Friday Friyay: 'Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights' by Salman Rushdie

I was really shocked by the news of the attack on Salman Rushdie at an event. He is one of those giants on the literary scene and yet he has been forced to be in hiding for much of his life since the publication of The Satanic Verses. Lisa K. actually was kind enough to share a memory with me about the frenzy around this book when it came out, and I think it is absolutely worthwhile to read if you're unfamiliar with the danger and tension at the time. Thankfully it looks like he'll pull through but it's nonetheless a scary thing. It's also important to mention, however, that this and these actions are not representative of Islam, just like extremist Christians are not representative of Christianity. With that all said, I've decided it's time to read more Salman Rushdie. First is Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights.

From Salman Rushdie, one of the great writers of our time, comes a spellbinding work of fiction that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story. A lush, richly layered novel in which our world has been plunged into an age of unreason, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a breathtaking achievement and an enduring testament to the power of storytelling.

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, who live in a world separated from ours by a veil. 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.

Inspired by the traditional “wonder tales” of the East, Salman Rushdie's novel is a masterpiece about the age-old conflicts that remain in today's world. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is satirical and bawdy, full of cunning and folly, rivalries and betrayals, kismet and karma, rapture and redemption.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. I'll also be joining the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.

BB:

'The Children of Ibn Rushd

Very little is known, though much has been written, about the true nature of the jinn, the creatures made of smokeless fire. Whether they are good or evil, devilish or benign, such questions are hotly disputed.' 1%

I love this opening and how it immediately places us into a tradition of folklore and wonder tales. Even if I didn't have an opinion on jinn, which I do, this opening would give me ideas and context already. And it makes me feel like I'm part of the conversation as well, which is what I think a good book should do.

F56:

'Dunia in Love, Again

Separations of all sorts were being reported in those incomprehensible nights. The separation of human beings from the earth was bad enough. However, in certain parts of the world it had not begun or ended there. In the world of literature there was a noticeable separation of writers from their subjects.' 56%

This section was so delightfully odd I kept wanting to share more and more of it. I have no idea what's happening here, since I haven't reached this part yet, but I love the idea of it. Are people just floating off into space? Has gravity been turned off? Are authors just no longer caring about their books? Or is it their characters they're separating from? So many questions!

BBH:

This week's question was suggested by Billy:

Do you run your reviews through editing software before posting?

I do not, even if maybe I should xD Looking back at some of my old reviews I realise it's not just my opinions that have changed, maybe, but also the way I write and the quality of my writing. But I have quite a strong voice in my writing, especially in my academic writing weirdly enough, so very often even the suggestions from Word are not correct within the context of what I'm writing. I think the same would happen with my reviews, so I'm willing to accept the odd mistake (kind of, I hate spelling mistakes) to retain the way I write, even if an editing software might tell me it could be smoother or easier or more straight-forward. As you can probably tell, I love long sentences that run and with new thoughts, but no editing software would approve of that I think!

That's it for me today! Do you like the excerpts of Two Years?