I think what Rushdie was trying to accomplish here was a magical realist version of John Fowles's The Magus, with its island setting and Flapping Eagle's quest for the mysterious Grimus.

The magical realism definitely works against Rushdie, since it allows him to bypass the complexity of human emotion in order to be "experimental." When you can just make up the rules as you go along, it is rarely satisfying as a work of fiction.

There are also some rather unnecessarily creepy moments of rape and incest that might have been allowed to slip through in 1975, but do not pass muster for today's reader.

Throughout Grimus, you can feel the ambition in Rushdie's prose. Unfortunately, the end result is a book that is unable to live up to that ambition. ( )

3.5 stars
Grimus is Salman Rushdie’s first novel. Part fantasy, part folk-tale, and part science fiction, this book is a blend of mythology, mysticism, and religious symbolism. The book tells the tale of Flapping Eagle, a Native American man who becomes immortal and wanders the world for 777 years, 7 months, and 7 days until he attempts suicide and ends up in another world (a parallel dimension). The book is based on a 12th century Sufi poem and covers themes of human identity and meaning.

This was my first Rushdie book and in retrospect was probably a strange book to chose as my first Rushdie book. What a wacky book! The book was like nothing I’ve every read before but I really enjoyed it for reasons I can’t quite describe. I’m sure many people who read this book will hate it because at times it seems nonsensical. There are flaws in the book (I think he tries to pack too much in the book to the point that the story line becomes convoluted at times), but interspersed with the moments of nonsense there were some real gems. Rushdie raises some interesting questions in this book about human nature, spirituality, and cultural isolation. I enjoyed thinking about the issues he raised and loved seeing the parallels with other works of literature. In many ways, the book structure parallels Dante’s Divine Comedy. There are three parts, a guide called Virgil, and parallels between the travels through various circles to reach “Heaven.” I decided to re-read the Divine Comedy while reading this book and it made the reading experience much more meaningful. I am less knowledgeable about the other religious/spiritual material he draws from so I think I missed out on a lot of the other references that were made in this book.
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This is a horrible book. Not even the author rates it! It is interesting only because Rushdie plays around with the magical realism that will play a major part in his writing and touches on themes he will later explore in much greater depth.

I don't recommend anyone who is thinking of reading Rushdie to think that as this is one of his shorter ones it would be a good one to start with, it really isn't a good read. Rather go for [b:Shame|4831|Shame|Salman Rushdie|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348893969s/4831.jpg|855015] with the wonderfully drawn character of the Virgin Ironpants (Benazir Bhutto). Now that book would make anyone want to explore more Rushdie.

Recommended to writers: knowing that Rushdie won the Booker of Bookers for his magnificent book [b:Midnight's Children|14836|Midnight's Children|Salman Rushdie|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166661748s/14836.jpg|1024288] should give you hope that even if your first book flops (because it is crap) there is still hope, you can still aim for the top and know that it's possible to reach there.

Read back '96ish, reviewed Nov 2012, edited February 2013. Why does this awful book stick in my head? ( )

It should be pointed out that Flapping Eagle was averagely kind and good; but he would soon be responsible for a large number of deaths. He was also as sane as the next man, but then the next man was Mr Virgil Jones.

I could have sworn that I read this book back in the year dot when I first acquired it, but apparently not. I must have been thinking of another book altogether, as the plot was all completely new to me and not about a shepherd boy on a quest at all.

This is the story of Flapping Eagle's quest for mortality. Hundreds of years after drinking a liquid that made him immortal, he is bored with life and wants to start ageing again, so he starts looking for the mysterious peddler who gave him the bottle before leaving with his sister. An old acquaintance directs him to an island where immortals go to live when they are tired of living in the ever-changing world of mortal men, but he finds a place of stagnation and fear whose inhabitants live in the past as much as possible.

An interesting story, but for some reason it didn't really appeal, so I'm only giving it three stars. ( )

I'm always fascinated with first novels: how the author tries so hard to make an impression; the youthful indiscretions; the eccentricities; the fabulous plots. Rushdie's first has all of these and more. It has a story that cannot be summarised easily without recourse to trite and inaccurate cliches, and it is one of the most inventive pieces I've ever seen. I can't wait to read more. ( )