Rushdie through the lens of Quichotte.

Quichotte by Salman Rushdie is the type of book that I loved so much that I wanted to savor every moment by reading it slowly but also devouring it as fast as possible because of the beautifully evolving story. The story follows a person named Ismail, who is addicted to watching too many TV shows. He creates his alter ego Quichotte, and goes on a road trip through America to make a famous TV show host fall in love with him. Here Salman Rushdie takes a unique way of storytelling, wherein in the second chapter of the book he introduces the author who is writing the story of Quichotte (Ismail), it is like fiction inside another fiction. This brings us to the genre of this book – a Metafiction. The life of the author is the reflection of the story of Quichotte. At a certain point in the book, the reality of the author’s life gets intertwined with the fiction of Quichotte’s story, perplexing the reader with Rushdie’s effortless storytelling.

Quichotte is a brilliantly funny work. It was quite surprising for me since I’ve read a few books of Rushdie (not many) to find his work to be this much satirical. Then I revisited his previous works and a lot of his interviews and realized that satire and telling serious stories in a rather fun way was his strength. It was me who was being naïve and failed to see it all along. I read Midnight’s Children way too early, I loved that book, but I failed to properly understand it. I need to reread it.

Salman Rushdie is one of the literary geniuses of our generation. His works will be considered classics in the future. Quichotte will top that list. His narration was so fine with strength and confidence. The level of imagination in Quichotte is mesmerizing. He effortlessly blends reality with fiction. Magical realism is not the word that I will use to define his works, although this story has its share of absurdity. Like the insect that speaks English with an Italian accent, large mastodons wearing blazers and marching for protest, and a person born out of a wish who is monochrome in color, still, I could not consider it to be of authentic Latin American origin; that is magical realism. Rushdie has a format of blurring the line between reality and dream, that stands out from the traditional magical realism, surrealism, or absurdism. It lingers and reflects on reality very much and to make the reader realize the impact of reality, he levels up the absurdity in it. So it perfectly works as a metaphor but also in a single glance, it can be seen as a sheer absurdity.

There were moments in this book where I laughed so hard. It is not a silly/funny book but filled with so much irony and satire. So much so that I rolled about laughing in certain portions. The ending of the book takes a great turn, giving it the perfect climax. It has everything in it to become a great read that stays with you forever. This book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2019, and my next read will be the winner of the 2019 Booker Prize winner. Just to see what can top this book.

Comments

THE LAST EDEN - A Short Story

THE LAST EDEN The house that the old couple has resided in for almost half a century now is in the middle of a small city. There have been regular changes happening around that house, but that house has remained the same for as long as time can remember. The house is rather small compared to all those changes. But their land had enough space for a beautiful garden with lots of flowers and a small farming setup. It even had a small pond. The house was once filled with the sound of their two children - who are now settled in America with their family. Now it is enjoying its moment of retirement with the silence of these two old pairs who are in a marital stage where the other partner can guess what she or he is going to say. They lived and talked long enough, that there wasn’t much for them to do or say other than go by their daily life. Among other chores, their daily routine includes, watering the plants, and feeding the birds, dogs, and cats, that wander around their ...

My Ambedkar and his Buddha

When I was in the 4th grade, the first time I heard the name, "Dr. B.R Ambedkar", I felt a connection to that name. My initials are also B.R., so that 9-year-old boy did not have to put much effort into memorizing that name for his social science class tests. This was probably the reason why when I was in 6th grade and the teacher asked the class who drafted the Constitution, I was the first to raise my hand and shout out the answer. Everyone applauded, I am not the type of student who gets applauded in class, so this event has held a place in my heart, and so does the name Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. That was the only connection I felt with Ambedkar, that we share the same initials, so for nearly ten years it remained like that. I, like most of the young students, was aware that Ambedkar was the person who drafted the constitution and did something against caste not knowing exactly what he did for that, and what he stood for. It took me more than ten years to know more about Ambedkar...

BLACK MOTHS OR MOUSTACHES

Gauri was the only girl child to her parents and was blind when she was born. After 12 long and happy years of childhood, she gained sight one day. In her words, it was “the mysterious event,” but it was every bit as usual as her story goes. Irrespective of her inability to see, Gauri had a childhood of a million colors. She had two elder brothers who loved her unconditionally, but there was always a physical barrier between them. Their realities felt so different, though they had a similar childhood. The brothers were in a separate world of their imaginations, along with toy cars, bikes, and guns. That was a place where Gauri had no importance, still, she could be seen stumbling behind her brothers. For Gauri, the world was what she imagined. The disparity in their world did not bother her, as her inability to see also made her not see those differences. The world that she imagined was a beautiful and happy one. It had everyone and everything she dearly loved: her parents, her ...

JishnuGopanbr

Search This Blog