I had read several of Sir Rushdie's books previously and I think this book, his debut, shows he was brilliant out of the gate. It seems to recall a lot of the super-hero comic book universe which Rushdie explores in his later works as well. It also seems to be to be not about multiverse or multidimensional travel although that's the McGuffin of this particular work.

A kind of Infinity Gauntlet that predates perhaps the Marvel exploration of Thanos and the Snap, here we have the Blink and the Rose Stone which is amazing to read about. I think this is my experience with higher states of consciousness so I believe this isn't so much a sci-fi novel as much as it is a testament to what happens when you explore your psychic undergrowth and how it connects the whole collective unconscious etc etc.

I absolutely adored this book and with that said there were about twenty pages I wasn't sure conceptually what was happening but I'm sure if I read again after completing it'll make more sense. I'm looking forward to reading and rereading a lot of Rushdie work this coming year.

He is a brilliant writer and one of our precious GOATs (stands with a few others such as Haruki Murakami and Stephen King).

An complicated and thought provoking read, but not always easy to follow!

What an incredible book for a first work! It may be trifle immature and a little puerile in parts but the vivid imagination behind it causes it to blaze out of the pages in glorious Technicolor.

I've always loved mythology and Grimus has its roots in this grand old tradition. Add in some mystery, a dash of scientific magic and human interest and shake it all together for a book that caught my interest from the start and never let it go. If this is what Salman Rushdie manages to write straight out of the authorship gate I'm not sure if I'm more excited to think of the literary treats in store for me, or apprehensive to think that the rest of the books won't live up to the promise of Grimus.

I'm going to go with Door #2 for now.

An immortal Indian seeks death, purpose in this surrealistic sci-fi. I admire Rushdie's willingness to straddle genres, but I can't say this did a heck ton for me other than that.

I typically take delight in non-sensical reads. Magical realism (when done right) can unlock the surprisingly deep dimensions of the mind - things that you've never thought of, corners you've never explored and interpretations you've never considered.

With Grimus, however, I do think that the thread of fantasy has been stretched out too far that its impact has been reduced. It started out promising, but somehow got lost and turned rather messy in the middle (which made it quite a difficult read for me). Although Part Three really turned things around and picked up the pace, it might perhaps be a little too much so because it seemed as though the entire story could've been made more exciting if the ending wasn't so abrupt and if more attention was given to the final part and Grimus's backstory.

Although Rushdie disowns his first novel, it is not that bad. In fact I see it a sort of potential for what was to follow in later novels. Saying that Grimus does have a lot of flaws.
The story focuses on Flapping Eagle, who drinks an elixir which gives him eternal life, given to him by his sister, who deserts him. After 777 years he wants mortality and to find his sister, eventually ending up on the metaphysical Calf Island. After meeting a bizarre cast of characters, while embarking on his two quests, Flapping Eagle also tries to unveil the mysterious Grimus and discover why Calf island is so strange.

Philosophers, prostitutes, hunchbacks, ghosts, frog gods and tons of people crop up during the novel and they all leave an impact on Flapping Eagle's psyche but drag him into the weirdness of Calf Island and change his destiny. Flapping Eagle himself has to control himself in order to complete his quest.

As such this is a rich plot with some Rushdie trademarks, puns, jokes, references to popular culture and mythology but somehow things just don't gel that well and there quite a few dull stretches which hamper the plot's progress. Also Rushdie's writing is restrained, considering that by his second novel his penmanship improved, Grimus' style comes as a tiny shock.

Definitely not a book for a Rushdie beginner but if you want to see the seeds which later developed in his later novels then Grimus is worth a read but prepare to be underwhelmed.

There is a lot I take issue with here but the biggest thing is that it’s such a hollow story. No character is truly fleshed out or anything more than a vessel to say words. The women are even worse off than that, essentially sex dolls overcome with desire for one person. The plot too had interesting aspects but was also incredibly boring like why would I care if a bunch of people 700 years old died. Nothing was at stake here

Mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it held my interest till the end and does some interesting things in terms of mashing up creation myths from around the world. On the other hand, I was put off by the plethora of casual sexism (which I suppose is a hallmark of most major religions). Probably not Rushdie's best work, but some readers will appreciate what he's done in this novel.

"The Aeneid"
"A conference of birds"
"Alice's adventures in wonderland"

This took me forever to read, I just couldn’t get into it. Thought the end was gonna make up for it but it was just a bit meh.

This was hard going. Although Salman Rushdie is one of my favorite authors, this early book was a slow read. There were times in it that I couldn't figure out who the narrator was, nor whether someone was speaking or thinking something. It seemed to flip back and forth between first and third person, making it difficult to keep my bearings.

I can't say that I loved the storyline, although I didn't hate it. It just didn't have the ambience of his other novels. I couldn't always tell where I was, but I certainly couldn't tell when I was. I don't regret reading it, but the next few book I read won't be nearly so much of a chore.

Rushdie's debut novel - he doesn't think much of it, critics hated it, and it was a commercial failure. Brian Aldiss, Kingsley Amis, and Arthur C Clarke loved it. I enjoyed it immensely.