The Ground Beneath Her Feet

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: 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: 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!