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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
Strongly recommended for anyone who has loved prior Rushdie works. The plot itself was a bit scattered and didn't entirely satisfy, but I don't think that was really the point. The word play and theme play (both internal and inter-novel) carried this one from beginning to end. Stories wrapped in stories, philosophy pitched against religion, fantasy mixed with magical realism - this one was a real treat.
We were all trapped in stories, she said..., each of us the prisoner of our own solipsistic narrative, each family the captive of the family story, each community locked within its own tale of itself, each people the victims of their own versions of history, and there were parts of the world where the narratives collided and went to war, where there were two or more incompatible stories fighting for space on, to speak, the same page.
We were all trapped in stories, she said..., each of us the prisoner of our own solipsistic narrative, each family the captive of the family story, each community locked within its own tale of itself, each people the victims of their own versions of history, and there were parts of the world where the narratives collided and went to war, where there were two or more incompatible stories fighting for space on, to speak, the same page.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Two Years, Eight Months, And Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie started out great. I loved the opening story and the way it flowed into the second section of the novel. As it expanded, however, I found myself growing less and less interested. I did like the way the stories wove together and were all structured around the 2 years, 8 months and 28 days, but it felt drawn out (despite being a pretty short novel). I did enjoy the subject matter, as I haven’t read a lot of books featuring the Jinn (which is something I’m working to change) and it was an interesting way to learn about them and their influence on cultures in a more modern context. That being said, I found some of the language to be dated and it felt a little too formal for the magical that was flowing throughout. The structure made it feel disjointed, even though it was all parts of one whole story. Overall, I think this was a decent book, but not one of my favorites that I’ve read involving the Jinn.
So, this 280 page book took me a month to read. I had a little trouble bringing myself back every day for a few more pages. But I'm still giving it four stars. I enjoyed it at more of a three-star level (right down the middle between like and dislike), but I think it deserves that extra star for the creativity and uniqueness.
It's very clever and interesting and whimsical and chocked full of symbolism, much of which I was too lazy to parse out, but some of which he very helpfully spelled out at the end. (The book is apparently "a plea for a world ruled by reason, tolerance, magnanimity knowledge and restraint.") There was a whole lot to like about this book.
Buuutttt ... of the 280 pages, I think more than 200 of them were spent setting the scene, introducing the players and explaining the politics. They were interesting scenes, players and politics, but it took forever for anything to really start happening. And even when it did, the action always felt anti climactic. I'm guessing that's because this is not meant to be a plot-driven kind of book ... but I think that if he was REALLY good at it, he could still have salvaged more of the plot without sacrificing the symbolism.
Also, I like the primary concept he used, of writing the book as a history being told a thousand years from today. But I thought the book suffered a fair amount because he would seem to just drop that pretext from time to time and give a straight look at the inner voices of the characters. It made the edges more than a bit ragged.
It's very clever and interesting and whimsical and chocked full of symbolism, much of which I was too lazy to parse out, but some of which he very helpfully spelled out at the end. (The book is apparently "a plea for a world ruled by reason, tolerance, magnanimity knowledge and restraint.") There was a whole lot to like about this book.
Buuutttt ... of the 280 pages, I think more than 200 of them were spent setting the scene, introducing the players and explaining the politics. They were interesting scenes, players and politics, but it took forever for anything to really start happening. And even when it did, the action always felt anti climactic. I'm guessing that's because this is not meant to be a plot-driven kind of book ... but I think that if he was REALLY good at it, he could still have salvaged more of the plot without sacrificing the symbolism.
Also, I like the primary concept he used, of writing the book as a history being told a thousand years from today. But I thought the book suffered a fair amount because he would seem to just drop that pretext from time to time and give a straight look at the inner voices of the characters. It made the edges more than a bit ragged.
Picked up some other books and it’s been too long since reading it
It's definitely not for everyone. I feel the same way about it that I do about other Rushdie books - there are moments of sheer brilliance, but also a lot of muddiness that can be hard to stay focused on.
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my first Rushdie book and I do intend to check out his more famous and controversial works - [b:The Satanic Verses|12781|The Satanic Verses|Salman Rushdie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281988101s/12781.jpg|1434467] and [b:Midnight's Children|14836|Midnight's Children|Salman Rushdie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1371063511s/14836.jpg|1024288] - but I have a lot of mixed feelings about my first venture into his world.
As far as I know, Mr Rushdie writes in English, correct? But even though there are some instances of beautiful writing, much of this story feels like a clunky translation. The third person "history of the jinn" that we get is, for the most part, coldly distant and reads like a text book history. The story itself is interesting, but there was little to no emotional pull.
It also should be noted that "magical realism", in this case, seems like an attempt to make the book sound more literary than mere "fantasy". But I think when jinn and their offspring are living in our world with their special powers, we just tend to call that "urban fantasy" these days. Though I suppose that sounds distinctly less Booker prize-worthy.
The foundation of the story is actually quite an exciting fairy tale. Many years ago, a jinn princess called Dunia fell in love with a mortal man. Because the jinn absolutely love sex (we are told this so many times that I grew tired of hearing it, though I think it's supposed to be amusing), they produced many broods of children over a span of two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights, which, if you add it up, makes a grand total of 1,001 nights. I see what you did there, Mr Rushdie!
When her mortal lover dies, Dunia slips back into the jinn realm, leaving her offspring behind her. Years and generations later, random people in the future start to find that they have weird powers but, of course, they are not random. These descendents of Dunia will have a huge part to play in an oncoming war against the forces of evil (dark jinn).
The book is filled with metaphor and symbolism, with underlying themes of migration, civilization, faith and science. It unites old Arabic mythology with modern pop culture in a unique mixture that contains a subtle comedy:
Aside from my feelings about the long passages of info-heavy text book jinn history, I did quite enjoy it. It's a complex, dense and thoughtful story, but it never takes itself too seriously.
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As far as I know, Mr Rushdie writes in English, correct? But even though there are some instances of beautiful writing, much of this story feels like a clunky translation. The third person "history of the jinn" that we get is, for the most part, coldly distant and reads like a text book history. The story itself is interesting, but there was little to no emotional pull.
It also should be noted that "magical realism", in this case, seems like an attempt to make the book sound more literary than mere "fantasy". But I think when jinn and their offspring are living in our world with their special powers, we just tend to call that "urban fantasy" these days. Though I suppose that sounds distinctly less Booker prize-worthy.
The foundation of the story is actually quite an exciting fairy tale. Many years ago, a jinn princess called Dunia fell in love with a mortal man. Because the jinn absolutely love sex (we are told this so many times that I grew tired of hearing it, though I think it's supposed to be amusing), they produced many broods of children over a span of two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights, which, if you add it up, makes a grand total of 1,001 nights. I see what you did there, Mr Rushdie!
Nobody noticed or cared that one day she turned sideways and slipped through a slit in the world and returned to Peristan, the other reality, the world of dreams where jinn periodically emerge to trouble and bless mankind.
When her mortal lover dies, Dunia slips back into the jinn realm, leaving her offspring behind her. Years and generations later, random people in the future start to find that they have weird powers but, of course, they are not random. These descendents of Dunia will have a huge part to play in an oncoming war against the forces of evil (dark jinn).
The book is filled with metaphor and symbolism, with underlying themes of migration, civilization, faith and science. It unites old Arabic mythology with modern pop culture in a unique mixture that contains a subtle comedy:
Travel was already a problem, and would become a much bigger one. He had already ruled out air travel. He might strike a TSA officer as constituting some sort of threat. Only aircraft were permitted to take off at airports. A passenger trying to do so without boarding a plane could very easily be seen as acting improperly and needing to be restrained. Other forms of public transportation were also problematic. In the subway his levitation might be mistaken for an illegal effort to vault the turnstiles.
Aside from my feelings about the long passages of info-heavy text book jinn history, I did quite enjoy it. It's a complex, dense and thoughtful story, but it never takes itself too seriously.
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Flashes of the Rushdie I love but it goes steadily downhill and it's pretty tiresome by the end with the battle between good and evil nonsense.