Shame is an undesired sperm that impregnates human psychic with acute guilt and discomfort to procreate a shameless fiend amid continual cerebral labor pains. Molded on a fictionalized caricature of Pakistan’s opinionated and influential communal strata it incubates the embryonic mesh of brutality resulting in social and personal turmoil.

Rushdie along with his emotive quandary constantly appears to be a lost child meandering on the South Asian political-cultural perimeter. With Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children being his two precious manuscripts, Shame lingers on the threshold of allegorical restrains.

Oh! This book isn’t awful, if that’s what you are thinking. I presume I was more than a decade late in reading Rushdie’s Shame. The book would have appalled my wits then as an adolescent luxuriating in a cushy life. However, for me as a seasoned age-defined parasite clinching on the edge of cynical propaganda it was more on the lines of serving a tepid cup of tea with maybe a dry toast.

4.5 stars. A very well written, memorable, clever, witty, thought provoking read mainly about the lives of Omar Khayyam Shakil, Raza Hyder and Sufiya Zenobia Hyder in an unnamed Islamic country. Omar is brought up by three sisters in a mansion where there is little contact with the township the mansion is situated in. Raza becomes a powerful political leader who has a daughter, Sufiya, who is intellectually backward. When she is 29 years old she has the intellectual capabilities of a nine and a half year old. Incidents occur in her life when she goes mad and acts violently.

There is good plot momentum with lots of events and interesting, memorable characters. I have read six Rushdie novels and this is my favourite so far, mainly as I found it a fairly straightforward easy read with all of Rushdie’s inventiveness and clever writing present. ‘Shame’ is a good book to read first for readers who haven’t read any Rushdie novels.

Here are some quotes from this book that I liked:
“But shame is like everything else; live with it for long enough and it becomes part of the furniture.”
“Human beings have a remarkable talent for persuading themselves of the authenticity and nobility of aspects of themselves which are in fact expedient, spurious, base.”
“Is history to be considered the property of the participants only?”
“Roots, I sometimes think, are a conservative myth, designed to keep us in our places.”

نيرومندترين واآنش آدم در برابر ترس از شب و خطر و چيزهای ناشناخته چيست؟ اين است که فرار کند، رو
برگرداند و بگريزد؛ وانمود کند که خطر باشتاب به طرف او نمی آيد. و اين همان گرايش ما است به اين که خودمان
را به نفهميدن بزنيم، گرايش جنون آميز به انكار شعورمان در زمانی که نمی توانيم آنچه را که شعور درمی يابد،
تحمل کنيم. لزومی ندارد آه خودمان را به کبك تشبيه آنيم تا به اين گرايشمان جنبه ای نمادی داده باشيم؛ آدميزاد بيش
از هر پرنده ای که پريدن نمی داند، دچار نابينايی خود خواسته است
خواندن این کتاب برام خیلی کند و دشوار بود اما خوشحالم که با نویسنده ی فوق العاده ای آشنا شدم که قطعا خوندن تموم کاراش توی برنامه م خواهد بود

Վերջին շրջանում տարվել եմ մոգական ռեալիզմով եվ այս գրությունն էլ իր տեսակով պատկանում է այդ ժանրին: Սալման Ռուշդին վեպում անրադառնում է երկրների «արհեստական» (ուրիշների կողմից) բաժանման, նրանց բնակիչների մեղսակցությանը: Վեպի գլխավոր թեման այն է, որ «ամոթ» առաջացնելը բերում է բռնության։ «Ամոթ» և «անամոթություն» հասկացությունները ուսումնասիրվում են բոլոր կերպարների միջոցով:

SHARAM...
Една от моите шест звезди.

Забележителна фабула, следвана до края с голямо майсторство и убедителност; водеща към размисли за индивидуални човешки прояви, в които се коренят други много по-глобални проблеми (например фанатизъм, авторитаризъм, власт и пари на всяка цена). Книга за тънката граница между срам и безсрамие (внушаването на срам чрез религия, традиции, затворени общества неусетно прераства в безсрамие и безнравственост, особено при самозабравянето във властта).

Всички стряскащи безумия в романа се омекотяват чрез тънкото чувство за хумор на автора (е, на места е остро). Дългите изреждания (често до 1/2 страница) не дразнят, а умишлено засилват напрежението. Салман Рушди е цар на хиперболите и алегорията. Тази негова книга ме завъртя като в центрофуга подобно на "Сто години самота". На места се задъхвах като в шеметно препускане.

"Обезглавеният му труп рухна на пода, а заситеният Звяр отново притихна. Суфия стоеше несигурно на краката си и в недоумение примигваше с очи. Тя не знаеше (и откъде да знае?), че измислица или не, един ден всички разкази внезапно свършват; че всепоглъщащият пламък едва сега се разгаря; че когато дойде Съдният ден съдиите също ще трябва да отговарят за деянията си; че Звяра на срама не може дълго да съществува в чуждо тяло, защото се храни, расте, разкъсва обвивката си и накрая се взривява."

От "Срам" започна интереса ми към историята и проблемите в Индия и Пакистан след Независимостта/Разделянето. Може би корените на фундаментализма са в тези години, като за това "спомага" и външната международна намеса, поредицата от диктатори, често използващи демагогски религията. Алюзиата към загатнатите политически личности ми беше интересна. Голям "хитряга" е Рушди.

Героите са многобройни като в повечето романи на Рушди, но от тях нямаше на кого да симпатизирам, всички бяха странни и обременени.

Една от любимите ми книги на Салман Рушди. Всъщност ми беше и първата негова книга и го залюбих от първа среща.

“„СРАМ” – бих искал да напиша тази дума на родния си език, а не на чуждия, белязан от погрешни значения и събрани накуп останки от миналото, за което настоящите носители на този език говорят без никакво разкаяние – на езика на английските господари, на който съм принуден да пиша и непрекъснато да уточнявам, допълвам и преиначавам написаното...

„ШАРАМ” – ето коя дума ми е нужна! Нима нищожната думичка „срам” може да предаде нейния пълен смисъл? Три букви: „шин”, „ре”, мим” (разбира се, написани отдясно наляво), плюс ударенията, посочващи късите гласни в съчетанието. Кратка дума, която съдържа в себе си цяла енциклопедия от смислови нюанси. Майките на Омар Хаям му забранила да изпитва не само срам, а и смущение, поражение, безсилие, свитост, свенливост, усещането, че има отредено място в живота; тя включва и други производни на чувството, за които няма съответствия в английския език. Независимо колко бързо човек напуска една страна, той трябва да вземе със себе си някакъв ръчен багаж. Тогава нима можем да се съмняваме, че Омар Хаям (все пак разказваме за него), комуто е било забранено да усеща срам („шарам”) още от ранна възраст, продължаваше да се подчинява на забраната и през зрелите си години, да, да – дълго след като се бе отървал от влиянието на своите майки?
„Не, не можем”, ще отвърнат читателите.

Коя е думата с противоположно значение? Какво остава, след като се отстрани усещането за „шарам”? Разбира се, безсрамие.”

Shame - a perfect tool of mass control for those who are shameless enough to use it!

Oh, for those of you who are not familiar with Salman Rushdie’s storytelling skills: even his characters suffer from confusion and dizziness while he is working on them. Somewhat nauseous after the ride, I try to put two sentences together that make sense of the extraordinary reading experience I just had. It is hard, though, for more happens in a subclause in Rushdie’s universe than other people manage to put into the whole plot of a 500-page-novel.

You could argue that this is the defining novel of what makes us human, mythologically speaking. After all, one of the most popular myths in world history claims that the transition between animal and human was based on the feeling of shame.

Eve - who, as a woman, has to add guilt and shamelessness to her curiosity and subsequent shame - steps out of the boundaries set to her by an omniscient authority, an authoritarian and blindly intolerant government, focused on keeping the status quo rather than on development. She eats of the tree of knowledge. The first thing she learns is that there is a commandment for humans, as opposed to animals, which she was not aware of before:

“Thou shalt not be naked!”

As it is a rather random commandment in a world where the sun is always shining, and where creatures live in natural harmony, Eve needs to be coerced into accepting it as a valid and non-negotiable tradition. She needs to feel SHAME in order to get dressed. Then she needs to feel GUILT about having found out that she is naked. And she needs to be PUNISHED for thinking and acting on her own, the most dangerous thing a woman can ever do. Thus an illogical vicious circle starts, completely unnecessary in a free society, but desperately needed to control women within a patriarchal theocracy.

“Dress as you like, and according to your needs” would have been the ticket to a fair and tolerant community, but where is that to be found in the world of patriarchy, which invented shame to impose both sexual oppression and political power? For shame can be read as honour gone wrong as well, and honour is the military pillar on which patriarchy builds its castles - using the blood and the bodies of the young men who believe in the myth.

In Rushdie’s novel, the characters explore the idea of shame as a driving force of violent action and reaction in a magically transcended Pakistan. The comical exaggerations of the characters help ease the pain of injustice that shines through each page, for as the narrator of the story claims: “Realism can break a writer’s heart.”

Shame, honour, the need to cover up unpleasant truths, the need for “revenge” to erase shame from memory, those are the guidelines that lead the narrative towards an explosion of cosmic dimensions: “There are things that cannot be permitted to be true”.

You can read the novel as a dynamic battlefield between male characters who define their own honour or shame by their control (or lack thereof) of the women in their households. Sexual failure is a shame that cannot be permitted to be true for a man. Sexual activity is a shame that cannot be permitted to be true for a woman. Well, that leaves very little room for positive interaction. As the narrator tells the anecdote of a father who killed his only daughter, growing up in London, for being with an English boyfriend, he reflects on his own social indoctrination, which allows him to understand the murderer, based on the shame/shamelessness doctrine which engenders perpetual violence:

“But even more appalling was my realization that, like the interviewed friends etc., I, too, found myself understanding the killer. The news did not seem alien to me. We who have grown up on a diet of honour and shame can still grasp what must seem unthinkable to peoples living in the aftermath of the death of God and of tragedy: that men will sacrifice their dearest love on the implacable altars of their pride.”

So what do the characters of Rushdie’s novel do to deal with the inherited shame and shamelessness? They make sure to externalise the shame, to put it into a specially designed monster character, similar to the portrait of Dorian Gray, which carries the unpleasant stains of life (according the societal dogma of the setting!) for all the rest of the family.

I don’t want to give away the dramatic showdown of personified shame locked into a vessel of fragile mental health - for that is the solution the narrator can come up with: only an inner child can remain “pure”. It is part of grown-up human life to face sexuality, which carries the stigma with the label “Shame”.

Suffice to say I felt a hilarious need to laugh at the mess humankind has created for itself with that doctrine of honour, shame and shamelessness. It came first, according to myth, and therefore overrides all the secular, social agreements for peaceful and harmonious living together.

“Thou shalt not kill, steal or lie”, except for when your pride is attacked or shame is involved. Then please do whatever is required to regain your god-damned (no, sorry: god-pleasing!) honour. Unless you are a woman. Then just suffer your shame while listening to men calling you shameless for engaging in sexuality with them. Tough fate - but remember that “shame is collective”.

But Rushdie wouldn’t be Rushdie if he didn’t offer another solution as well, a third way, between disintegration and dictatorship. The narrator muses on Büchner’s Danton's Death. He reflects that people may seem like Robespierre accusing Danton for being a person who dares to “shamelessly enjoy life”, but they are not only like him. They are a bit of both:

“The people are not only like Robespierre. They, we, are Danton too. We are Robeston and Danpierre. The inconsistency doesn’t matter; I myself manage to hold large numbers of wholly irreconcilable views simultaneously, without the least difficulty.”

That is the world we need: a world where we don’t have to feel shame for being different, for changing our minds, for moving from our origins and letting go of old concepts of thinking which have proven disastrous since the beginning of mythological thinking. Be a Danpierre and respect your neighbour who is a Robeston, and don’t kill each other or live at each other’s expense. Don’t hurt what is different from you, and don’t see diversity as an insult to your ideas, rather as a homage to human versatility and inventiveness, of which you are a product yourself.

I have to finish this review before I quote the story in its entirety, probably without even catching all it means to me.

I just say: I lift my hat to you, Salman Rushdie (hoping that the Shame Monster won’t chop off my head when I reveal myself)! You are a true master of stories too real to be true, in a literal sense of the wor(l)d. But we all know that literal thinking is a killing machine, especially where myths are involved.

Bravo! Standing ovations!

This book was stolen before I could finish it. I was using a picture of myself holding a puppy as my bookmark. Someone was shameless enough to steal a copy of a book titled Shame, which held a photo of its rightful owner and a puppy. Sharam. Sharam. Sharam.

My fifth Rushdie read of the year, and with every passing novel this man makes me fall in love with his writing.
Shane focuses on India's closest neighbour Pakistan and continues to tell the story of the East through Rushdie's preview. Brilliantly written. And once again highly recommended!

نمی‌دونم این رو قبل از بچه های نیمه شب نوشته یا بعدش ولی کار به شدت ناپخته دراومده، انگار در مقایسه با بچه های نیمه شب حرف زیادی برای گفتن نداشته، یا من اینطوری احساس کردم...

I came to Shame at the end of my Rushdie fix. It succeeded my reading of the abysmal The Ground Beneath Her Feet but it only validates my theory that as long as Rushdie sticks mainly to the sub-continent and issues that resonate within the sub-continent, there's no beating him.

Shame is Pakistan's Midnight's Children. I didn't read them in conjunction, they were bookends to my Rushdie experience. I don't think it took away from my reading of either book, but I do think I would have gained something, at least symbolically had I read them back-to-back. Shame does not deal with any events I know anything about beyond the barest outline. It is thus fascinating to learn something about a culture I've only heard of in hushed terms, in maybe-biased words. I've no idea if Rushdie himself is biased and misrepresents Pak, but since he doesn't do that to India (sometimes to our cost), I'm supposing that he wouldn't with Pak either.

In any case, it's also an equally fascinating study of very colorful characters, of relationships and their quagmires, and of politics and religion. There's the prevalent Rushdie method of back story building for minor characters and weaving them seamlessly with the main narrative. There's a little make-believe, there's some magic. This is Rushdie at his best, and Rushdie at his best creates an unputdownable book and unforgettable characters.

Ja mehr ich von Rushdie lese, desto besser gefallen mir seine Werke. Vielleicht habe ich Glück bei der Auswahl der Werke oder er gehört zu den Autoren, an die man sich erst einmal gewöhnen musss. Auf jeden Fall habe ich Lust, mir das eine oder andere Werk, das mich in der Vergangenheit nicht überzeugt hat noch mal anzufangen.

Scham und Schande ist eine weise, bittere aber auch versöhnliche und märchenhafte Abrechnung mit der Entwicklung Pakistans von Unabhängigkeit bis zur russischen Invasion. Zudem ziemlich unterhaltsam.

من أعظم ما قرأت في حياتي وقد تكون الأعظم، لا يوجد مثل تلك الغرابة والجمال والصدق والخيال الجامح، قضيت معها أغرب و 'أحلى الأوقات