Let me first say that this is officially my favorite book of the year. Rushdie is astoundingly intelligent, ready with literary, cultural, and religious allusions for every aspect of the story. The plot is at once engrossing, humorous, saddening, and ironic. Please read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Rumblings of a Subterranean Force
Review: "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" is Rushdie's latest offering to the world. It is yet another eruption of the rumbling force trapped under the landslide of hate and fanaticism. It is a voice from the underground pleading to be set free. The mythical framework used by Rushdie is the Orpheus-Eurydice legend. Orpheus ventured to the land of the dead to bring Eurydice back to life. Paralleling this myth is its Indian counterpart: that of Kama and Rati. Kama was destroyed by the third eye of Shiva but, when Rati pleaded, Shiva soon relented and restored him to life. These two legends are worked into Salman Rushdie's novel. Ostensibly it is a love-story: the story of Vina Apsara and Ormus Cama, both star singers, much in love with each other, locked in a volatile relationship that can neither be consummated easily nor abandoned as a lost cause. Hovering between the two is Umeed Merchant, a.k.a. Rai, a professional photographer, also hopelessly infatuated with Vina Apsara. Rai is the narrator of the foredoomed love-story, the Tiresias who sees all and suffers all, the bard who can see and narrate Past, Present, and Future. The narrative begins with the disappearance of Vina Apsara on Valentine's Day of 1989 (which in reality was the day when Khomeini passed the infamous fatwa against Rushdie), loops back in time to recount events that took place in the past, and returns in a circumlocutory manner to the main story, thus completing a full circle. The myths used are timeless, but they are placed in a contemporary situation, making the story comprehensible to us in the present times. What is unusual about Rushdie's latest gift to his readers is the music content of his book. Rushdie is no stranger to popular music. His earlier works have several references to popular songs, but in the present book music is an integral part of the story. Without it the story of Vina and Ormus would fall apart. During the last ten years, among the few people that the author has been in touch with is the rock group U2, whose lead singer, Bono, is his close friend. In fact, U2 was supposed to bring out a new album to coincide with the release of Rushdie's book. The book itself was to be marketed with a CD-ROM. However, the recording of the songs got delayed and the book has hit the market before the songs. The U2 album will shortly be released, we are told, and it has a few haunting lyrics from The Ground Beneath Her Feet. Coupled with the music that weaves in and out of the story, is Rushdie's inimitable play with words. With language. With the known world as we percieve it. With history, as he distorts facts, combining reality with fantasy. His style remains irreverent, even arrogant, in the manner it challenges traditional usage, as in his erratic punctuation, when he repeatedly places a question mark and a comma together (?,). He deliberately thumbs his nose at the conservative reader in his idiosyncratic naming of his characters - Doodhwalla, his wife Gol-Matol, their daughters Halwa and Ras Gulla. True, sometimes the parody becomes annoying - for instance when Ormus's near-fatal accident is with a truckload of shit! But this is part of Rushdie's devil-may-care style: the brazenness of one who can look reality in the face, and yet see his own version of it. Who can unashamedly, unabashedly drop all pretences and be what he is because nothing, really nothing, matters any more. So, this is Rushdie. Take it or leave it! What, one may ask, is the impact of the book? Perhaps it is too early to say. There has been too much of hype. Expectations have been inflated and analytical responses need more time. Perhaps, when the tremors have ceased and life gets back to normal it will be possible to determine the impact of this Rushdie-quake. Where is the epicenter? What is the intensity on the Richter scale? Is it a 6.8 or an 8.2? The music of Ormus and Vina still resounds, sometimes mournful, sometimes triumphant. Perhaps, when the last notes of music fade away and its echoes linger in the mind, or when we accept all of Rushdie's stylistic/verbal gimmickry, when we can finally turn to the unpretentious aspects of the book, only then will we be able to actually hear and understand the crie de coeur of an exiled writer from his subterranean refuge. Only then will his words hit us with their full impact: She was my ground, my favorite sound, my country road, my city street, my sky above, my only love, and the ground beneath my feet. Go lightly down your darkened way, go lightly underground, I'll be down there in another day, I won't rest until you're found. Let me love you true, let me rescue you, let me lead you to where two roads meet. O come back above, where there's only love, and the ground's beneath your feet. Forget the banality of the lyrics. Forget the clichéd expressions of longing. What we have here is the voice of the author trapped under the garbage of human hate and fanaticism. What we have is a bleak, mournful, failing voice. A voice asking to be heard. Asking for reprieve. And what is our response? The silence of the Gutless! MANJU JAIDKA
Rating:
Summary: A Visionary Novel of our Extraordinary cracked-up World
Review: Rushdie often rushes in where others fear to. This great new opus is like a Charles Ives Symphony in novel form. It reveals a writer at peak of his powers. He casually toys with facts turned into fiction, and fiction into facts. Like Ives adding a quotation from a well-known march, with distorted notes and in a strange key, Rishdie titillates us with unreliable quotes and substituted casts in films, and real life. This book reminded me of a lecturer so at home with her material that she can play with her audience from her platform, teasing it, amusing it, enlightening, and disturbing it. Soon into the book, Rushie jerks it out of our hands killing off his heroine Vina. It is left to her friend, and onetime lover Rai Merchant to narrate this iliad. He tells her story and the story of those around her. Vina has her family wiped out, the consequence of a violent act. Ormus is part of a strange congener of relatives, a mad brother, a twin ghost. These two meet and mate. Rushie hits on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This is a long engrossing read. One of the most worthy books I have read.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece dealing with human emotions
Review: As opposed to most other reviewers, I couldn't put down this book to a point it made my husband jealous. The Ground Beneath Her Feet makes you become an instant rock and roll fan. It made me go back to the time I was "in love" with The Beatles- it carries you along the lives of rock singers as if you were there with them all the time.
Rushdie captures your attention weaving the story using well known music words and at the same time describing people and places so vividly- you feel like you're part of the book.
The book took me sight-seeing through Bombay as though I lived there- (I've never been to India). I would say Rushdie could be compared to Shakespeare and to Ingmar Berman- these are people who have a clear grasp on how to describe human passions, emotions, attitudes. Their stories touch deep in your heart.
I've read other books by Rushdie - even more recent ones and I like them all, but this one is a masterpiece. The story of Vina and Ormus won't leave my mind and every rock band I listen to it seems I see Ormus and Vina on stage.
The length of the book- well,to me it could even be longer- I couldn't wait to read the end but at the same time I didn't want it to end.It was like having a multiple orgasm!
I appreciate Rushdie's use of endless lists of adjectives and adverbs, (even though you sometimes have to go back to the beginning of the sentence to remember what it is about), because he thus creates a vivid image of what is really happening, of the light, the smell, the sound of the place and the exact feeling. I can't wait for my kids to read the book so we can discuss our feelings- a truly well done piece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Rushdie's masterpiece of a rock novel
Review: If you like Rushdie and classic rock, you will love this! Nominally about the rise and fall of a Bombay-based rock band which takes the world by storm, and of course including the requisite sad tale of unrequited love between the babe vocalist and the cool dude guitarist. The text is full references to great pop songs, and you probably won't catch all of them on the first read =)
Rating: 
Summary: Slightly Disappointing
Review: There is no doubt that Rushdie's writing can draw you into the complex layers of his story until you become enwrapped in his words, but in The Ground Beneath Her Feet, he slightly overdoes it. Not to say that it was a complete failure, but having just read the Midnight's Children, I did find it somewhat less than expected. The first thing that any reader should know before opening this book is that to understand half of it, they should at least have a basic knowledge of pop culture and the musical world as Rushdie plays with, transforms and refers to various real life personalities (most obvious is Elvis Presley), creating a fun read (if you understand it). A rock n' roll novel, a modern day story of Orpheus and Eurydice, a tale of magical love, The Ground Beneath Her Feet is about Ormus Cama and Vina Apsara, the two members of VTO, the greatest rock band ever with a monumental following, and Rai (Umeed) Merchant, their childhood friend. It begins with Vina's mysterious disappearance, as we then trace back to the protaganists' lives from Rai's perspective, learning of their histories, their tragedies, and all three¡¦s rise to fame, eventually unfolding the rift in Vina¡¦s and Ormus¡¦s other-wordly love and the answer to her unexplained disappearance. Once again Rushdie introduces a notion of the fantastical with the elements of time and space, creating a wild and imaginative novel, though once in a while the reader feels a little victimized by the random strands of the fantastical gone overboard, nearing a certain cheesiness. The plot however, was not the aspect of the book that disappointed me most, nor his occasional ramblings, but rather the lack of depth in character that I felt in Ormus and Vina. Even though Ormus and Vina were meant to be the goddesses, the other-wordly, the immortal, I found that Rushdie¡¦s description and portrayal of them seemed shallow and contained none of this supernatural element, as he didn¡¦t seem able to make the reader connect with Ormus or Vina. Due to this, the rest of the book was thus affected, as one can¡¦t completely wrap him/herself into the story without fully relating to the characters first. This lack of depth is partially due to Rushdie¡¦s occasional self-indulgent ramblings in his writing, as one could not learn fully about the character without being interrupted by unnecessary page long passages of philosophy, descriptions, and nothingness. Admittedly, at times his writing was brilliant with phrases worthy being quoted repeatedly, however the effect of this beautiful writing was spoilt by unedited ramblings. The overall effect is a slow read that many would get bored by before reaching the end, and less than full appreciation of the better aspects of this novel. Nevertheless, despite these faults and flaws and my disappointment of expectations, I find that The Ground Beneath Her Feet is still a worthy read as even though it contains less of the beautiful prose and depth that enraptures his readers in The Midnight¡¦s Children, it still manages to capture the readers attention with its imaginative outrageousness and playful references to our world.
Rating:
Summary: The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Review: The Ground Beneath Her Feet starts off as one of the most promising reads I have ever experienced. Mr. Rushdie's mastery of letters made me want to read slowly so as to savor his style. It was like uncorking a bottle of fine wine. Unfortunately, as the book progresses it becomes a very tedious read and only improves slightly as the end nears. I felt that the excessive adulation heaped on such an unlikable character such as Vina Apsara accurately reflected our habit of idolizing celebrities, however I was expecting a deeper meaning. There were far too many cursory references to musicians and songs, past and present, without much relevance. Their purpose seemed only to showcase Mr. Rushdie's knowledge of North American rock and roll history. This fine bottle of wine turned out to be vinegar.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst Book Ever!
Review: This was the first work I read by Rushdie, and it made me a fan of his. His style of writing is so beautiful and he knows how to create characters with which his readers can connect. One almost feels as if one is inside the story. Highly recommended!
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