Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and give the reasons why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

Grimus by Salman Rushdie

Blurb from Goodreads

‘A mixture of science fiction and folktale, past and future, primitive and present-day . . . Thunderous and touching.’
Financial Times

After drinking an elixir that bestows immortality upon him, a young Indian named Flapping Eagle spends the next seven hundred years sailing the seas with the blessing — and ultimately the burden — of living forever. Eventually, weary of the sameness of life, he journeys to the mountainous Calf Island to regain his mortality. There he meets other immortals obsessed with their own stasis and sets out to scale the island’s peak, from which the mysterious and corrosive Grimus Effect emits. Through a series of thrilling quests and encounters, Flapping Eagle comes face-to-face with the island’s creator and unwinds the mysteries of his own humanity. Salman Rushdie’s celebrated debut novel remains as powerful and as haunting as when it was first published more than thirty years ago.

‘A book to be read twice . . . [Grimus] is literate, it is fun, it is meaningful, and perhaps most important, it pushes the boundaries of the form outward.’
Los Angeles Times

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! I know it is nearly everyone’s least favorite day of the week (including me) but I hope everyone is having or had a great start to the week. Mondays, after all, usher in a new start and a new hope for better things. As for me, I had quite a lazy start to the week. I am still feeling a little bit sluggish and I am starting to feel like the stress of the past month is weighing down on me. Nevertheless, I am hopeful that the following days will turn out great and productive. I wish the same for everyone who are in the same boat as me.

The first day of the week also mean it is time for another Goodreads Monday update. This month, I have been featuring works of Asian literature that I want to read; this is to align with my primary theme for April. One of many Asian writers that have piqued my interest over the past few years was Salman Rushdie. His Midnight’s Children is one of my all-time favorite reads. Rushdie, along with Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, is my most reviewed writer, with six books so far. Ironically, until this year, I have never heard of either writer’s debut novel (HAHA!). I just learned today that Grimus was Rushdie’s first literary work.

To be honest, I was just featuring Grimus because I just obtained a copy of the book. Knowing now that it was Rushdie’s first work further piqued my interest. On top of this, I want to read the book because it was listed as one of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. But what is really nagging on me is the fact that the book has a very lowly rating in Goodreads, and it has less than 3,000 ratings. One comment in the reviews mentioned that even the author himself “refuses to review the book”. The book, I have learned, wasn’t as warmly received as Rushdie’s succeeding works. For all the faults found in the book, I am still looking forward to what it has in store.

How about you fellow reader, what book do you want to read? I hope you can share it in the comment box. For now, happy reading! Have a great week ahead!

Advertisement