4 ms·
I generally respect Salman Rushdie (the author of the article), But I really feel he's missed the point. I am far less qualified to criticize literature than he
by oceanghost 7y ago
I generally respect Salman Rushdie (the author of the article), But I really feel he's missed the point. I am far less qualified to criticize literature than he, but I'm going to do it anyways.
SL5 is about one thing. PTSD. PTSD was not a diagnosis when the book was written, but it is at least clear to me, that the book is about a fractured man trying to repair itself by creating a world view that is comforting to it. His becoming unstuck in time is, in my mind, simply a sci-fi flashback, or perhaps, flash-forward in this case?
- cafard 7y agoNobody said PTSD, but one heard of shell shock or combat fatigue.
- funkjunky 7y agoThat's a pretty reductive viewpoint. While PTSD is certainly a component of the story, it is all but a facet of the humanity and consequences of war
- oceanghost 7y agoAll viewpoints are reductive. That's exactly the point of them.
- wbronitsky 7y agoArguing that a great novel is about one thing and one thing only is not only reductive, it is narcissistic. To think that there is no nuance, nothing that someone can see that you can't, that you know the author's full intentions, is self serving bordering on completely irrational. In short, no doubt this comment is on HN