Shalimar the Clown

By: Salman Rushdie

Narrated by: Aasif Mandvi

Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

From Salman Rushdie, New York Times best-selling author, Booker Prize-winner, and one of the great voices in contemporary literature, comes a majestic novel that solidifies the author's right to a Nobel Prize, which Kirkus Reviews says "he deserves more than any other living writer".

When Maximilian Ophuls is murdered outside his daughter's home by his Kashmiri Muslim driver, it appears to be a political killing. Ophuls is the former U.S. ambassador to India and America's leading figure in counter-terrorism. But there is much more to Ophuls and his assassin, a mysterious man calling himself "Shalimar the Clown", than meets the eye. One woman is at the center of their shared history, a history of betrayal and deception that moves from World War II Europe to the troubled Kashmir region to contemporary America.

Rushdie effortlessly weaves a series of interconnected narratives to form a sweeping and ambitious tale, at once timeless and startlingly modern, that reaches back through the years and across the continents.

©2005 Salman Rushdie (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• 2005 Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award, Fiction

"Shalimar the Clown is a powerful parable about the willing and unwilling subversion of multiculturalism." (Publishers Weekly)
"If Rushdie cannot make you see and smell and feel the loveliness of life in Kashmir, he does, finally, make a commanding story of its loss." (The New York Times Book Review)
"A masterly deployment of interconnected narratives spanning six decades....Dazzling....A magical-realist masterpiece." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A cogent descriptor of Rushdie's sheer and magnificent talent. His beautifully metaphoric language and sly sense of humor keep his complex plot, with its layers of personal and cosmic meaning, tightly woven." (Booklist)

Rushdie Does it again. Equally matching Narration

Shalimar is simply brilliant. Rushdie in his Rushdie style does exceedingly good. You may find novel reviews somewhere else, but this one I am writing specially for Narration (Narrated by Aasif Mandvi) and the director team.
Rusdie packs sentences densely. But the narration -inspite of this difficulty is great. The character voices are consistent.
As much I enjoed the story, the narration team also gets great appreciation for laying it out in the best manner.

one of my favorite audiobooks of all time.

never gets old. I love this audiobook . I think I've listened to it 4 times.

Entertaining epic

This sprawling ambitious novel spans decades continents and cultures. It weaves together the lives and stories of several central characters, offering along the way some fierce political critiques. For me, Rushdie’s book is at times heavy-handed and the writing sometimes seems obvious and overwrought. However much of it is highly entertaining and fascinating. The reader is superb: energetic, aware of meaning, and excellent at voices and accents. Overall I am glad I spent the time with this rich book.

Across vast spaces, cultures and times

From California to Europe to India, this book relates the story of Kashmir with human, even super-human characters. The imagery and symbolism are magnificent, both in horror and beauty. The narrator was up to the task and handled multiple accents very well.

Wonderful

This is a masterpiece of fiction, from one of the greatest living writers. But what also made this a wonderful listen was the masterful reading by Aasif Mandvi. This cannot have been an easy book to narrate, but Mandvi could not have been more perfect. The range of voices he used, and the appropriateness of each one was just perfect. All in all it kept me engrossed for many hours. A great book and reading!

A Driveway Moment

The thing grabbed me and would not let go. It may sound trite, but "gripping" is the word that comes to mind most forcefully. I found myself making up excuses to go on errands, so that I could listen to it while driving. I know that is not legal everywhere, but it was worth the risk. When I neared the end I had to park in a driveway for some time and finish listening. Rushdie never let up. Five minutes before the end I was still being surprised and astonished.

Fabulous

I was bowled over by this book. Loved all the amazing historical details. This is an author who has done his homework. Mr Rushdie managed to make me sympathetic to all the characters in spite of their conflicting stories. So much tragedy. So little hope.

Very good book

I really liked this book. I Liked how it jumped between the past and the present. I liked how the author took these people from all over the globe and at different periods through history and told each of their stories as they set on a collision course toward colliding with each other many many years later. I highly recommend it.

An Exquisite, Lush and Hypnotic Story

From the first sentence to the last, this book is a masterpiece. It's fascinating, perfectly paced, gorgeously written, and was a pleasure to listen to. After the book was finished, I contemplated for several days the depth of genius Rushdie must possess. It is a perfect novel- an enchanting spell that takes a while to wake from. Amazing!

Sobering

I appreciated how the author makes a significant historical conflict come alive by telling anecdotes of "real" people. We see how a community of Muslims and Hindus, who got along together in the Kashmir, were ripped apart by radicals and extremists from both sides. We witness the slow, insidous divisions that infiltrate, and how people are pushed into brutality by events.

The conflict over Kashmir is an important phenomenon, since it involves two nuclear powers.

However, the characters are not likeable. India Oeffals, Max Oeffals, Shalimar, Bunyi Kohl, are all self-absorbed personalities with not much to endear them to us. I need to like the characters in order to be absorbed in a novel and appreciate it. Rushdie's writing is good craftsmanship. Ultimately we endure the characters rather than getting involved with them.

Bottom line, I enjoyed the read.