A few months ago, as I was browsing a book shop, I noticed this book, with a cheesy cover and weird title - "The Ground beneath Her Feet", by Salman Rushdie. The title really reminded me of a personal experience and when I've started reading the description from the back cover, I was even more convinced that I know this story. It reminded me about something that I've always tried to forget. I bought the book, not very sure whether I'll be able to finish it - not even sure whether I'll like it at all.

After reading the foreword, I realised it's not going to be a very easy lecture - it required some background knowledge not only on mythology, but also on contemporary history. Even now, I'm quite sure that I didn't understand the book completely. But it created a wonderful feeling inside me, it made me live the life of the characters, with all their emotions rushing through my veins. All in all, it's a masterpiece.

The story revolves around the lives of three characters - two men, both in love with the same women. It's different than the regular love triangle, because each party has it's own, unique place. There's the divine love of Ormus and Vina, but there's also the mortal one, of Rai and Vina. One might expect the first one to be superior, ideal - but really, at the end, I was more convinced of the mortal love. Maybe that's also because it's easier to understand.

The "heroes" are not perfect; very often the reader is led to believe that they know the character, the stereotype, only to find out later that they were wrong. Vina, very often pictured as a Goddess, has a talent in using a very harsh language, close to obscene; her words are two sided, harsh on the surface, but with a lot of emotion on the inside. There's actually one part where the main character translates her words, to their true meaning:

"We have been here before.

This is a helicopter, hovering just above the broken ground. This is the woman I love, calling to me through the open door. I'm going, then. And I'm shouting back, I can't go. What? Go. Fuck you. What? Goodbye, Hope.

And this is what people are saying when they aren't saying what they mean.

I'm going, then. (Come with me, please, I need you, I can't believe you won't come with me.) I can't go. (My darling, I want never to let you out of my sight again, but goddamn it, you kick me around, you know that?, do you want the see the bruises?, and just this once I'm not putting you first. I'll be there soon enough, this time you can wait for me. If you want me, you'll wait. That's right, a test. Yeah. Maybe it really is.) What? (You bastard?, you think you can hold out on me? Oh Jesus, Rai, don't play games, not now, not today.) Go. (Okay, no games. I love you forever and beyond. But this is my work. I'll be there sooner than blinking. Go. I'm right behind you. I love you. Go.)

Fuck you (I never wanted you to come to Mexico in the first place fuck you but you came anyway fuck you I guess that proves something yeah but I hurt you anyway I was mad I was wrong fuck you and then you helped me fuck you that really churned me up fuck you so I trusted you I really trusted you fuck you then the earth moved and you abandoned me fuck you you took your photographs I could have been dying I could have been broken and dying but you had your work to do fuck you and now you won't come with me fuck you now when I finally worked out that I need you fuck you I want you fuck you maybe I love you I do love you fuck you Rai I love you fuck you. I do.)

What? (What???)

Goodbye, Hope. (Goodbye for a moment, you bastard, but after this I'm never letting you out of my sight. The next time I see you will be the beginning of the rest of our lives.)

Every night for years, I replayed that shouted dialogue in my head, and now I think this may be what it means. Maybe Goodbye really was the never-to-be-completed beginning of Hello. I hope so, I hope so. Even though it's a meaning that makes the loss weigh more heavily and the pain harder to bear."

I really loved the end, which was very touching. At first, it seemed very predictable - after all, the story follows the one between Eurydice and Orpheus very closely. But near the end, there was an unexpected turn, only to go back to the normal flow later.

"In all the stories of Antiquity, under various means, there comes a time when the gods stop sharing their lives with the mortals, they simply die, or they wither, or they retreat. They leave the scene, letting us to stutter our lines alone."

For more quotations, visit the "The Ground beneath Her Feet" Wikiquote page.