This is my first Rushdie book, and at first I was afraid I wouldn't like it, because of his "magical realism" style. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been held up as the biggest practitioner of this style, and I haven't liked his books at all. However, in the case of Shalimar the Clown, I found it fascinating. I was sucked into this exceedingly lush and intricate set of interlocking tales. The characters often surprised me (not always in a good way!), and I can't say I saw the ending coming. I was exhausted at the conclusion. It wasn't an easy read, but my admiration for Rushdie as a writer is great.

I'm now sending it off to booklady331 in Florida!

I am looking forward to reading this book. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I will pass it on when I finish.

Currently reading the book. Sorry it has taken me so long to get to it. I will try to find another BCer to pass the book on to. Not very far into the book, but making progress.

When India Ophuls finds the body of her father, his throat slashed by his Kashmiri chauffeur, Shalimar the Clown, she and the police believe the death to be connected to terrorism. Max Ophuls is a billionaire hero, who was also "America's best loved, then most scandalous Ambassador to India." Though Max has been US counter-terrorism chief recently, his assassination by Shalimar the Clown, we learn, has been an act of personal revenge and unrelated to terrorist organizations.

Through an extended flashback, Rushdie recreates the love story of Shalimar, a tightrope walker, and Boonyi Kaul, as well as a small Kashmiri village where both Muslims and Hindus live and work together peacefully and govern the town together. Shalimar and Boonyi fall deeply in love at fourteen and marry soon after, but several years later, Boonyi has an affair with Ambassador Max Ophuls, and her abandonment of her husband turns the enraged Shalimar into an assassin, who desires to revenge everyone involved.

The continuing story of Boonyi and Shalimar becomes an allegory for the history of Kashmir, its Hindu/Muslim conflicts and its political India/Pakistan conflicts, as young Muslim men including Shalimar, respond to the teachings of the "iron mullahs" with their fundamentalist messages. Incorporating local mythology, legend, and traditional story-telling, Rushdie sheds light on the actions of the main characters, emphasizing the traditional beliefs which underlie much of their behavior. Dreams, visions, and prophecies give warnings of disasters to come. Boonyi's relationship with Max becomes the story of betrayal by a powerful American, and Max's Jewish background, which is emphasized, injects fundamentalist hatred of Jews into the controlling allegory.

A fascinating study of the Kashmiri conflict, the cultures of the area, and the growth of radical Islam, the novel conveys both the beauty and the violence of the area.

I agree with Dreamer2 that the book exhausts the reader. Rushdie is a great reader, but I would have enjoyed it better without the constant use of the F-word.

I will mail this book to another BCer.

Enjoy! For RABCK, KTM, and The "THE" release challenge 2011 to biisbsw.

Thanks for the RABCK! I was very happy to get this book and am excited to read it.

Hardcover - Willing to send as a RABCK or trade when done. (resQgeek)