Publisher’s write-up:
‘Los Angeles, 1991. Maximilian Ophuls is knifed
to death on the doorstep of his illegitimate daughter India, slaughtered by his
Kashmiri driver, a mysterious figure who calls himself Shalimar the Clown. The
dead man is a World War II Resistance hero, a man of formidable intellectual
ability and much erotic appeal, a former United States ambassador to India, and
subsequently America’s counter-terrorism chief. The murder looks at first like
a political assassination but turns out to be passionately personal.
This is the story of Max, his killer, and his
daughter – and of a fourth character, the woman who links them all. The story
of a deep love gone fatally wrong, destroyed by a shallow affair, it is an epic
narrative that moves from California to France, England, and above all,
Kashmir: a ruined paradise, not so much lost as smashed.’
Shalimar the Clown is a novel from Salman
Rushdie released in late 2000s, featuring four principal characters and a plot
based in three different continents. As in most Rushdie novels, there is a
story, featuring a particular family, with politics of the places involved in
the background.
Coming to the plot – a former American diplomat
is killed in the US by his driver. The story then moves back in time to
Kashmir, featuring a rural Hindu girl Boonyi who is in love with Abdullah
Noman, a Kashmiri Muslim who performs tightrope acts in the village. Despite
their religious differences, the village elders are in favour of their
marriage, which would also make the statement that they were Kashmiris before
their religious identities.
On the other side, there is an ambitious man
from Strasbourg, France – Max Ophuls. His tact and seductive skills make him a
valuable asset for the French resistance against the Nazi regime during the
Second World War. Following the war, he moves to the US and is posted to India
as their ambassador, which is where Max’s love affair with Kashmir begins.
The story has four main characters and each of
them have a segment named after them. The four are Max, India (Max’s daughter),
Boonyi and the title character, Shalimar the Clown. This story moves across
timelines and similar to the other Rushdie novels – with multiple complex
characters – with some based in the West with ties to South Asia. The author
often plays along people having multiple identities and acting accordingly –
for instance, Max – a Frenchman from a region which has often shifted between
France and Germany, with a British wife, and later becoming a US diplomat.
The political shift and radicalisation that
took place in Kashmir was brought out well by the author – where a culture that
encouraged an interfaith marriage and participated in social events together
regardless of religion; were taken to violence and eventual doom. The effect
the conflict had on civilians was brought out well – be it atrocities from the Muslim
extremists or Indian army.
An equally interesting character was the title character
– Shalimar the Clown, who was content staying in the village who had fallen in love
with Boonyi, who had bigger ambitions and did not want to be ‘stuck’ in the
same place and was looking for an opportunity to leave. However, the segment
with both Shalimar and Boonyi was a tad long – with too many characters being
introduced and beyond a point, it became difficult to keep track of them,
especially considering that they were important in the subsequent phases.
The author being an atheist himself, did not
have second thoughts in bringing out absurdities in religion, where a bit of
dark humour was involved when a group of Muslim women pacify an extremist mob by
using the religious limitations that the men have.
Without spoilers, I would say that I was not
satisfied with the ending of the book. It was not particularly bad, but
considering the way that the story was going, it was not quite what I expected.
On a personal level – this story was highly
relatable for me, considering I have lived most of my life in India and a
substantial portion in France (my current residence), and all the principal
characters are from these places, and I really enjoyed the description of the
city of Strasbourg, loved it as much as my visit to the city. So, if you could
relate with the underlying themes, you could enjoy it better, but regardless,
it is a great read.
To conclude – this could be classified as a
cliched story involving love, ambition, jealousy and revenge but what
makes it special is the narration, and the subtle themes going on in the
background. If you have enjoyed other works of Rushdie, this would be an enjoyable
read too – I would not place it quite at the level of Midnight’s Children or
The Satanic Verses, but a notch below and on that note, I would award this book
a rating of seven on ten.
Rating – 7/10
Andy
No comments:
Post a Comment