the resilience found in Rushdie's own life and work. Readers are invited to contemplate the complexities of identity, love, and history, makingThe Moor’s Last Sigh a compelling narrative of both personal and national significance.

Further Reading

For additional insights and reviews, consider exploring the following sources:

• The Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 1995, p. 7.
• The Economist, September 9, 1995, p. 88.
• Far Eastern Economic Review, October 5, 1995, p. 64.
• London Review of Books, September 7, 1995, p. 3.
• Los Angeles Times, September 14, 1995, p. E1.
• New Statesman and Society, September 8, 1995, p. 39.
• The New York Times, December 28, 1995, p. C13.
• Publishers Weekly, October 2, 1995, p. 52.
• The Spectator, November 18, 1995, p. 47.
• The Times Literary Supplement, September 8, 1995, p. 3.

Salman Rushdie’s literary prowess lies in his unique ability to fuse classic narrative structures with innovative storytelling, creating works that are as complex as they are entertaining. Through his novels, he draws inspiration from historical literary giants, weaving them into a rich tapestry that is uniquely his own. With a blend of linguistic playfulness and vivid imagery, Rushdie’s style transforms narratives into immersive experiences that challenge and captivate the reader.

Influences and Narrative Techniques

Rushdie’s storytelling is deeply influenced by the narrative scope and structural innovation seen in the novels of the nineteenth century. His works echo the expansive family sagas of Charles Dickens, the historical breadth of Tolstoy, and the narrative complexity of modernists like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Rushdie has often acknowledged the impact of Laurence Sterne's comic outlook in Tristram Shandy, Gunter Grass's narrative voice in The Tin Drum, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magical realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude on his own writing.

In The Moor's Last Sigh, Rushdie employs these influences to craft a narrative that is both grand and intricate. The novel’s structure is reminiscent of Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, where seemingly meandering plots coalesce into a purposeful whole. Rushdie’s admiration for Joyce is evident in his ability to traverse different time frames and imaginative landscapes, as seen in the protagonist’s evolving perspectives and voices.

Playfulness with Language

Language, for Rushdie, is not merely a tool for storytelling but a playground for creativity. Growing up in Bombay, he was surrounded by a culture that cherished linguistic playfulness, and this cultural heritage is woven into his prose. In his narratives, Rushdie pursues a linguistic logic that transcends mere plot or character development, creating a tapestry of verbal digressions that are delightful in their own right.

In The Moor's Last Sigh, the protagonist Moraes’s thoughts flow in an unbroken stream, a reflection of Rushdie’s own experiences with mortality and urgency during the fatwa. The character’s accelerated aging symbolizes this urgency, conveying a sense of fleeting time and inevitable decay. Rushdie’s prose mirrors this acceleration, creating a narrative tension that reflects the chaotic rush of the modern world.

Imagery and Sensory Detail

Rushdie’s novels are renowned for their vivid imagery and sensory detail, which bring the settings and characters to life with remarkable clarity. His descriptive passages, often reminiscent of Alan Ginsberg's poetic style, are rich in sensory impressions and emotional depth. Consider the vibrant depiction of Cochin harbor in The Moor's Last Sigh:

the horns of freighters and tugboat chugs, the fishermen's dirty jokes and the throb of their jellyfish stings, the sunlight sharp as a knife, the heat that could choke you like a damp cloth pulled tightly around your head, the calls of floating hawkers, the wafting sadness of the unmarried Jews across the water in Mattancherri, the menace of emerald smugglers, the machinations of business rivals, the growing nervousness of the British colony in Fort Cochin, the cash demands of the staff and of the plantation workers in the Spice Mountains, the tales of Communist troublemaking and Congresswallah politics, the names Ghandi and Nehru, the rumors of famine in the east and hunger strikes in the north, the songs and drumbeats of the oral storytellers, and the heavy rolling sound (as they broke against Cabral Island's rickety jetty) of the incoming tides of history.

This passage exemplifies Rushdie’s ability to layer sensory experiences to evoke a strong sense of place while also infusing the narrative with political and metaphysical insight.

Postmodern Elements and Cultural References

Rushdie’s affinity for postmodernism is evident in his propensity for puns, playful asides, and the blending of high and low culture. His narratives are peppered with references to popular and esoteric elements, reflecting a wide-ranging scholarly erudition. Such elements are not mere embellishments but integral to his storytelling, adding depth and humor while challenging conventional narrative forms.

In The Moor's Last Sigh, the protagonist’s mother, Aurora, is an artist whose paintings are vividly described, adding another layer of reality to the narrative. These descriptions are informed by Rushdie's interactions with contemporary Indian painters, enriching the narrative with a cultural and historical commentary that parallels the main storyline.

Rushdie’s style is a fusion of narrative extravagance and hyperkinetic fiction, a celebration of the power and beauty of language. By merging the traditional with the experimental, he crafts stories that are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally resonant, inviting readers into a world where the mundane and the magical coexist seamlessly.

In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie, calling upon "zealous Muslims" to execute him. This decree permanently etched an image of Rushdie as a writer deeply entangled with the political themes in his work into the public consciousness. Although the immediate trigger for the fatwa was The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie's novels have consistently included elements that some individuals find offensive. Rushdie himself often describes himself as a "fairly political animal," noting that both Midnight's Children (1981) and Shame (1983) are fundamentally connected to politics and the relationship between individuals and history. The fatwa forced Rushdie into hiding, intensifying his focus on these issues. When he resumed writing in 1990, he reaffirmed his commitment to political engagement, stating, "If I can't write, then, in a way, the attack has been successful."

The Moor's Last Sigh, which Rushdie labored over for five years, chronicles the life of Moraes ("Moor") Zogoiby from 1957 to the mid-1990s. This story is prefaced by what J. W. Coetzee describes as "a dynastic prelude," tracing back to the birth of Moraes's great-grandfather, Francisco da Gama, in 1876. Francisco initiated the spice trade in Cochin, which propelled the family's moderate prosperity. He was a social progressive and Indian nationalist, whose ideological clashes with his traditionalist wife, Epifania Menezes—who revered "England, God, philistinism, the old ways"—set the stage for a family rift mirroring broader societal divisions. Their son, Camoens, envisioned an independent India that transcended religion, class, and caste, aspiring to be "above religion because secular, above class because socialist, above caste because enlightened." While Rushdie's historical knowledge and personal experiences in India, Pakistan, and the UK prevent him from embracing this idealistic view, his social vision, as Moraes describes his mother Aurora Da Gama's paintings, includes "a romantic myth of the plural, hybrid nation."

Moraes recounts his family's history and circumstances before his birth, and his own upbringing and eventual estrangement from them. This narrative is crafted to mirror and critique the historical trajectory of the Indian subcontinent, highlighting the challenges of realizing this romantic myth. As someone of Muslim and Jewish descent (through his father, Abraham Zogoiby) in a predominantly Hindu nation, and as an Indian citizen from a region formerly under British rule, Moraes provides the perspective of a marginalized outsider. He feels compelled to challenge and undermine the official narratives and historical accounts with his own story. Rushdie's exploration of religion, language, and the native culture of the subcontinent in The Moor's Last Sigh is rooted in his belief in the "three pillars of independent India." He identifies these as "democracy, a protectionist economy, and secularism," which he defines as no single religion having constitutional preference. In The Moor's Last Sigh, he examines his concern that his generation "grew up buying into that India, appreciating it, and feeling its air free to breathe," but over the fifty years since the state's founding in 1947, these "pillars are tottering." Through Moraes's narrative, Rushdie aims to identify and criticize the individuals and ideologies responsible for this decline, opposing totalitarian oppression with a vision of liberating artistic creativity.

Rushdie specifically sees religious tolerance under assault from what he terms "Hindufundamentalist triumphalism," part of a broader organized religious tyranny he also critiqued in The Satanic Verses. He views the values of a democratic state as threatened by politicians like Raman Fielding, a character inspired by Bal Thackeray, the Bombay leader of the Shiv Sena Party. Rushdie describes this party as aligning with the Bombay criminal underworld "against unions, against working women, in favor of sati, against poverty, and in favor of wealth." This organization has similarities to the military mob responsible for the disgraceful actions of Pakistan's government in Shame. While Rushdie acknowledges the power of these forces, his portrayal of "India" in The Moor's Last Sigh is enriched by a vibrant depiction of a place that can be psychologically invigorating and spiritually uplifting. The spirit of the homeland he has nurtured in his imagination while in exile allows him to view India with hope for a brighter, more enlightened future. As he articulated his vision:

The character in The Moor's Last Sigh who states that motherness is our greatest idea certainly voices what I believe to be true. But I envisioned a different kind of Mother India... I wanted my own kind of Mother India. This Mother India is urban, sophisticated, loud, passionate, and unique.

This idea is illustrated through the character and artwork of Moraes's mother, Aurora, who stands as a heroic symbol of defiance against oppression, known as the "outlaw bandit queen" of Bombay. The city itself, Bombay, where Rushdie spent his formative years, embodies the "metropolitan" aspect—a captivating and diverse blend of various elements he fondly remembers as the "Bombay of my joys and sorrows," and recalls with great enthusiasm:

Bombay was pivotal, right from its inception. Born from a Portuguese-English union, it remains the most Indian of Indian cities. In Bombay, all of India converged and blended. In Bombay, India met what-was-not-India ... Bombay was central; all rivers emptied into its human sea. It was an ocean of stories; we were all storytellers, and everyone spoke simultaneously.

With the release of Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie turned a new chapter in the history of Indian English literature—and indeed, in the broader scope of English literature. Many critics believe this book initiated a transformation in the "English" novel, similar to the revolutionary impact of Joyce's Ulysses. It broadened the literary landscape, making it "less insular and more international," as noted by Morace, and inspired writers from former British colonies to "write back with a vengeance." Midnight's Children introduced a theme that seems central to Rushdie's literary career—the exploration of what he describes as "an ancient civilization but it's also a new country." He refers to the entire Indian Subcontinent, encompassing Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the aim of offering readers "imaginative maps" to navigate a burgeoning nation. Scholar and poet Rukmini Bhaya Nair suggests that The Moor's Last Sigh might be "the fourth (and last?) of Rushdie's subcontinental tetralogy," which includes Midnight's Children,Shame, and The Satanic Verses. This tetralogy could also encompass his short story "The Prophet's Hair" and the children's fable Haroun and the Sea of Stories, as they are set in the same geographical area. Discussing the novel's themes, Rushdie commented, "The story is a metaphor for the conflict between the one and the many, between the pure and the impure, the sacred and the profane, and as such is a continuation by other means of the concerns of my previous books."