{"id":3585,"date":"2017-09-11T22:40:23","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T17:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=3585"},"modified":"2020-04-04T13:40:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T08:10:14","slug":"golden-house-salman-rushdie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/golden-house-salman-rushdie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golden House by Salman Rushdie – A Story of Secrets and Betrayals"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Golden House <\/em>is the story of a father and three sons who begin a new life in a new country and are running away from the past. This is the latest realistic fiction by Salman Rushdie set in New York and Mumbai.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Goldens appear like magic. A father and four sons – Immigrants in another country with a mission to reimagine their past and reinvent their future. And they are rich of course! They choose new names for their new life: the father chooses the name Nero, and his sons choose the names Petronius (Petya), Lucius Apulius (Apu), and Dionysius (D). The mansion is renamed The Golden House. It is one among many buildings that open into a common garden; a garden that the elite living in the adjacent buildings are allowed to use.<\/p>\n Rene is a Belgian film maker and a neighbour of the Goldens. Their magical appearance and mysterious past fascinates him and he sees an excellent subject for a film in the Golden family. He observes, interacts and slowly unearths the secrets of the Goldens. In this process, he himself gets entangled in the story. <\/p>\n More interesting is the occasional commentary of American politics like a background hum. Just like the Golden family seems to be falling down like a pack of cards, the political scene in America is on a downhill ride too and is captured in Rushdie\u2019s unapologetic and sarcastic wit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The whole family is caught in a web of betrayals and all the members (including Rene, an outsider) have things to hide. When the lies erupt, the characters feel weakened and vulnerable. I thought the structure of the novel was interesting; alternating between the main plot and Rene\u2019s script for his movie. There is camera zooming in, a pause and frozen faces in the novel (when it shifts to the script style of writing) which makes the whole book read like a movie. It also keeps the reader wondering where is the line between fiction and reality for the movie based on the Goldens.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Golden House is written in a way that you might get lost in the passages; and I don\u2019t mean that in a good way. There is an overload of information (in my notes I marked this as \u2018info vomit\u2019 but it seemed too crass to write it as such so plainly) that are unnecessary to the storyline. For example, you might read through a tiring list of film makers or read about a list of movies\/songs that the character is reminded of or read a long passage about the different sights of a city that you are not familiar with, resulting in making you detached from the narrative.<\/p>\n At times the novel almost felt as if Rushdie is either trying to show off how much information (read TV shows, films, cities, heritage etc) he knows and forced it into the main plot without there being a need for it or trying to forcibly define what \u2018fine taste\u2019 entails. So you have it all \u2013 Aadhar system, Seinfield, pop culture, Stephen Hawking\u2019s black holes, philosophy, epics, Mumbai underworld \u2013 you name it. It isn\u2019t that you feel bored only because you are not familiar with the different things Rushdie throws your way; Murakami for a fact is a writer who often includes songs in his novels and a reader who is not aware of the same will still be able to enjoy his books.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nDysfunctional family in a dysfunctional country<\/h3>\n
\nThe character sketches were wonderfully done, be it the mysterious and formidable Nero or the socially awkward but highly intelligent Petya or Apu with his artistic flair; or D with his confused gender identity. The woman in the story, Vasilisa, the new step mom, is scheming, manipulative and feared by the sons to be a \u2018gold digger\u2019. All the characters are secretive and closed off but they are exposed as we delve further into the plot.<\/p>\nBitter truths; Pleasing lies<\/h3>\n
A mish mash you might get lost in<\/h3>\n