About this title: Salman Rushdie's first full-length novel since THE SATANIC VERSES is the story of a dynasty of spice traders in Bombay. The families in the story are neither Hindu nor Muslim, but Jewish and Christian. Rushdie follows his usual circuitous route to the end of the story, but the telling of the story has always been the point for him: he is a post ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Good. Ex library. the first page is missing. The dust cover of this book is slightly ripped. However, book in a very good condition **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Description: Good. Ships from the UK. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Good. Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780099592419ISBN:009959241X
Description: Good. This book has a dedication in the first end page Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Good. This book is in GOOD overall condition. It shows signs of having been read and has general light wear to the cover, spine and pages. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. First Edition. 1st edition, 1st issue. CLOTH HARDBACK, in a lightly rubbed and bumped dust jacket. Clean and tight with minor wear. Over twenty years selling secondhand books. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Good. 1st edition, 1st printing, unclipped dustcover, corners have been knocked; sticky mark to front cover; Text clean and binding tight; else All in good condition; read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Cloth, Gilt Lettering
Publisher: Pantheon Books, New York
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780679420491ISBN:0679420495
Description: Very Good- in Very Good- jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. US edition. Slight edgewear to bopok, gift inscription to front free endpaper o/w interior clean & tight. Jacket not price-clipped, sl rubbed & edgeworn. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Jonathan Cape London 1995 0-224-03814-1
ISBN-13:9780224038140ISBN:0224038141
Description: Near fine (no dj, black cloth with gilt title on spine and gilt facsimile signature on front board together with Waterstones in gilt, one tiny chip at top of spine, internally as new) octavo 437pp. First edition. Volume number 1318 in a special edition of 2500 copies printed to commemorate the opening of Waterstone's 100th branch, in Reading, November 1995. read more
Description: Near fine/near fine (very clean crisp bright tight copy in similar dj, possibly unread, one tiny faint stain outside fore-edges else no fault) octavo 437pp. read more
"While I've enjoyed Rushdie's books and thought I would really be taken in by The Moor's Last Sigh, I found it hard to get sucked into the story. This book is wordy and while I don't shy away from lengthy books or verbose authors, I found that the effect in this case was to constantly keep me at a distance from the characters and the action.
It's worth a shot if you like magical realism or have enjoyed Rushdie's other works but you may find your mind wandering away as you read."
"That I could taste the smells of a land I'd never been to. That if I ever had a child, I would name it Aerish. That I could fall in love with the way this man took you on a little turn. I read this book every morning after I returned from coaching...a top the little village of Sha Tin in New Territories of Hong Kong...always with my Marks and Spencer from a box cappuccino. It was the first book I read there and I remember it so well because I got to actually enjoy it. I didn't have to run off to "work" or put it down because it was getting late and I needed to sleep. It was a sloooooow burn and my life allowed me the luxury of an agile routine. That was my introduction to THE Salman Rushdie..As of today, I've read everything he's written. It's a keeper. A re-reader."
"It's a palimpsest--multiple layers, some showing through, others not. A bit of the story appears at a time, but never the entire thing at once. It is like life in that way. The themes are huge, and many. The characters are not fleshed out to the exclusion of any other, even the redoubtable Aurora, who is one of the wackiest characters in fiction, in my opinion. The writing is great, rythmic, pulsing, varied, challenging. I had to read this with a dictionary in hand. This added to my enjoyment of the book, but might be irritating to some. Rushdie is a genious. This was my first time reading one of his books, and it was a satisfying, tasty place to start.
I thought in the end the story dealt with life and death, love and loss, art as a means and medium to mitigate loss/suffering, or find/express oneself in relation to all life's highs and lows.
The novel also works as a metaphor for the larger geopolitical crises we live with in our age. I found many images which Rushdie carries forward into subsequent novels, (particularly the clown, the terrorist, the unrepentent criminal)and realized this novel is only part of the conversation Rushdie is having with his audience.
I found myself appreciating the author much more than I was prepared for. He gave me lots to think about, which also added to the time needed to read this story. I found it was best for me to read pieces (layers) at a time, then take some time to mull it over.
He says on page 364 of my copy, "there is no need to lay the blame on forebears or lovers.." and then carries on with his thoughts, to end the passage with a major idea of the book, which has stayed with me (found on page 365): "There comes a point in the unfurling of communal violence in which it becomes irrelevant to ask, 'Who started it?' The lethal conjugations of death part company with any possibility of justification, let alone justice. They surge among us, left and right, Hindu and Muslim, knife and pistol, killing, burning, looting, and raising into the smoky air their clenched and bloody fists. Both their houses are damned by their deeds; both sides sacrifice the right to any shred of virtue; they are each other's plagues."
The use of the image of Boabdil, the Sultan, looking back in unspeakable grief toward the lost Alhambra served Rushdie's story beautifully. I loved the book, and will likely return to it for another reading."
"I re-read this book last summer after spending a considerable amount of time in Bombay. I LOVED it. I remember loving it in college, but I don't know why. I most likely understood about 40% of the story, and I don't think I even knew where Bombay was, let alone knew who Bal Thackeray was.. But it is definitely my favorite novel by Rushdie. Brilliant."
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