Salman Rushdie is a brilliant writer. The only writer to be awarded the Booker prize twice. I enjoy his witticism and his breathtaking style of writing. He can take the most ordinary of the stories and infuse it with such life that the reader is left spellbound. His writing is rich with allegory, symbolism, and incisive remarks about the current happenings in this fascinatingly bizarre world of ours.
This is the third book by Rushdie I've read. My journey with Rushdie started with 'Satanic Verses'- A novel which is fascinating, scandalous, funny, bitter, all at the same time. I moved on to Midnight's Children, which I'm still to finish, not because it's boring but because it can be exhausting for someone who has stayed away from dense readings all his life. I do intend to finish it sometime and hopefully publish a review.
Last year when I came across the news that Salman Rushdie is coming up with a new novel, a book about Jinn's, people with magical super-powers, apocalyptic battle about the survival of the world, about Ghazali and Ibn Rushd- I was thrilled. I have taken a newly interest in Islamic Philosophy so a novel which would incorporate the themes I was feasting upon was high on my wish list.
Thematically, this books is very much like Satanic Verses. Nowhere as scandalous, it does explores the theme of irrationality of religion. The book starts with the philosophical conflict between Ghazali and Ibn Rushd. Ghazali hell bent on proving the existence of God and Ibn Rushd throwing a shadow of doubt on his theory. One fine day, A Jinnia, or a female Jinn, appears on his doorstep in the guise of a human. This was no ordinary Jinnia, but the princess of the Jinn land, the mistress of lightening. Ibn Rushd takes her as a lover and they sire countless children together, A lineage which would be destined to play a crucial role in the events of the future.
The best thing about the book is that it deals with so many current topics of interest around the world but especially in the sub-continent. The book touches upon the rise of ultra-nationalism, the resurgence of Hindutva forces, the blind faith in a supreme leader who is supposed to build the nation and take it to the heights of glory.
But perhaps the major theme the book deals with is about the stronghold of ill-reason on the human psyche. How fear drives us toward divinity and creates an urge to seek shelter under the patronage of a supreme power. It's a subtle plea to mankind to love more. To see the world without the shades of racism, religion and bigotry. To rise above petty differences, above egoism, above provincial pride and realize that our time on this earth is frighteningly limited. To spend our time in staunch belief in our own superiority is our failure to realize the pleasure which lies in connecting with strangers who may be strikingly different from us, but they still are human beings.
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