A review by thomasgoddard
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

4.0

The great Don Quixote (key-SHO-tay) reimagined here as the American Indian (Dot, not feather!) Quichotte (key-SHOT) a travelling salesman complete with a desaturated companion child Sancho is a few channels short of a full subscription. And, in typical romantic fashion, sets out on a quest to win the heart of the oblivious Miss Salma R.

I mean... You're not going to tell me you're not already intrigued!

Inspired to read this by a defiance borne of the recent attack on Rushdie, I wasn't sure where to start with his books. I'd read Midnight's Children many years ago and frankly couldn't remember much about it. So I'll have to re-read that too now. As well as his other works. I settled on this book as it was his latest and promised to deliver on the topic of delusion... How fitting? Non?

In a book like this, knowing as much as you know isn't as helpful as you'd think and you find yourself obsessed with finding windmills, mistaking every new element with their arrival. It's splendid fun. Where are the giants?!

There is more to this than a simple re-hashing of an old idea. So much more!

Elements of Pinocchio, the real world, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pop Culture (particularly of the televisual variety), spy thrillers, pulp noir... It drips with it all.

It really reminded me of Out Of Their Minds by Clifford Simak. Where reality just sort of starts breaking rules. I think I'll re-read that again soon. So many things to re-read. I don't re-read a lot. I like saying re-read.

All in all, a fantastic introduction to the sort of zany (best word) world of Rushdie's fiction. It loses a star because the latter half lost my interest a little in pursuit of its conceit, but it shouldn't put most people off. I'm just impatient. It redeemed itself with the ending, but not wholly.

And you know what else...? It was uncanny in foreseeing many things that would come to occur in the world after its initial publication in 2019. We really need to pay more attention to writers, they predict the future way better than any politician.