Omar Khayyam Shakil had three mothers who shared the symptoms of pregnancy, as they did everything else, inseparably. At their six breasts, Omar was warned against all feelings and nuances of shame. It was training which would prove useful when he left his mothers' fortress (via the dumb-waiter) to face his shameless future. As captivating fairy-tale, devastating political satire and exquisite, uproarious entertainment, Shame is a novel without rival. (19941121)
Shame
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"Salman Rushdie has earned the right to be called one of our great story tellers" (Observer )
"There can seldom have been so robust and baroque an incarnation of the political novel as Shame. It can be read as a fable, polemic or excoriation; as history or as fiction... This is the novel as myth and as satire " (Sunday Telegraph )
"Shame is every bit as good as Midnight's Children. It is a pitch-black comedy of public life and historical imperatives" (The Times )
"Salman Rushdie is a magnificent writer. He has a free-ranging imagination and a coarse, strong wit. He attackes language with energy and without constraint" (Independent )
"Shame is and is not about Pakistan, that invented, imaginary country... The theme is shame and shamelessness, born from the violence which is modern history. Revelation and obscurity, affairs of honour, blushings of all parts, the recession of erotic life, the open violence of public life, create the extraordinary Rushdie mood" (Malcolm Bradbury Guardian )
"There can seldom have been so robust and baroque an incarnation of the political novel as Shame. It can be read as a fable, polemic or excoriation; as history or as fiction... This is the novel as myth and as satire " (Sunday Telegraph )
"Shame is every bit as good as Midnight's Children. It is a pitch-black comedy of public life and historical imperatives" (The Times )
"Salman Rushdie is a magnificent writer. He has a free-ranging imagination and a coarse, strong wit. He attackes language with energy and without constraint" (Independent )
"Shame is and is not about Pakistan, that invented, imaginary country... The theme is shame and shamelessness, born from the violence which is modern history. Revelation and obscurity, affairs of honour, blushings of all parts, the recession of erotic life, the open violence of public life, create the extraordinary Rushdie mood" (Malcolm Bradbury Guardian )
Book Description
A masterful combination of history, myth, art, language, politics and religion from this legendary writer.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Someone else who reviewed Shame on this site said that the book is a struggle if you don't know anything about Pakistan. I studied this book on my university course and, having no prior knowledge about Pakistan whatsoever, found it by far the most enjoyable, captivating and enlightening book on our course.
It was the first Rushdie book I read [I've since sought out other novels by him]. The character threads and plotlines throughout the novel are complex and tangled, but distinctive and engrossing enough to keep the reader on track. Rushdie's unmistakeable writing style, which seems to appeal highly to some and repulse others, struck me as nothing short of ingenious; knowledgeable and informed without being condescending, humourous without being silly, and informal without being trivial; one has the sense of having a story told verbally to them by a wise and well-travelled uncle with a twinkle in his eye and a wandering memory prone to spinning off on charming tangents. Hugely enjoyable, and like nothing I've ever read before.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Though Rushdie begins the novel by introducing his hero, in a casual, Henry Fielding-style, and sets out what seems to be the main theme of the book (namely shame and embarrassment in the Islamic faith and culture), this book is never so simple. The narrative follows both numerous secondary characters, the hero never wholly central, in a winding but entertaining yarn which takes in as much Pakistan's own invented history as it does it present and the lives of the characters. Yet the interest of the reader is always held; the plot, though winding, never ceases to be fascinating in its endless blind alleys and diversions.
In the novel postmodernism is embraced fully; the past and present intermingle, and the narrative changes its focus throughout. Rushdie seeks to reconcile himself with Pakistan and his own Muslim upbringing in India and Britain, drawing heavily from his own life and from Pakistan's history. It is also Rushdie's answer to his critics, no doubt, as rather than ignoring Islam he challenges it and in particular there is a feminist aspect to the story. Rushdie shows himself to be at once a great writer in a the 'classic' tradition and a progressive and enlightened man.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. D Burin
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Released between the critically acclaimed 'Midnight's Children' and the hugely controversial 'The Satanic Verses', Rushdie's 'Shame' is a book which has been largely forgotten and overlooked in recent years; but is it a novel which can stand toe-to-toe with Rushdie's best? Not really. The novel centers, unsurprisingly, around the idea of shame, weaving a self-consciously uncertain, and often fragmented tale of upper class Pakistani life, but also of the cruelties, suppression and rumour of a country which has seen it's fair share of conflict. There are flashes of Rushdie's brilliance in the book, such as in his exploration of the martyrdom of the wrongly revered former President Iskander Harappa, and in his discussion of issues like censorship, but too often the book stumbles. Rushdie's treatment of the brain-damaged Sufiya Zinobia is perhaps the novel's biggest mis-step, a bizarre story which seems to link her deficincies to evil, and by rumour, transforms her into a mythical white panther. The mystical elements of Rushdie's novels has rarely seemed so poorly used.
On the whole, 'Shame' is a work with definite promise, and some interesting explorations of the danger of restrictions on social freedoms, as well as a curious, and in-depth exploration of the issue of Shame itself, but this is a novel which never quite finds its footing, and passages of the book seem both akward, strange, and even rather dull. For Rushdie fans, there's enough here to make this a worthwhile, if rather frustrating read; but for the uninitiated, this is far from Rushdie's best work, and probably not the place to start.
On the whole, 'Shame' is a work with definite promise, and some interesting explorations of the danger of restrictions on social freedoms, as well as a curious, and in-depth exploration of the issue of Shame itself, but this is a novel which never quite finds its footing, and passages of the book seem both akward, strange, and even rather dull. For Rushdie fans, there's enough here to make this a worthwhile, if rather frustrating read; but for the uninitiated, this is far from Rushdie's best work, and probably not the place to start.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shame - a portrait of Pakistan
What a bargain Great book in perfect order. This is 'picture language' at its best - an insight into an oppressive regime
Published 2 months ago by P. A. Clawson
4.0 out of 5 stars
5th copy
i had to get another copy having yet again given my previous one to a friend to read. i love the book but the format was slightly disappointing.
Published 3 months ago by mr w grobbelaar
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grotesque & bizarre
I re-read Rushdie's novel now against the background of his 'Joseph Anton', and it is surprising how farsighted this book appears today. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Thomas Brueckner-Schunk
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not for me
This wasn't a purchase I wanted to make as it was required for me to read this book for a class at uni, it has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read. Read more
Published 6 months ago by beautyandbooks
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic novel for anyone interested in Pakistan
This book is a well researched and brilliantly written novel which would be of interest to anyone linked to Pakistan. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Imran Khan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and intriguing
Shame is the third novel by Salman Rushdie. The narrator tells us novel is and is not about Pakistan. Read more
Published on 11 May 2011 by Cloggie Downunder
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of "Shame"
This is the most powerful, most beautiful novel by Salman Rusdie. I have read most of his novels and this one is by far my favourite. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2011 by Kate7125
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
If you are not a fan of Rushdie then this is probably not the book for you. If you have never read Rushdie before then perhaps this is a good point at which to start, as you will... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2009 by Alex
1.0 out of 5 stars
Shame by Salman Rushdie
I loved "Midnight's Children" the story, about two boys born when India became independent, was enchanting and the writing was rich and dense. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2009 by Abiding in the fields
3.0 out of 5 stars
Irritating, dull and tedious....
Possibly it is because I have not read Rushdie before or possibly because his is just a style that doesn't work for me but I had such a hard time getting into this book and did not... Read more
Published on 2 July 2008 by Alice M. Hand
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