Shalimar the Clown ends on an exciting note. Shalimar the Clown ends on a mysterious note. Humans Off Earth Now! View all 35 comments. May 10, Gumble's Yard rated it it was amazing Shelves: Revisited for the Mookse Madness tournament. He is assassinated by his Kashmiri Muslim driver — a mysterious character called Shalimar the Clown. The book tells th Revisited for the Mookse Madness tournament. Boonyi is a great dancer and Shalimar a trapeze artist. Max — a serial philanderer — falls for Boonyi and it is his downfall.
Shalimar vowing a long-term revenge becomes involved in terrorism — initially Kashmir militants but then the Taliban and Al-Qaeda all the time pursuing his own long-term plan of revenge. After murdering both Boonyi only after both their parents die and then Max he pursues India who instead kills him. The book as often with Rushdie is over-packed with allusion — each character seems simply a cipher.
Jun 14, Brian rated it it was amazing. My Review in very "reviewy" language Wonderful. All of Rushdie's powers are at play here, but perhaps the most striking is his exploration of the social and psychological borderland between visceral, emotional impulse and ideological motivation. What motivates someone to become an assassin, a terrorist, a murderer?
Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
And in the enlongated moment of that decision, how do personal, emotional wounds gain political currency enough to justify killing someone? Or killing many people? For a second ther My Review in very "reviewy" language Wonderful. For a second there, I thought I writing a college english paper What it got me thinking about This is certainly a timely book. I think it challenges us to remember that wars are fought by human beings - damaged, broken, human beings who are doing their best to search for truth and meaning.
While I certainly wouldn't suggest that Rushdie is saying anything in particular about the U. It's an opportunity to remember that "terrorists" a word that will never shrug off the emotional weight of September 11 , or our "enemies," do not "hate freedom.
They are, in fact, human beings, motivated by their hearts, by their emotions, by a desire to protect their own vision of freedom and of life. He's just very very Amidst all of this, I do think the novel maintains a certainly apolitical space. We all love to pigeonhole Rushie into political allegory, myself included, but hey people There's so much to say about the emotional, human side of these characters, about the way people grow and change in the book.
But my fingers are getting tired View all 3 comments. After toiling through The Satanic Verses a few years ago, my overriding memory is of how little of the novel I understood. I was therefore reluctant to get stuck into Shalimar The Clown when my sister passed it on recently. For these reasons I'm finding the stor After toiling through The Satanic Verses a few years ago, my overriding memory is of how little of the novel I understood.
For these reasons I'm finding the story a bit overwhelming, and the author's power of expression is so strong and eloquent that at times I find it overpowering. The novel tells the tale of Shalimar the Clown, a Kashmiri performer who is blinded by hatred following his wife's affair with the American ambassador. The complexities of character and impulses are beautifully told in this story and are superimposed over historical events and ideological conflict. The tones of the novel vary greatly, although the story becomes increasingly desperate as Kashmir is torn apart by conflict and Shalimar is possessed by hatred.
I would recommend Shalimar The Clown for its sheer scope, humanity and power of description. Jun 16, Regine rated it it was amazing Shelves: Shalimar the Clown has been on my shelf collecting dust. My friend, also a Rushdie aficionado, finally convinced me to pick it up and blow the dust off the covers. My love affair with Rushdie has been rekindled.
Rushdie is at full power in Shalimar. He combines his lush prose and diverse characters with political allegory and cultural savvy. Although it's Shalimar the Clown has been on my shelf collecting dust. Although it's easily one of Rushdie's most comprehensive novels, it certainly isn't a light read-- he dedicates much of the novel to theorizing about different conflicts. But don't let that scare you from reading it. At it's core, it's a beautiful story about love and vengeance. The story is told through the eyes of four main characters; Shalimar, a tightrope walker from Kashmir; Max Ophuls; his illegitimate daughter, India; and Boonyi, the woman whose story unites them all.
Even more astounding than the characters is the setting itself. Rushdie takes us to a beautiful, Macondo-esque village in rural Kashmir. We read about Pachigam in all its glory, and its slow destruction into an Asian dystopia. Rushdie is all about the allegory, and once again quite brilliantly mirrors the destruction of Kashmir with Shalimar's own descent into violence. Of course, Rushdie can't write a book without stirring some controversy.. Many critics have accused Rushdie of being sympathetic towards terrorists.
He merely gives us a different perspective of the world. He portrays each character with such intimate detail, but remains ambivalent throughout the book. He leaves it to us to judge each character. But it isn't for everybody. Nov 09, Zoe rated it really liked it. For me, it started out painfully slow. I was not terribly interested in the first characters he introduced to me. Nor was I terribly interested in the story. The histories of these characters are deep, deep, deep.
Rich and beautiful language. By the quarter mark of the book I was completely riveted. For the first part of the book I found myself, irritatingly, asking, "when is he going to get to the point! This is a grim tale about revenge. Plain and simple revenge that takes a long and circuitous route through the lives of the individual, Shalimar the Clown, out for revenge and his inevitable prey. I found the historical aspects fascinating.
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The creation of many militant groups including the Taliban. An excellent journey through a aprt of the world I knew very little about. Until I picked up 'Shalimar the Clown'. And that is perhaps where 'Shalimar the Clown' succeeds so well - in enlightening the reader about atleast some of the aspects of the Kashmir issue, if not all. What first looks to be a political assasination turns out to be a extremely personal one, linked to a woman in their past.
Shalimar the Clown
Except that Salman Rushdie is no mean writer. Until he decides to go in pursuit of a love that is doomed from the very start, the cost of which must be eventually paid with his life. And then comes an integral part of the story despite technically being a sub-plot in itself - Kashmir. Who burned that orchard? Who shot those brothers who laughed their whole lives long?
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Who killed the sarpanch? Who broke his hands? Who broke his arms? Who broke his ancient neck? Who shackled those men? Who made those men disappear? Who shot those boys? Who shot those girls? Who smashed that house? Who killed that youth? Who clubbed that grandmother?
Who knifed that aunt? Who killed that lover? Who burned the costumes? Who broke the swords? Who burned the library? Who burned the saffron field? Who slaughtered the animals? Who burned the beehives? Who poisoned the paddies? Who killed the children? Who whipped the parents? Who raped that lazy-eyed woman? Who raped that grey-haired lazy-eyed woman as she screamed about snake vengeance?
Who raped that woman again? Who raped that dead woman? Who raped that dead woman again? I don't really have anything to complain about, except maybe a fairly ordinary last few pages not to mention a final flourish towards the end , but I don't really how it could've ended otherwise. Maybe it's just me trying hard to find some fault with this book. There was only Kashmira, and Shalimar the Clown. View all 5 comments. I enjoyed this a lot. Compared to Rushdie's style in The Satanic Verses his magical realism here is more subtle and toned down to the point where it enhances rather than disrupting my suspension-of-disbelief.
At one point magic even forms the case for the defence in a trial in an entirely believable way: The magical strand helps to creates a wonderful, unset I enjoyed this a lot. The magical strand helps to creates a wonderful, unsettling sense of the fragility of truth. Rushdie also revises interpretations by giving two characters' thoughts on the same thing: Nonetheless, this isn't one of those works that casts the reader into despair by dispensing with a stable timeline of events.
Rather, it shows how conflict and slaughter rewrite history by erasing memory. Following the death of his parents in a Nazi concentration camp, he becomes a hero of the French resistance. A fictionalised account of the Bugatti automobile company plays a role in his escape from the Nazis. This appointment eventually leads to his unspecified role in relation to American counter-terrorism. The appointment is more important than his ambassadorship, but his exact role is left vague. Shalimar receives training from insurgent groups in Afghanistan and the Philippines, and leaves for the USA.
He murders Max on the day he resigns as his driver. Shalimar evades the authorities and eventually returns to India's home, with the intention of killing her. The story portrays the paradise that once was Kashmir, and how the politics of the sub-continent ripped apart the lives of those caught in the middle of the battleground. The performance was conducted by Jayce Ogren. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Shalimar the Clown First edition. The New York Times.
Retrieved 10 December Retrieved 10 December — via YouTube. Impeccable performances highlight the world premiere of "Shalimar the Clown" at Opera Theatre". Works by Salman Rushdie. This item can't be purchased in Russia. Shop from Russia to see titles available to you. This is the story of Maximilian Ophuls, America's counterterrorism chief, one of the makers of the modern world; his Kashmiri Muslim driver and subsequent killer, a mysterious figure who calls himself Shalimar the clown; Max's illegitimate daughter India; and a woman who links them, whose revelation finally explains them all.
It is an epic narrative that moves from California to Kashmir, France, and England, and back to California again. Along the way there are tales of princesses lured from their homes by demons, legends of kings forced to defend their kingdoms against evil. And there is always love, gained and lost, uncommonly beautiful and mortally dangerous. The Garden of Evening Mists. The Grapes of Wrath. The Story of a New Name.
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