Files
personal-website/public/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/index.html
2024-01-14 16:37:38 +05:30

456 lines
22 KiB
HTML
Raw Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters

This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" dir="auto">
<head><meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
<title>Shame by Salman Rushdie | Siddhartha Golu</title>
<meta name="keywords" content="fiction, favourites, indian-authors">
<meta name="description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
Now that I&rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as &ldquo;productive&rdquo; as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.">
<meta name="author" content="Siddhartha Golu">
<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/">
<link crossorigin="anonymous" href="/assets/css/stylesheet.66857e85d743ed43ea67ff6c21de89acf86c4e0d759944d3eed3e3cc709b1266.css" integrity="sha256-ZoV&#43;hddD7UPqZ/9sId6JrPhsTg11mUTT7tPjzHCbEmY=" rel="preload stylesheet" as="style">
<link rel="icon" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/favicon.ico">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/favicon-16x16.png">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/favicon-32x32.png">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/apple-touch-icon.png">
<link rel="mask-icon" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/safari-pinned-tab.svg">
<meta name="theme-color" content="#2e2e33">
<meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#2e2e33">
<noscript>
<style>
#theme-toggle,
.top-link {
display: none;
}
</style>
<style>
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
:root {
--theme: rgb(29, 30, 32);
--entry: rgb(46, 46, 51);
--primary: rgb(218, 218, 219);
--secondary: rgb(155, 156, 157);
--tertiary: rgb(65, 66, 68);
--content: rgb(196, 196, 197);
--code-block-bg: rgb(46, 46, 51);
--code-bg: rgb(55, 56, 62);
--border: rgb(51, 51, 51);
}
.list {
background: var(--theme);
}
.list:not(.dark)::-webkit-scrollbar-track {
background: 0 0;
}
.list:not(.dark)::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb {
border-color: var(--theme);
}
}
</style>
</noscript><!-- isso -->
<details>
<summary>Comments</summary>
<script data-isso="https://comments.siddharthagolu.com/" src="https://comments.siddharthagolu.com/js/embed.min.js"></script>
</details>
<!-- end isso -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Shame by Salman Rushdie" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
Now that I&rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as &ldquo;productive&rdquo; as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt." />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/images/shame.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-08-17T22:55:02+05:30" />
<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/images/shame.jpg" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Shame by Salman Rushdie"/>
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
Now that I&rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as &ldquo;productive&rdquo; as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt."/>
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement": [
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 1 ,
"name": "Posts",
"item": "https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/"
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 2 ,
"name": "Shame by Salman Rushdie",
"item": "https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/"
}
]
}
</script>
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BlogPosting",
"headline": "Shame by Salman Rushdie",
"name": "Shame by Salman Rushdie",
"description": "Check it out on Goodreads\nNow that I\u0026rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as \u0026ldquo;productive\u0026rdquo; as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.",
"keywords": [
"fiction", "favourites", "indian-authors"
],
"articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nNow that Ive moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as “productive” as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.\nI had not expected the journey to be this beautiful!\nSalman Rushdie doesnt need an introduction. He has been routinely hailed amongst one of the best contemporary writers of our time. It only speaks of my ignorance that I had only heard about him because of his controversies - outcry for Satanic Verses, fatwa issued against him - and only knew that one of his novels, Midnights Children, had won a Booker Prize. I dont have a fond memory of reading Booker Prize winning books, bitter from the day I read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. But as I got sucked into the universe created by Rushdie, my initial skepticism gave way to awe and admiration.\nRushdie has a peculiar way with words, an authoritative stance where the sentences bend over backwards to dance to the masters tunes. He weaves them in and out and creates intricate relationships between the story, storyteller and reader. You need to be acquainted with the history of India and Pakistan, or at least be familiar with the events surrounding the partition, in order to grasp fully what he has set out here to do. The book is filled with brilliant uses of metaphors and similes, creating a parallel universe of Pakistan during the tumultuous years after partition. The sentences are measured and precise, neatly packed with an intricate plot and the social commentary (with a tinge of satire) leading you towards the destination.\nIf its not yet clear, I unashamedly loved every part of Shame and Im excited to dig more into Rushdies works!\n",
"wordCount" : "355",
"inLanguage": "en",
"image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/images/shame.jpg","datePublished": "2021-08-17T22:55:02+05:30",
"dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
"author":[{
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Siddhartha Golu"
}],
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Siddhartha Golu",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://www.siddharthagolu.com/favicon.ico"
}
}
}
</script>
</head>
<body class="" id="top">
<script>
if (localStorage.getItem("pref-theme") === "dark") {
document.body.classList.add('dark');
} else if (localStorage.getItem("pref-theme") === "light") {
document.body.classList.remove('dark')
} else if (window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches) {
document.body.classList.add('dark');
}
</script>
<header class="header">
<nav class="nav">
<div class="logo">
<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/" accesskey="h" title="Siddhartha Golu (Alt + H)">
<img src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/apple-touch-icon.png" alt="" aria-label="logo"
height="30">Siddhartha Golu</a>
<div class="logo-switches">
<button id="theme-toggle" accesskey="t" title="(Alt + T)">
<svg id="moon" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24"
fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round"
stroke-linejoin="round">
<path d="M21 12.79A9 9 0 1 1 11.21 3 7 7 0 0 0 21 12.79z"></path>
</svg>
<svg id="sun" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24"
fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round"
stroke-linejoin="round">
<circle cx="12" cy="12" r="5"></circle>
<line x1="12" y1="1" x2="12" y2="3"></line>
<line x1="12" y1="21" x2="12" y2="23"></line>
<line x1="4.22" y1="4.22" x2="5.64" y2="5.64"></line>
<line x1="18.36" y1="18.36" x2="19.78" y2="19.78"></line>
<line x1="1" y1="12" x2="3" y2="12"></line>
<line x1="21" y1="12" x2="23" y2="12"></line>
<line x1="4.22" y1="19.78" x2="5.64" y2="18.36"></line>
<line x1="18.36" y1="5.64" x2="19.78" y2="4.22"></line>
</svg>
</button>
</div>
</div>
<ul id="menu">
<li>
<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/about" title="About">
<span>About</span>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/archive" title="Archive">
<span>Archive</span>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/categories" title="Categories">
<span>Categories</span>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/tags/" title="Tags">
<span>Tags</span>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/search/" title="Search (Alt &#43; /)" accesskey=/>
<span>Search</span>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</header>
<main class="main">
<article class="post-single">
<header class="post-header">
<div class="breadcrumbs"><a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/">Home</a>&nbsp;»&nbsp;<a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/">Posts</a></div>
<h1 class="post-title entry-hint-parent">
Shame by Salman Rushdie
</h1>
<div class="post-meta"><span title='2021-08-17 22:55:02 +0530 IST'>🗓 August 17, 2021</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;2 min&nbsp;·&nbsp;🔖&nbsp;<a href="/tags/fiction"> fiction</a>&nbsp;·&nbsp;<a href="/tags/favourites"> favourites</a>&nbsp;·&nbsp;<a href="/tags/indian-authors"> indian-authors</a>
</div>
</header>
<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4138625648">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
<hr>
<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/shame.jpg#center" alt="Shame Cover" title="Shame Cover" />
</p>
<p>Now that I&rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as &ldquo;productive&rdquo; as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.</p>
<p>I had not expected the journey to be this beautiful!</p>
<p>Salman Rushdie doesn&rsquo;t need an introduction. He has been routinely hailed amongst one of the best contemporary writers of our time. It only speaks of my ignorance that I had only heard about him because of his controversies - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_controversy">outcry for Satanic Verses</a>, fatwa issued against him - and only knew that one of his novels, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14836.Midnight_s_Children">Midnight&rsquo;s Children</a>, had won a Booker Prize. I don&rsquo;t have a fond memory of reading Booker Prize winning books, bitter from the day I read <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1768603.The_White_Tiger">The White Tiger</a> by Aravind Adiga. But as I got sucked into the universe created by Rushdie, my initial skepticism gave way to awe and admiration.</p>
<p>Rushdie has a peculiar way with words, an authoritative stance where the sentences bend over backwards to dance to the master&rsquo;s tunes. He weaves them in and out and creates intricate relationships between the story, storyteller and reader. You need to be acquainted with the history of India and Pakistan, or at least be familiar with the events surrounding the partition, in order to grasp fully what he has set out here to do. The book is filled with brilliant uses of metaphors and similes, creating a parallel universe of Pakistan during the tumultuous years after partition. The sentences are measured and precise, neatly packed with an intricate plot and the social commentary (with a tinge of satire) leading you towards the destination.</p>
<p>If it&rsquo;s not yet clear, I unashamedly loved every part of Shame and I&rsquo;m excited to dig more into Rushdie&rsquo;s works!</p>
</div>
<footer class="post-footer">
<ul class="post-tags">
<li><a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/tags/fiction/">fiction</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/tags/favourites/">favourites</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/tags/indian-authors/">indian-authors</a></li>
</ul>
<nav class="paginav">
<a class="prev" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/the-way-we-eat/">
<span class="title">« Prev</span>
<br>
<span>The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer</span>
</a>
<a class="next" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/running-murakami/">
<span class="title">Next »</span>
<br>
<span>What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami</span>
</a>
</nav>
</footer>
<hr>
<section class="webring">
<h3 class="header">Articles from blogs I follow around the net</h3>
<section class="articles">
<div class="article">
<h4 class="title">
<a href="https://www.lilysthings.org/blog/discord-dialup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dial-up over a Discord Call</a>
</h4>
<p class="summary">
Comments
</p>
<small class="source">
via <a href="https://lobste.rs/">Lobsters</a>
</small>
<small class="date">December 22, 2023</small>
</div>
<div class="article">
<h4 class="title">
<a href="https://www.benkuhn.net/newmgr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Some mistakes I made as a new manager</a>
</h4>
<p class="summary">the trough of zero dopamine • managing the wrong amount • procrastinating on hard questions • indefinitely deferring maintenance • angsting instead of asking</p>
<small class="source">
via <a href="https://www.benkuhn.net/">benkuhn.net</a>
</small>
<small class="date">April 23, 2023</small>
</div>
<div class="article">
<h4 class="title">
<a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2022/12/19/progress-on-the-block-protocol/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Progress on the Block Protocol</a>
</h4>
<p class="summary">Since the 1990s, the web has been a publishing place for human-readable documents. Documents published on the web are in HTML. HTML has a little bit of… Read more &#34;Progress on the Block Protocol&#34;</p>
<small class="source">
via <a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com">Joel on Software</a>
</small>
<small class="date">December 19, 2022</small>
</div>
</section>
<p class="attribution">
Generated by
<a href="https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/openring">openring</a>
</p>
</section>
<style>
.webring .header {
margin: 0 0 12px;
}
.webring .articles {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
margin: -0.5rem;
}
.webring .title {
margin: 4px 0 12px;
}
.webring .article {
flex: 1 1 0;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
margin: 0.5rem;
padding: 0.5rem;
background: var(--openring-bg);
min-width: 10rem;
}
.webring .summary {
font-size: 0.8rem;
flex: 1 1 0;
}
.webring .attribution {
text-align: right;
font-size: 0.8rem;
color: #555;
}
</style>
<!-- begin comments //-->
<section id = "isso-thread">
</section>
<!-- end comments //-->
</article>
</main>
<footer class="footer">
<span>&copy; 2024 <a href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/">Siddhartha Golu</a></span>
<span>
Powered by
<a href="https://gohugo.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hugo</a> &
<a href="https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PaperMod</a>
</span>
</footer>
<a href="#top" aria-label="go to top" title="Go to Top (Alt + G)" class="top-link" id="top-link" accesskey="g">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 12 6" fill="currentColor">
<path d="M12 6H0l6-6z" />
</svg>
</a>
<script>
let menu = document.getElementById('menu')
if (menu) {
menu.scrollLeft = localStorage.getItem("menu-scroll-position");
menu.onscroll = function () {
localStorage.setItem("menu-scroll-position", menu.scrollLeft);
}
}
document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="#"]').forEach(anchor => {
anchor.addEventListener("click", function (e) {
e.preventDefault();
var id = this.getAttribute("href").substr(1);
if (!window.matchMedia('(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)').matches) {
document.querySelector(`[id='${decodeURIComponent(id)}']`).scrollIntoView({
behavior: "smooth"
});
} else {
document.querySelector(`[id='${decodeURIComponent(id)}']`).scrollIntoView();
}
if (id === "top") {
history.replaceState(null, null, " ");
} else {
history.pushState(null, null, `#${id}`);
}
});
});
</script>
<script>
var mybutton = document.getElementById("top-link");
window.onscroll = function () {
if (document.body.scrollTop > 800 || document.documentElement.scrollTop > 800) {
mybutton.style.visibility = "visible";
mybutton.style.opacity = "1";
} else {
mybutton.style.visibility = "hidden";
mybutton.style.opacity = "0";
}
};
</script>
<script>
document.getElementById("theme-toggle").addEventListener("click", () => {
if (document.body.className.includes("dark")) {
document.body.classList.remove('dark');
localStorage.setItem("pref-theme", 'light');
} else {
document.body.classList.add('dark');
localStorage.setItem("pref-theme", 'dark');
}
})
</script>
<script>
document.querySelectorAll('pre > code').forEach((codeblock) => {
const container = codeblock.parentNode.parentNode;
const copybutton = document.createElement('button');
copybutton.classList.add('copy-code');
copybutton.innerHTML = 'copy';
function copyingDone() {
copybutton.innerHTML = 'copied!';
setTimeout(() => {
copybutton.innerHTML = 'copy';
}, 2000);
}
copybutton.addEventListener('click', (cb) => {
if ('clipboard' in navigator) {
navigator.clipboard.writeText(codeblock.textContent);
copyingDone();
return;
}
const range = document.createRange();
range.selectNodeContents(codeblock);
const selection = window.getSelection();
selection.removeAllRanges();
selection.addRange(range);
try {
document.execCommand('copy');
copyingDone();
} catch (e) { };
selection.removeRange(range);
});
if (container.classList.contains("highlight")) {
container.appendChild(copybutton);
} else if (container.parentNode.firstChild == container) {
} else if (codeblock.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.nodeName == "TABLE") {
codeblock.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.appendChild(copybutton);
} else {
codeblock.parentNode.appendChild(copybutton);
}
});
</script>
</body>
</html>