Two Years Eight Months & Twenty-Eight Nights, book review. (Salman Rushdie)

Okay, so where does one start with a book like this?

I know, a quote from the cover: '...it is unlike not only anything you may have read by Rushdie but by anyone anywhere'. Which sums up, Two Years Eight Months & Twenty-Eight Nights, completely, so thanks for reading, see you next time . . .

No, not really, but I can't really say it much better.

I have read hundreds of books in my time and this one really is, unlike anything I have ever read before, and for that alone it is brilliant. It is also very strange, disconcerting, horrific, comical and leaves you feeling somewhat confused, but I suppose if you read a book about jinn, fae, demons and alternate worlds, where a century on Earth is but a few weeks in Peristan, (where the jinn live and spend most of their lives having sex but rarely producing offspring) you might expect it to be all of the above and more, and this book is.

It is not an easy read, and with many strange and unusual names throughout (which, if you follow my blog, you will know annoys the hell out of me sometimes) a sense of flow is hard to achieve, but the juxtaposition of worlds and how the individuals within them interact is fascinating and pushes you through.

Starting hundreds of years ago, when Dunia falls in love with and produces many children with the mortal, Ibn Rushd, before slipping back through the slits between our worlds, the majority of the story happens in the here and now, where the slits have reopened and the jinn are causing trouble.

Two Years Eight Months & Twenty-Eight Nights is a story about the few, the powerful, controlling the masses and seeking to divide, create panic, sow fear amongst the less fortunate, feeding off of their desperation for power and wealth, and it feels so relevant for today's society, and although this book has many aspects of fantasy and of mythical culture woven within it, it is still firmly rooted in the present day and is very thought-provoking.

I can best describe the writing style as juddering, as it hopes back and forth from characters that are simple and easy to understand, to others (the jinn mainly) who flitter back and forth between worlds, and are harder to grasp, but for me, and in this instance, having to close the door and isolate myself so I could get fully immersed in the story, was when I realised that it not making sense, seemed to suddenly make sense! Go figure.

So, four stars for this one then but go in with your eyes open as it will require your full attention.