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The Ground Beneath Her Feet
 
 
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The Ground Beneath Her Feet (Paperback)

by Salman Rushdie (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 22.95
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The Ground Beneath Her Feet + The Enchantress of Florence + Satanic Verses
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Product Details

Product Description

From Amazon.com

The ground shifts repeatedly beneath the reader's feet during the course of Salman Rushdie's sixth novel, a riff on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in the high-octane world of rock & roll. Readers get their first clues early on that the universe Rushdie is creating here is not quite the one we know: Jesse Aron Parker, for example, wrote "Heartbreak Hotel"; Carly Simon and Guinevere Garfunkel sang "Bridge over Troubled Water"; and Shirley Jones and Gordon McRae starred in "South Pacific." And as the novel progresses, Rushdie adds unmistakable elements of science fiction to his already patented magical realism, with occasionally uneven results.

Rushdie's cunning musician is Ormus Cana, the Bombay-born founder of the most popular group in the world. Ormus's Eurydice (and lead singer) is Vina Apsara, the daughter of a Greek American woman and an Indian father who abandoned the family. What these two share, besides amazing musical talent, is a decidedly twisted family life: Ormus's twin brother died at birth and communicates to him from "the other side"; his older brothers, also twins, are, respectively, brain-damaged and a serial killer. Vina, on the other hand, grew up in rural West Virginia where she returned home one day to find her stepfather and sisters shot to death and her mother hanging from a rafter in the barn. No wonder these two believe they were made for each other.

Narrated by Rai Merchant, a childhood friend of both Vina and Ormus, The Ground Beneath Her Feet begins with a terrible earthquake in 1989 that swallows Vina whole, then moves back in time to chronicle the tangled histories of all the main characters and a host of minor ones as well. Rushdie's canvas is huge, stretching from India to London to New York and beyond--and there's plenty of room for him to punctuate this epic tale with pointed commentary on his own situation: Muslim-born Rai, for example, remarks that "my parents gave me the gift of irreligion, of growing up without bothering to ask people what gods they held dear.... You may argue that the gift was a poisoned chalice, but even if so, that's a cup from which I'd happily drink again." Despite earthquakes, heartbreaks, and a rip in the time-space continuum, The Ground Beneath Her Feet may be the most optimistic, accessible novel Rushdie has yet written. --Alix Wilber



From Publishers Weekly

Time and space, understood conventionally, have never been enough for Rushdie's antic imagination, and here he needs two parallel universes to contain this playful, highly allusive journey through the last 40 years of pop culture. Ormus Cama, a supernaturally gifted musician, and his beloved, Vina Apsara, a half-Indian woman with a soul-thrilling voice, meet in Bombay in the late '50s, discover rock and roll, and form a band that goes on to become the world's most popular musical act. Narrator Rai Merchant, their lifelong friend, is a world-famous photographer and Vina's "backdoor man." Rai tells the story of their great, abiding love (both are named for love gods: Cama as in Kama Sutra, and Vina for Venus), which thrives on obstacles. At first Vina is underage, and Ormus swears not to touch her until she turns 16; then, after one night of love, she disappears for a decade, returning only to rescue Ormus from a near fatal coma. While he swears chastity for a decade, Vina tests their commitment with a string of other lovers, of whom only Rai is kept secret. Ultimately, Ormus and Vina reenact the Orpheus myth, not once but twice. And this is only the heart of a plot whose action moves from Bombay to London to Manhattan. Rai's work as photographer underwrites meditations on 20th-century art and journalism. Rock and roll inspires endless fun, as Rushdie sprinkles lyrics into his narrative, and scrambles pop music names and historyAElvis Presley becomes Jesse Garon Parker, for instance. History is scrambled, too: Watergate turns out to be nothing more than a pulp thriller. The reader slowly discovers that the novel is set in a universe parallel to our own, and the characters catch glimpses of an alternate reality that looks more like our actual world. Despite many comic and dazzling passages, the hyperbole, the scrambled allusions and the parallel universes eventually become wearying. While not one of his masterpieces, this flawed giant is a spirited, head-spinning entertainment from a writer of undeniable genius. Agent: The Wylie Agency. Rights sold in Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the U.K.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews

98 Reviews
5 star:
 (41)
4 star:
 (17)
3 star:
 (20)
2 star:
 (12)
1 star:
 (8)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (98 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book of Salman Rushdie, Mar 22 2009
The best book of Salman Rushdie.Great saga on over 50 years about the rock culture.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Labor of Love, Dec 19 2001
There is only one thing I will concede about this book- that it is somewhat of a 'labor of love' -- it's no beach read. Rushdie has crafted word-for-word, thought-for-thought with a painstaking eye for detail to match that of God himself. This story will be especially entertaining to those with a modicum of pop knowledge. The plays on words and musical history are endless. But no matter where your knowledge is, this book has a love story at its heart, and we're all suckers for a love story, no? In the end, I think you will agree with me that with Rushdie around, anyone else who after him dares to pick up a pen and write can only do so in a spirit of ambition.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Good but too mythical, Nov 22 2001
By A Customer
I really liked that book. The story was compeling,the characters are amazing and beautiful, butI have to say that I got lost a little in the other realm. Salmon Rushdie was as usual a superb writer and writes the most beautiful phrases I have ever read.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but too mythical
I really liked that book. The story was compeling,the characters are amazing and beautiful, butI have to say that I got lost a little in the other realm. Read more
Published on Nov 22 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious Rushdie Novel Swept Me Off My Feet
_The Ground Beneath Her Feet_ is among Rushdie's best novels. The narrator, Rai, tells the story of Ormus Cama and Vina Aspara, his close friends, the world-famous rock stars... Read more
Published on Sep 11 2001 by Rebecca Carpenter

5.0 out of 5 stars For The Fans
It's interesting to see other reviewers contrast Ground Beneath Her Feet with Midnight's Children, as my thoughts ran the same way. Read more
Published on Aug 27 2001 by pjmorv

1.0 out of 5 stars The Ground Beneath Her Feer
Wow, this book was awful and I love to read anything and everything. It was so bad I stopped reading it and I bought it at full hardcover price at the bookstore. Read more
Published on Jul 30 2001 by Victor Charlie

3.0 out of 5 stars You talk too much, you worry me to death!
The difference between "Midnight's Children" and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" is the difference between a long, fantastic novel that pulls you in and keeps... Read more
Published on Jul 21 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Tiresome, Self-Indulgent, Pretentious Dud
This one helps us understand the difference between proficiency in language and mastery of writing, between mechanical wit and humor, between being a smartypants and being wise... Read more
Published on Jul 17 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Until now, Rushdie was a tease
Until this novel, Salman Rushdie was a tease. Yes, his words are musical and magical, inventive and playful. And yes, his characters are complicated and real. Read more
Published on Jun 27 2001 by David Bridgeland

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, boring heroine
Maybe I am just too old to be infatuated by the world of Rock'n'Roll. Or too young? I am only half Mick Jagger's age after all... Read more
Published on Jun 10 2001 by Manuel Haas

1.0 out of 5 stars Editor Abandons Party Political Broadside
As a musician for more than 20 years I looked forward to reading this one. A feast had been promised; a gentleman from The Times was quoted on the back cover (of the paperback) as... Read more
Published on Jan 31 2001 by P. C.

3.0 out of 5 stars Tedious
Why did I feel compelled to read it? Maybe because the last Rushdie I read, and I've read them all, was "The Moor's Last Sigh"(his best). Read more
Published on Dec 5 2000 by happy

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