By Salman Rushdie, 2005
Often told in mythic, poetic language, the story stands in
for the poisoned relationship between India and Pakistan, and illustrates how
colonialism at many levels has affected the modern history of the two countries,
particularly in the senseless, brutal violence in the valleys of Kashmir. Or at
least, that’s how Rushdie sees it, although I’m sure there are different
interpretations of the history.
Rushdie makes explicit parallels with the Nazi occupation of
the Franco-German town of Strasbourg and with the urban riots in the USA. (We
Westerners can’t claim any political or moral superiority on this.) And his
depiction of the Muslim terrorists in Pakistan and the Philippines has an
implicit parallel with his own persecution by religious fanatics intent on
assassinating him.
Interestingly, these sections are written in a flat, almost neutral
tone that contrasts with the mythic tone of the traditional village life and
love story. Rushdie seems to be deliberately making the modern parts of the
story into a black and white cartoon comic book in contrast to the richness of
the traditional story. It’s a little disappointing, though, that the child at
the centre of the story, named Kashmiri by her mother and India by her stepmother,
is mainly described in the flatter style. By the end of the novel, however, her
story becomes joined with Greek mythology that represents either a unity of
Western and Eastern stories or an overcoming of the East by the West. (This is
left unresolved.)
I liked the story of the politics, which makes the Kashmir
dispute very concrete without going into the details of the history. Rushdie’s
view of the brutality of both sides – the responsibility of the Indian government
and army on the one side and the Muslim fighters supported by Pakistan on the
other – is unforgettably clear. Even more, I liked Rushdie’s telling of the
village history, the characters of Boonyi and Shalimar how they become caught in
the events. The destruction of their relationship and its outcome become an
evil inverse of their love. Rushdie reflects this in the references to twin
planets that both exist and do not exist, and to the combined creation and
destruction in Indian cosmology.
In fact, Rushdie’s story and his writing are so complex that
it takes a while to process. He brings so much into it, history, myth,
personalities, magic and very playful word work, that I find it hard to assess.
Many sections feel very thin, and many characterizations are cartoonish
stereotypes. But in spite of being a little mystified by these choices, I very
much enjoy reading him. His writing is so creative that it’s a pleasure to spend
time in his imagination. What I’ve read of his other novels seems to capture
people at their worst and blackest periods, but nevertheless leads to an
outcome that is if not quite positive at least hopeful.
