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Trying to describe a Salman Rushdie novel is like trying to describe music to someone who has never heard it--you can fumble with a plot summary but you won't be able to convey the wonder of his dazzling prose or the imaginative complexity of his vision. At its heart, The Enchantress of Florence is about the power of story--whether it is the imagined life of a Mughal queen, or the devastating secret held by a silver-tongued Florentine. Rushdie is the true "enchanter" of this story, conjuring readers into his gilded fairy tale from the very first sentence: "In the day's last light the glowing lake below the palace-city looked like a sea of molten gold." At once bawdy, gorgeous, gory, and hilarious, The Enchantress of Florence is a study in contradiction, highlighted in its barbarian philosopher-king who detests his bloodthirsty heritage even while he carries it out. Full of rich sentences running nearly the length of a page, Rushdie's 10th novel blends fact and fable into a challenging but satisfying read. --Daphne Durham
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Renaissance Florence's artistic zenith and Mughal India's cultural summit—reached the following century, at Emperor Akbar's court in Sikri—are the twin beacons of Rushdie's ingenious latest, a dense but sparkling return to form. The connecting link between the two cities and epochs is the magically beautiful hidden princess, Qara Köz, so gorgeous that her uncovered face makes battle-hardened warriors drop to their knees. Her story underlies the book's circuitous journey.A mysterious yellow-haired man in a multicolored coat steps off a rented bullock cart and walks into 16th-century Sikri: he speaks excellent Persian, has a stock of conjurer's tricks and claims to be Akbar's uncle. He carries with him a letter from Queen Elizabeth I, which he translates for Akbar with vast incorrectness. But it is the story of Akbar's great-aunt, Qara Köz, that the man (her putative son) has come to the court to tell. The tale dates to the time of Akbar's grandfather, Babar (Qara Köz's brother), and it involves her relationship with the Persian Shah. In the Shah's employ is Janissary general Nino Argalia, an Italian convert to Islam, whose own story takes the narrative to Renaissance Florence. Rushdie eventually presents an extended portrait of Florence through the eyes of Niccolò Machiavelli and Ago Vespucci, cousin of the more famous Amerigo. Rushdie's portrayal of Florence pales in comparison with his depiction of Mughal court society, but it brings Rushdie to his real fascination here: the multitudinous, capillary connections between East and West, a secret history of interchanges that's disguised by standard histories in which West discovers East.Along the novel's roundabout way, Qara Köz does seem more alive as a sexual obsession in the tales swapped by various men than as her own person. Genial Akbar, however, emerges as the most fascinating character in the book. Chuang Tzu tells of a man who dreams of being a butterfly and, on waking up, wonders whether he is now a butterfly dreaming he is a man. In Rushdie's version of the West and East, the two cultures take on a similar blended polarity in Akbar as he listens to the tales. Each culture becomes the dream of the other. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Secrets of History Revealed Over Time!,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Enchantress of Florence (Hardcover)
As usual, a read of any of Rushdie's novels is both pensive and exciting. The reward for sticking at it comes when the reader finally sees the big picture for all its evolving complexities. The very basic storyline in "The Enchantress of Florence" starts with the strange and startling arrival of a yellow-haired stranger from somewhere out of the west, in the court of the 16th century Mogul emperor, Akbar,a direct descendant of the great Babar. At this time his empire is plagued with both external and internal problems which he doesn't know how to fix. This outsider carries with him a supposed missive from `Good Queen Bess' requesting an alliance between England and the Moguls, along with a bizarre request to be received as a long-lost member of the royal household. Since this is a time when such matters were often viewed suspiciously, the claim has very little chance of being honored by the Emperor and his sons. What Akbar allows the yellow-haired stranger to do, however, is tell some stories about his past that might confirm his identity. These tales turn out to be so powerful that Akbar becomes personally challenged to start reforming his kingdom. The Moguls have become, like the Florentines in the west, too hedonistic. For them power has become a pleasure to be enjoyed by the few at the expense of the many. It is at this early juncture of the novel that Rushdie embarks on this stranger's account as to how a Florentine mercenary and a Mogul enchantress named Qara Koz came together to help shape the course of history. The story begins in 16th century Florence, where we find an Italian nobleman (Vespucci-Amerigo fame) siring a son Argalia who grows up to become a soldier of fortune. He quickly becomes educated in the wonders of modern statecraft and warfare, thanks to the influences of his boyhood friend, Niccolo Machiavelli. It is the latter's influence that goads young Argalia to venture out into a new frontier of his life, where he meets and falls for the beautiful Qara Koz from the Mogul world. On their return to Florence, Qara Koz takes the city by storm and causes a virtual sex orgy to break out because of her seductive charm. Being the master writer that he is, Rushdie will keep his readers guessing to the end as to how these many stories influence Akbar's rule. The book is full of fascinating little anecdotes that propel the reader on a journey through the worlds of two similarly power-driven societies which have their own unique way of dealing with the pressures of cultural and political change.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting!!!!!!,
By Joanna (Toronto, ON) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Enchantress of Florence (Paperback)
I was SHOCKED to see that there are people who didn't fall under the spell of this most evocative and beautifully-written work of art!Then, I spoke with a friend of mine who told me that in so far as Rushdie goes, this is a fairly mediocre novel (but that being Rushdie, it's still pretty excellent :), and apparently his "Midnight's Children" is the one to read. Well, I just place an order for the latter and can't wait until it arrives. In the meantime, I'm giving "The Enchantress of Venice" five starts, as I honestly feel it deserves it. Its plot is relatively simple - if you're good with it taking place prior to the time when the notions of what is and isn't real, got separated: a stranger cleverly obtains an important letter, presents himself to a sultan, and starts enchanting him with stories. The stories talk mostly of "enchantresses", beautiful women/seductresses, and great courtisanes of Venice and what's now India. There are pirates, wars, battles, disappointing offsprings, incest, beautiful self-serving princess,etc., -- a fairytale with a sophisticated and refreshing twist!!! I can't even begin to express how much of a mental holiday and escape has this novel provided -- thank you Salman Rushdie!!!!
5.0 out of 5 stars
A writer without peer,
By
This review is from: The Enchantress of Florence (Paperback)
The publisher's blurb for The Enchantress of Florence does credit to the surface plot of the story. However, to read a Rushdie novel is all about depths, dimensions -- mirrors, if you will. And it is mirrors this novel addresses, from the handmaiden of the Enchantress herself, to relationships, histories, and philosophies. To read this novel is like looking at a mirror reflected in a mirror; the depths are infinite.There is the mirror of Qara Koz and her handmaiden, and again of that relationship reflected in the whores known as The Skeleton and The Mattress. There is the reflection of Jodha, Akbar the Great's conjured queen, in the reincarnation of Qara Koz. There are reflections of a menage a trois, of battles won and lost, of political maneuverings. As with any of Rushdie's work, he makes no apologies for expecting his readers to be fully engaged and all synapses firing. A light, escapist read this isn't; neither is it a plodding literary tome one feels obligated to read. Rushdie draws this huge cast of characters, many of them lifted directly from history, with a very realistic, human hand, and just when a narrative is in danger of becoming too self-important, his wit takes flight and brings all sensibilities back to the common man. Even while his writing is without peer, in this novel he also created such pathos that in the end, for me, there were tears. This is a fascinating read from a literary, an historical, and a plain old entertaining perspective.
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