Monday, February 23, 2009
Discussion #1 (by Laura A.)
It's a bit difficult to comment on the main character, Saleem Sinai, because the story has mostly focused on his grandfather so far. But what I do know about him is he was born at the moment India gained independence, he has a very sensitive nose that he inherited from his grandfather, and he cooks condiments. Perhaps most importantly, he's writing this book because his body is deteriorating and he wants to preserve everything he knows before it's "too late." I think this is very intriguing. Why is his body falling apart when he is only about 30 years old? Maybe it has something to do with his special powers. According to the book's summary, he can hear other people's voices in his head. Perhaps all this knowledge of other people's lives is too much for him to handle, and it's tearing him apart- literally. That voice-hearing ability would also explain another question I had: how does he know so much about his grandfather's past? Saleem knows every tiny detail of events that occurred long before he was born. Maybe this is because he can "hear" his grandfather's memories using his special ability.
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At first I had no idea what was going on. It was talking about a doctor with a huge nose and I was completly lost. Thankfully as I read on I realized it was a story being told by Saleem and the doctor was his grandfather. Anyway I think your point about why Saleem is degrading is very interesting, hopefully we will find out if your correct in upcoming chapters
ReplyDeleteI agree that all of that knowledge seems to be tearing Saleem apart. I wonder if the other children that were born on the day of India's independence are also falling apart, or if it is just Saleem.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting idea about how Saleem knows so much about his grandfather's past, but I have a different theory. Maybe since Saleem is so special, he spent a lot of time with his grandfather, and so he heard all these stories multiple times. I'm also thinking it might be possible that he sort of fudged some of the details. I mean, I think he seems like the sort of person who'd change the story a little so it would seem more interesting.
ReplyDeleteno im pretty sure he knows what happened due to his abilities. i remember reading something about how he could smell the feelings of the people
ReplyDeleteI also think that's a very interesting theory about why Saleem is dying so early and I hadn't thought of that before. I think that Saleem knows so much about his grandfather's story is because maybe he spent a lot of time with him and heard the stories a lot. However I don't think that he would be able to remember them so exactly as he did. Therefore I think that he just put in the details to make his grandfather's stories grander in his book. So I agree with Marcella, in that Saleem must have just fudged some details.
ReplyDeleteI also wondered how he knew so much about his grandfather. Stories can be passed down, but in stories you usually can't capture the person's specific emotions, which he seems to know all too well. Maybe we'll find out later?
ReplyDeletePerhaps Saleem knows so much about his grandfather's past because along his supernatural nose powers, he passed on his memories. Just kidding, actually not really, it's possible. The connection between Saleem's nose and his actual powers is a bit blurry stil. This novel's already started at a strange note. I agree, big nose and bizarre doctor. I was totally bemused initially. This novel will do that more often than we'll want.
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