Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A work of art!, 20 Jan 2007
With a rich and strongly descriptive style reminiscent of Midnight's Children, Rushdie tells the tale of a love affair gone wrong, polluted by conflict, lust, and betrayal.
The story takes places in different parts of the world, each described so vividly and in such detail that the reader is under the illusion of really being present.
Rushdie introduces a great number of exotic and interesting characters, whose life stories seem nothing but entertaining on the surface but are in fact full of symbolism.
This book, like all of the novels I have read by Rushdie, has multiple dimensions. On the surface it is a tale of a love affair tainted by betrayal and with horrific consequences. On a deeper level one finds the story of Kashmir, a beautiful region torn between Pakistan and India, losing its identity and its natural beauty in the conflict. The third dimension is that of the human struggle, what human beings might or might not do in the face of betrayal and oppression, feeling the need to redefine themselves, obtaining new goals and identities in order to survive and face up to their fate.
This book has left me with a deep impression of Kashmir, and with a sense of sadness for the loss of its beauty in the face of violence. Rushdie has touched me to the core with this novel.
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28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, touching, tragic, magical, breathtaking, 2 Feb 2006
By A Customer
Salman Rushdie’s novel “Shalimar The Clown” begins with the dedication for the author’s Kashimiri grandparents and is, basically, about Kashmir, about Hindu-Muslim relationship in the area, about the artists and cooks village of Pachigam, about two youngsters Muslim Shalimar the clown and Hindu beauty dancer Boonyi, about their love, inter-religious marriage, Boonyi’s betrayal, Shalimar’s revenge, and then, also, Indo-Pak war because of Kashmir. It’s a book about reality, about destroyed values, the book that goes deep into ones soul, involving everything life can involve and, as if, smiling through tears at life’s total absurdity. The author masterfully pictures the way life is, opens characters’ souls, showing their ambitions, dreams, expectations, jealousy, love, lust and hatred. The story of the novel, the message sent through the novel, the way the novel is written and author’s knowledge – all was pretty shocking to me. Technically, the novel is very harmonious which was very satisfying to read and every phrase and sentence seemed to be worth learning by heart, taken as the words of wisdom or just written on the walls of one’s room. Although the story is about Kashmiri people, about what was happening in Kashmir and India (and about Europe in WW2 and today’s LA), for me it seemed like a story about humans and humanity, no matter which religion or continent they belong to, solving the great questions of being. The novel has a magic to deeply involve it’s reader into the story and make one feel as the part of Pachigam, with the help of natural descriptions of the geographical places of Kashimir, make one feel as if walking by the river of Muskadoon, or see the giant Himalayas, smell the smell of the pine trees, closely observe the domestic live of the Pachigami people and take part in traditional festivals. Also, the novel contains a lot of symbolism and characters are covered in mystery…It was impossible to guess what comes next and what is the end of the story…The end was really smashing…The story itself was tragic and breathtaking. Salman Rushdie’s “Shalimar The Clown” was one of the best novels I have ever read. A master piece and the great work of art. Should be enjoyed by everyone who likes history, philosophy, literature, is interested in world's cultures, or simply by those who want to read a really good book.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Magical Rushdie, 6 Dec 2005
This novel is a tale of love and revenge, of paradise torn asunder and a cultural lesson on Kashmir. The story takes us through Europe during the second world war, India and Kashmir over large parts of the 20th century, and California in modern day. As much as the story enchants, it is sometimes surrounded by too many lessons from our author. But when it picks up speed during the second half of the book, it is captivating, and the final pages are impossible to put down. A worthy read, Rushdie's language is mesmerizing, at least when he sticks to the story...
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