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Title: Two-dimensional characters, muddled plot
Review: This is a brave attempt at retelling the Orpheus/Eurydice myth in a modern, rock 'n' roll context. And you can't fault Rushdie's skill with words. The puns and allusions fly thick and fast. But he fails to make any of the central characters anything more than cartoonish. Avatars, he'd say. Add to that the problem that the plot wobbles from one improbable event to another. It's hard to swallow the idea that two essentially boring characters -- Ormus and Vina -- could produce the kind of world-shaking music Rushdie credits them with. There's a sneering tone about real stars like the Beatles and Elvis, which many may find annoying. But then, he's always been anti-Western culture, perhaps as much as he has been tagged anti-Moslem. Far too long, too.
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