The Moor’s Last Sigh is a rich, imaginative novel that blends magical realism with a detailed political backdrop, creating a compelling family saga. The language is inventive and engaging, touching on themes of love, hate, and the human condition, making it a standout work by one of the 20th century's best writers.
The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie is a heady, sensual, and moving book that expands the English language much like Joyce’s Ulysses. The novel is set against the backdrop of colonial India and tells the story of Moraes Zogoiby, who ages twice as rapidly as others. The narrative is filled with magical realism, blending fairy tales and mythology with a realistic portrayal of family ties, love, and hate. The characters are compelling, and the story propels the reader forward with its excellent ending and beautiful prose. The language is abundant and playful, engaging the reader's senses and illuminating the human condition. Rushdie's ability to weave together a compelling family saga with inventive language makes this a great accomplishment and a standout work by one of the 20th century's best writers.
Quick quotes
It would be fair to call The Moor’s Last Sigh magical realism, as strange things take place in an otherwise detailed, realistic backdrop.
The language is wonderful, abundant, full of fun; with bits of hindi, spanish, and a vernacular which “ofies” (killofy, mindofy) everything, puns and rhymes in a playful, familiar way which engages the reader.
Rushdie is definitely one of the 20th Centuries best writers. This book reaches to the very heart of what the Moor calls: “the root of the whole matter of family rifts and premature deaths and thwarted loves and mad passions and weak chests and power and money and the even more morally dubious seductions and mysteries of art.