"This is the story of Maximilian Ophuls, America’s counterterrorism chief, one of the makers of the modern world; his Kashmiri Muslim driver and subsequent killer, a mysterious figure who calls himself Shalimar the clown; Max’s illegitimate daughter India; and a woman who links them, whose revelation finally explains them all. It is an epic narrative that moves from California to Kashmir, France, and England, and back to California again. Along the way there are tales of princesses lured from their homes by demons, legends of kings forced to defend their kingdoms against evil. And there is always love, gained and lost, uncommonly beautiful and mortally dangerous."
"Normality, that's the myth. Human beings aren't normal. We're an odd lot, that's the honest truth: off-kilter, rum. But we get by.""...she remembered her father's lesson about Haput the black bear, Suh the leopard, Shal the jackal and Potsolov the fox. These creatures were dangereous and maybe they were closing in on her to kill her but they could not be blamed because they were true to their natures. Only Man wears masks. Only Man is a disappointment to himself. Only by ceasing to need the things of the world and relieving oneself of the needs of the body and son on.""... our human tragedy is that we are unable to comprehend our experience, it slips through our fingers, we can't hold on to it, and more time passes, the harder it gets. Maybe too much time has passed for you and you will have to accept, I'm sorry to say it, that there are things about your experience you will never understand."
Já passou bastante tempo desde que li o último livro de Rushdie. E há muito muito tempo que não lia um livro em inglês.Portanto, este foi dose dupla de dificuldade. Mas nunca me passou pela cabeça desistir e apesar da lentidão, gostei muito de aprender sobre Kashmir, sobre os Indianos, sobre Hindus e Muçulmanos e sobretudo sobre aspectos mais negros da alma humana. Muito boa leitura!
