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Enchantress of Florence
 
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Enchantress of Florence [Audiobook] (Audio CD)

by Salman Rushdie (Author)
2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Price: CDN$ 35.94 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

4 new from CDN$ 24.62

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Enchantress of Florence + Midnight's Children + Satanic Verses
Total List Price: CDN$ 80.48
Price For All Three: CDN$ 68.79

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Product Details

Product Description

Amazon.ca

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

Listeners who can make sense out of this clear but unengaging readingshould win an award. Firdous Bamji employs the same technique throughout (pushing out chosen words in each phrase for emphasis), and the sentences begin to sound alike and the listening mind begins to wanders. It's hard to distinguish or care about the many characters, and Bamji doesn't help determine time or place as the book hops around in different eras and locations with abandon. But poor Bamji had a terrible task before him: the muddle of history, mystery, fact, fiction and fairytale in Rushdie's new novel would confound any narrator. A Random House hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 24). (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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CDN$ 35.94
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Secrets of History Revealed Over Time!, Sep 1 2008
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Smithers, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 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.


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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, July 23 2008
By A. Gavritsas "book-oholic" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Enchantress of Florence (Hardcover)
I read this with great anticipation as I know what an artist Rushdie is. Half way through this book I was done with it but persevered until the end. The stalling to tell the secret we are told about on page one goes on to the end of the novel which was extremely tedious not thrilling. I was also uncomfortable with all the magic people possessed which seemed to me to be a convenient way to get past some difficult issues. It's not a work of writing art, perhaps it could be called popular fiction in the fantasy area.
All in all I found it very disappointing, not his best plot and storyline and so I would not recommend it to anyone I know.
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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars What Love Story??, Dec 28 2008
By Coach C (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Enchantress of Florence (Hardcover)
This is by far the most disappointing book I've read all year. With the literary prowess that is Salman Rushdie, you would've expected at least good writing even if the story fell short. Nothing about this book lives up even remotely to the Rushdie name.

I will spare the ugly details, but will just say that for a book that is supposed to be a love story, there is no love story that exists in the book. Just an Arabian Nights clone attempt, and 300 pages of historical background on the Mughal dynasty and Ottoman Empire.

There is no reason why anyone should read this book. A big thumbs down for "The Enchantress of Florence."
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother
I am only half way through this book and am not sure I will continue, except I seldom give up on any book. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mabel's Friend

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