Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

by Salman Rushdie

"From Salman Rushdie, one of the great writers of our time, comes a spellbinding novel that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story. A lush modern fairytale 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" -- Provided by publisher.

"Once upon a time, in a world just like ours, there came "the time of the strangenesses." Reason receded and the loudest, most illiberal voices reigned. A simple gardener began to levitate, and a powerful djinn -- also known as the Princess of Fairyland -- raised an army composed entirely of her semi-magical great-great-great-grandchildren. A baby was born with the ability to see corruption in the faces of others. The ghosts of two philosophers, long dead, began arguing once more. And a battle for the kingdom of Fairyland was waged throughout our world for 1,001 nights -- or, to be more precise, for two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a masterful, playfully enchanting meditation on the power of love and the importance of rationality, replete with flying carpets and dynastic intrigue" -- Provided by publisher.

• ISBN10: 081299891X
• ISBN13: 9780812998917
• Publish Date: 8 September 2015 (first published 1 September 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Random House
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[violetpeanut]

I can't do it. I tried to force myself and I just can't do it. I feel like I'm slogging through miles and miles of meaningless words to get to the point of this story. There are paragraphs taking up entire pages that are made up of only one very long sentence. Very long sentences and lots of description that I didn't find necessary. This style of writing just isn't for me.

[Beth C.]

I'm just going to post this disclaimer right off the bat - I am not all that familiar with Salman Rushdie. Yes, I'm aware of the Fatwa, and yes I know he's written other books. That pretty much covers my knowledge of him. Details and particulars I do not know - and I'm ok with that. I wanted to come into this book being unaware of the reasons for the notoriety that seems to surround him. I also wanted to be able to enjoy the book. One out of two isn't bad, right?

At some point in the very near future, our world as we know it will change. Things we believe to be fairy tales or fantasies will be proven to be true as they wage their Great War on Earth, using humans as their fodder and their currency. It all started way back with two old philosophers, and it will end with a gardener, a crazy woman, a graphic novelist - and a jinnia who dared to learn to love as humans do. Whether or not it ends as they plan, well...they do say the jinn are devious.

Frankly, I'm not quite sure *what* thought of this novel. It seemed almost like two different books intertwined, and it didn't always make the most sense. It was like a fantasy novel was thrown together with a treatise on current events and human nature and loosely mixed together so that neither one worked well. For a novice Rushdie reader, I closed the book feeling confused and reluctant to ever want to read another one. Now - it's very possible that not knowing his backstory may have hindered my reading of this book. If so, then that's a shame - any person should be able to open a novel and feel swept away by the story within, even if they haven't read the first book or don't understand the author's history. I just didn't feel like that was the case here.

I truly wanted to love this book - the premise certainly was interesting enough for me to have given it a shot. And I did enjoy some of the fantasy elements. However, it just felt overly wordy, had a strange fixation on emphasizing how often the jinn like sex, and was confusing as well. Not my cup of tea, and I certainly would not recommend it to a friend.