A well written but a times bizarre story full of humor and references to modern culture the Bible and other literary works. Not for the faint of heart as you have to keep your wits about you. ( )

Second reading: absolutely phenomenal. One of the best things about this book is how the author plays with language. He is writing in English, but the word play and sentence construction are unlike any english-language novel I've ever encountered before or since; it feels distinctly Indian, and it is glorious.

First reading: read this years ago in my Intro to the Novel course during my first semester of college. Can't remember what I thought of it aside from enjoying it. ( )

“I found I could remember very little about the journey. Tied down in the dark, I had evidently lost all sense of direction and of the passage of time. What was this place? Who were these people? Were they truly police officers? Was I really accused of drug trafficking and now also under the suspicion of murder? Or had I slipped accidentally from one page, one book of life, to another? In my wretched disoriented state had my reading finger perhaps slipped from my own story onto this other outlandish incomprehensible text that had been lying, by chance, just beneath? Yes. Some such slippage had plainly occurred.”

Multi-generational family saga set in India and Spain that follows a family of Cochin spice traders, the Zogoiby-Da Gama family, from around 1900 to the 1990s. The Moor of the title is Moraes Zogoiby. The Moor’s Last Sigh is also the title of a painting that plays a key role in the narrative. It is densely written in Rushdie’s usual manic style. He is an amazing wordsmith. The storylines are never straight-forward. Rushdie regularly loops back and forth (and all around), taking detours that are interesting and occasionally puzzling. The storyline contains a mix of India’s history, the separation of India and Pakistan, and folklore mixed with magical realism. I always enjoy Rushdie’s writing style. It is erudite, clever, and multi-layered. It is not always the easiest read, but well worth the effort. ( )

El forzado retiro del autor parece haberle resultado fructífero, a juzgar por la exuberancia barroca de su última novela. Narra la historia de una familia india formada por una cristiana de origen portugués y un judío de remota ascendencia sefardí, una de cuyas antepasadas quizá fue amante del último rey moro de Granada. Establecida en la colonia portuguesa de Goa, la rica tribu interracial e interconfesional de los Zogoiby da Gama se traslada a Bombay al tomar el gobierno hindú Goa en 1961.

La crónica de esta estirpe, dedicada a todo tipo de comercio, lícito e ilícito, está realizada en primera persona por su único y último descendiente varón, que escribe prisionero en una misteriosa torre de la serranía penibética, donde ha sido secuestrado por un pintor enloquecido.

El autor mezcla magia y realidad, exotismo costumbrista y realismo mágico, para hacer una síntesis de la tortuosa historia de la India y, a la vez, un resumen de la cultura europea desde el Renacimiento hasta nuestros días. Sobre el complejo entramado de razas y culturas que es la India, Rushdie elabora un tapiz narrativo voluminoso y excesivo en manifestaciones estéticas, con un lenguaje que ha sometido a durísima prueba al traductor, el excelente Miguel Sáenz.

Imaginativo y humorista, Rushdie gusta de escandalizar con posturas iconoclastas y mensajes corrosivos, donde hay mucho de superficial tras la fachada. El último suspiro del moro tiene unos cuantos aciertos técnicos indudables, pero también resulta abrumadora y fatigosa. Además, es claro que, por mucho que el autor ridiculice las creencias y la moral de los cristianos, sabe que no van a decretar contra él una fatwa o sentencia de ejecución.

Pilar de Cecilia ( )

“The Moor’s Last Sigh” is a heavy read. It is rich and lush with descriptions, tangential stories and details not related to the primary plot. Most of these extracurricular histories are fascinating, but they can be a distraction, too.

The book follows two or three generations of a wealthy family on India’s coast. Their wealth comes from the past and it slowly dwindles as succeeding generations squander their take through vanity, affairs, and bad decisions. Many events in the book are triggered by religious, caste, and ethnic strife, political and social trends that are always in the background. As the book unfolds, unexplained paranormal events also push the characters in different directions.

What I found frustrating about Rushdie’s writing here is his wordiness. I absolutely loved inventive creole that he injected into the dialogue and narrative. It was fun and provided plenty of color. However, Rushdie also insisted on showing off his vocabulary when it was not necessary.

Rushdie succeeded with some of the tangential plotlines, but many of them went nowhere. They wandered for a while and then smartly returned to the character at hand without adding to the story, characters, or setting. ( )