Salman Rushdie

"Once upon a time, in a world just like ours, there came "the time of the strangenesses." Reason receded and the loudest, most illiberal voices reigned. A simple gardener began to levitate, and a powerful djinn -- also known as the Princess of Fairyland -- raised an army composed entirely of her semi-magical great-great-great-grandchildren. A baby was born with the ability to see corruption in the faces of others. The ghosts of two philosophers, long dead, began arguing once more. And a battle for the kingdom of Fairyland was waged throughout our world for 1,001 nights -- or, to be more precise, for two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a masterful, playfully enchanting meditation on the power of love and the importance of rationality, replete with flying carpets and dynastic intrigue"--

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

Kyle Curry

My first Rushdie novel, and I am absolutly looking forward to reading some more. 

I would never accuse Rushdie of being conscise, if anything he likes to explain things in almost a Tolkein like way: except in this case it is events or ideas rather than scenery. I loved the story and perspective given to the reader by the moments of direct address. Interestingly though the story seemed to have some degree of inevitability, the journey was so mysterious along the way I never felt I was just waiting for the deus ex machina. Loved his drawing on various litertary illusions (lot's of references to various classic plays, yay!) especially because they weren't overly laboured. They were more like fun little literary easter eggs for those who cared to catch them.

I also found him very expressive of his views through his characters, and while a bit heavy handed at times, I enjoyed his weaving of them into the narrative. It never got overly preachy in way in which it left the world of the book, but the allusions to the real world were still obvious. Some wonderfully quotable passages about the way things are and the way Rushdie wishes they might be. His characters struggles with their place culturally was interesting and easy to become wrapped in. 

A shorter but magical read, full of hope and searching knowledge. The pacing is slow, this one doesn't race, but the prose of potent and full over wonderful ideas. Like a good sipping whiskey.

Jule

Korey

Matalin Hansen

Amanda S

Bec Taylor

James Haliburton

Steven O'Toole

"In the near future, after a storm strikes New York City, the strangenesses begin. A down-to-earth gardener finds that his feet no longer touch the ground. A graphic novelist awakens in his bedroom to a mysterious entity that resembles his own sub-Stan Lee creation. Abandoned at the mayor's office, a baby identifies corruption with her mere presence, marking the guilty with blemishes and boils. A seductive gold digger is soon tapped to combat forces beyond imagining. Unbeknownst to them, they are all descended from the whimsical, capricious, wanton creatures known as the jinn. Centuries ago, Dunia, a princess of the jinn, fell in love with a mortal man of reason. Together they produced an astonishing number of children, unaware of their fantastical powers, who spread across generations in the human world. Once the line between worlds is breached on a grand scale, Dunia's children and others will play a role in an epic war between light and dark spanning a thousand and one nights - or two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. It is a time of enormous upheaval, in which beliefs are challenged, words act like poison, silence is a disease, and a noise may contain a hidden curse."

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

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