Fury by Salman Rushdie

Fiction

249 Pages Trade Paperback

2001

I have a goal of reading all of Rushdie's works at some point. I have read most of them and now I am starting to dive into some of his lesser known work. Since having read his memoir it adds a bit to the story knowing what Rushdie was going through while writing this book. There seem to be parallels between the main character, Malik and himself.

Malik Solanka has left his wife and child in Europe and relocated to New York. He does this in a way to protect his family as he has a deep anger that he isn't able to control. He has made a living off the creation of a puppet show titled and focused on its main character "Little Brain". He finds himself getting involved in a number of uncomfortable relationships which eventually lead him to confront his issues.

I found this to be the most disappointing Rushdie book I have read. I found Malik to be very unlikable. He comes off as selfish, melodramatic and weak. He relationship with the neighbor lady comes off as creepy and almost incestuous. I realize that the point is that he is dealing with the problems of the past, but if I can't find anything about the character to connect with than it is hard to care about him. 

I also found a lack of the beautiful phrasing and wordplay that I look for in Rushdie's writing. It isn't to say it was bad, it just lacked what I find most appealing about his work. 

2 Intellectual/Emotional -There is little intellectual interest and the only emotional connections I made was for his wife and child who were sideline to the main story.

3 Style/Readability -Rushdie does fine, but it doesn't have much of what I hope for from his work. 

2 Long Term Impact - This is still Rushdie and I imagine there is more here that I am giving it credit for, but so far I would suggest reading any of his work over this.

7 out of 13. Rushdie is one of my favorite authors. I love reading his books, but I have to be honest this was a let down. Read Midnight's Children, The Moor's Last Sigh, or the Satanic Verses.