Saleem Sinai is a rather elusive character. He claims it's because he has to start at the beginning of the story, with his grandfather. At this pI guess he likes telling stories, talking about other people's lives. oint, about halfway through chapter 3, I've learned a few things about Saleem. He's in his thirties. He's dying, his body reportedly falling apart like an "old jug". But he seems to have accepted his fate. nI fact, he seems completely carefree for someone who's dying and knows it. He's devoted the rest of his life to making spices and writing down his story, which are sort of random and unconnected professions to me, but whatever floats your boat, I guess. Saleem lives with this woman, Padma, who's either his wife or is going to be, 'cause Saleem likes to brag about their physical relationship (or lack thereof).
I guess Saleem is just a really eccentric character. He doesn't get embarrassed by anything, talking about his... personal problems that would make other men blush. Also, I'm almost done with the third chapter and I don't think he's even started talking about his father, let alone his birth, which is supposedly what the whole story is about, according to the back of the book. On the other hand, I'm sure all this backstory is going to end up being some sort of foreshadowing or have some sort of crazy connection to the story later, because that's the kind of book this seems to be.
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I agree that all of this backstory will probably connect to what happens to Saleem later on. For example, the descriptions of his Grandfather's sensitive nose will tie in to Saleem's story because he inherrited that nose. I'm a bit confused about what it does... I guess it itches when he's heading toward trouble. That makes me wonder what trouble the grandfather's wife is going to cause, because it itches so much around her.
ReplyDeleteSaleem does seem to be a rather eccentric character. I think he might be so calm about his eventual death because he seems to be so full of history that it is like he has been alive for a long time. He also seems to be wrapped up in other people's lives which might disconnect him from his own life.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. He is unusually calm about dying, and does not seem to focus much on his own life. In fact, there hasn't even been a whole scene featuring him... just little moments when he talks to Padma about other people's stories.
ReplyDeleteI wonder when we will start reading longer scenes about Saleem, or if it will continue to jump around characters. I also wonder what Padma is like, I have yet to learn a lot about Padma's personality.
ReplyDeleteit seems rather odd that Rushdie would start a book like this. it does get the readers attention but all the summaries ive seen have been about Saleem and his life not his grandfather's.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the story about Saleem's grandfather must connect to Saleem's story somehow. I like how the author starts her book with Saleem's grandfather's story and interludes with little bits with Saleem in the scene in order to build the suspense and make us more curious about Saleem's character. However I wish we could learn a little more about Saleem a little faster than the rate it has been going at so far. I also think that maybe Saleem is more eccentric because he is about to die. I mean if you knew you were dying soon, you really wouldn't care what others thought about you because you're about to die anyway.
ReplyDeleteI was slightly annoyed at the fact that he didn't jump into the story of his father quicker. He talks about how it's such a key point to get on with the story, yet he fails at even proceeding to go on with the story about his father!
ReplyDeleteWell I'm sure that whatever happens to his father is going to have a big impact on his life, why else would he spend so much time talking about him?
ReplyDeleteI think that a more appropriate character analysis would have been one of Saleem's grandfather because we have been following him for the majority of the novel. I feel like Saleem is spending too much time on minute details of his herritage, and thought they probably play a big role on how he got his powers, I want to get onto the story.
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