The Moor's Last Sigh

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It's a hit!

This is an epic about many things : about Bombay, about growing up and about the different manifestations of love; but most of all, it is about wom... (show more)

This is an epic about many things : about Bombay, about growing up and about the different manifestations of love; but most of all, it is about women, about four generations of strong, proud & flawed mothers, wives & daughters, and their culmination into one ultimate flawed, hapless, helpless man - MOOR. The plot is a family history, a narrative of the life stories of 4 generations of the Da Gama/Zogoiby family where not one member is perfect (which is probably a true reflection of real-life where everyone has his/her share of imperfections). Moraes 'Moor' Zogoiby, the last son of the Zogoiby family, and the narrator, takes us on a journey from the origins of his family tree all the way to his final hours, where we see the successes & the failings of his family. We see them becoming exceedingly rich professionally, and reaching a shocking level of moral decay, with a climax that is shocking for its savagery.

The writing doesn't have Rowling's simplicity, King's invention or Dan Brown's breathless pace; but what it lacks is more than made up by an amazingly inventive narrative style and an almost magical play on/with words. The simple, straightforward story becomes an extraordinary achievement thanks to the narration. Most writers have one, proven style of narration and stick to it; Rushdie on the other hand, seems to constantly experiment with and evolve his prose style, and in the process finds exhiliratingly original ways of narration.

His manipulation of words is astonishing at times, and the inventiveness of his narrative style is always brilliant. His ability to take simple acts, and describe them, so as to effortlessly ascribe to them profound meanings and philosophical connotations is truly exhilirating. And thus, from the simple act of breathing, he comes up with the following : "I sigh, therefore I am. A sigh isn't just a sigh. We inhale the world and breathe out meaning." This was one book which never seemed to end, partly because it is fairly long, but also because there were so many passages of mind-blowing writing that I couldn't resist reading these over and over to savour the magic of his words.

An epic in every sense of the word. (show less)

 

 

by Kailash Khairnar

No, it's a flop!

I had such high hopes, and it didn't live up to my expectations. It dragged on and on, and was much darker than I thought it would be. But of cours... (show more)

I had such high hopes, and it didn't live up to my expectations. It dragged on and on, and was much darker than I thought it would be. But of course, true to form, it's incredibly well written, intricate, involved and intertwined. Very rich text. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook-användare

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  The book is written in very articulate language. Each scene is described in a very verbose manner. The early part set in Cochin is very beautiful. Rushdie provides an ubiquitous background of the independence struggle. But the nature of the book borders on fiction and fantasy. He builds up the story amazingly initially but the book seems to not hold on to the intensity as it approaches the climax. His referenced to the Moors of Spain is not always easy to understand. The characters are well d... (show more)

  The book is written in very articulate language. Each scene is described in a very verbose manner. The early part set in Cochin is very beautiful. Rushdie provides an ubiquitous background of the independence struggle. But the nature of the book borders on fiction and fantasy. He builds up the story amazingly initially but the book seems to not hold on to the intensity as it approaches the climax. His referenced to the Moors of Spain is not always easy to understand. The characters are well drawn out and they can be identified very easily. It also has a theme of women dominating men, Aurora and Belle. Being my first Rushdie book I cannot compare it to the others. This book has its part of scandals and affairs. It is a good change for someone who is bored by the plain and mundane detective fiction of Dan Brown and Jeffery Archer. (show less)

   

   

  by Abhishek Kona on Sep 28, 2009 at 08:49PM

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  I found this tough going at times, especially the first several chapters where a wide cast of characters are introduced, sometimes fleetingly, making it tricky to keep track of who is who. The language is very rich and the texture of the story is often - but not always - very dense: you can have several pages of fine details, and then a page or two in which a lot of ground is covered very economically. This forces you to read very attentively or risk missing some vital turn of the plot. Even ... (show more)

  I found this tough going at times, especially the first several chapters where a wide cast of characters are introduced, sometimes fleetingly, making it tricky to keep track of who is who. The language is very rich and the texture of the story is often - but not always - very dense: you can have several pages of fine details, and then a page or two in which a lot of ground is covered very economically. This forces you to read very attentively or risk missing some vital turn of the plot. Even so, there were still characters in the last 150 pages or so who clearly weren't new but I couldn't remember who they were! This is probably not the fault of the author, but a symptom of the rather slow way in which I read the book - took about 3 weeks which is very very slow for me (I'm already 80% through the next book after this, for instance, it's roughly the same length). I found that the story threads all came together satisfyingly - if not always entirely plausibly - in the last 120 pages or so, ending with a bang, and then a sigh, appropriately. The book contains some very bad puns by the way, which personally I found very amusing, Eenie Meeny Minie, Mo - being the prime example.... (show less)

   

   

  by Derek Baldwin on May 05, 2009 at 01:09PM

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