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brandidean 's review for:
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights
by Salman Rushdie
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.