HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Two years, eight months and twenty-eight…
Loading...

Two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights a novel (edition 2015)

by Salman Rushdie

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,3186814,236 (3.49)55
"From Salman Rushdie, one of the great writers of our time, comes a spellbinding novel that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story. A lush modern fairytale in which our world has been plunged into an age of unreason, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a breathtaking achievement and an enduring testament to the power of storytelling"-- "Once upon a time, in a world just like ours, there came "the time of the strangenesses." Reason receded and the loudest, most illiberal voices reigned. A simple gardener began to levitate, and a powerful djinn -- also known as the Princess of Fairyland -- raised an army composed entirely of her semi-magical great-great-great-grandchildren. A baby was born with the ability to see corruption in the faces of others. The ghosts of two philosophers, long dead, began arguing once more. And a battle for the kingdom of Fairyland was waged throughout our world for 1,001 nights -- or, to be more precise, for two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a masterful, playfully enchanting meditation on the power of love and the importance of rationality, replete with flying carpets and dynastic intrigue"--… (more)
Member:uru
Title:Two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights a novel
Authors:Salman Rushdie
Info:New York, NY Random House c 2015
Collections:Matt's books, Your library
Rating:
Tags:fiction, English literature, signed

Work Information

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights: A Novel by Salman Rushdie

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 55 mentions

English (67)  German (1)  All languages (68)
Showing 1-5 of 67 (next | show all)
This book is a bit of a genre-bender, a modern take on fantasy that edges into science fiction despite being about Fairyland and jinnis that turn up in our world in a sort of proxy war during a power struggle that results in a regime change in Fairyland. Blended into this story are various theosophical concepts about the nature and existence of gods, the nature and existence of good and evil, and the role of mankind in the universe. But these philosophical threads are just tangents to the primary tale, which is fantasy, essentially, a story told by people far in our future, about a time still in our future but much closer to us. And, since Rushdie didn't state a particular date for these events, his book won't suffer the obsolescence that so many near-future stories do once the date they focus on is over and no jinnis, or bizarre supernatural activity, or great wars have turned up.
I've read a few Rushdie books so far, after avoiding his writing for years fearing it would be just about political current events in Israel or the Middle East. But, so far the books I've read have all just been rather creative fantasy or magical realism, with more characters from Southwest Asia and North Africa, but not particularly about any heavy sociopolitical situations in our real world. I definitely recommend his books, so far, for fantasy and sci-fi readers looking for new stories in these genres. ( )
  JBarringer | Dec 15, 2023 |
My friend recommended this book to me by saying it was too weird and fantasy-like for her. A blend of fantasy and literature, and based on the blurb perhaps some magical realism too? Sounded perfect to me!

It started out promising, with jinns and jinnias and clever wordplay - and then it stayed just that. Clever, and witty, with sentences that run for paragraphs, referencing older stories, and history, describing famous people without using their name, that kind of stuff. Usually I sort of like that, finding these little easter eggs makes me feel smart, but in this case it was just too much. It was almost desperately self-conscious, trying to be intelligent and interesting.

The story itself was.. ok. Not great, not terrible. It sort of drowned in all the wittiness, and in the second half it also started drowning in the rants against faith, and believers, and religion. It wasn't offensive, just.. well, boring, to be honest.

We get the point - fear is used to drive people to religion, religion is used to oppress the masses, but the manipulating masterminds don't realise that this strategy will eventually lead to those masses turning away from faith. Also, in the purely hypothetical case that there actually is a god, he/she/it would want us, their children, to grow up and become independent. Fine, get on with the story instead of making these points over and over again.

Wouldn't recommend, won't read again. ( )
  Yggie | Oct 12, 2023 |
The usual delightful richness from Rushdie. His books always make me think of the little threads that connect us to one another - reminding me of the size of the world.

It was both a terrifying and hopeful book to read in the age of Trump - though it was obviously written before this year it resonates well.

Except in this case we have 1,404 days to go. Three years, 10 months and three days by my reckoning. Watch for flying urns until then... ( )
  toddtyrtle | Dec 28, 2022 |
I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastical work. The flowing language and the amusing side stories kept me entertained throughout. I will have to read it again to actually get the philosophical thoughts behind the story, though. ( )
  aravind_aar | Nov 21, 2021 |
I am giving up on you as I can see that it will take me at least 1001 days to get it done. It has tired me. I get that this is magical realism, but it got boring. Life is too short.
  RosanaDR | Apr 15, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 67 (next | show all)
What's frustrating is to see glimpses of Rushdie's very real talent. Lines stand out, a wife who "slipped out of history" when her husband abandoned her, "he took it with him when he left," an "old town of salmon minarets and enigmatic walls," a "heart filled with something that might have been happiness, but poured out of his eyes as grief." But this is his second extremely bad book in a row — consult Zoë Heller's incineration of his memoir "Joseph Anton," for further detail — and it's beginning to seem as if that talent may be in permanent arrest.
added by ozzer | editChicago Tribune, Charles Finch (Sep 2, 2015)
 

» Add other authors (17 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Salman Rushdieprimary authorall editionscalculated
Flabbi, LorenzoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pera, MartaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
El sueno de la razon produce monstruos. The sleep of reason brings forth monsters. (Los Caprichos no. 43, by Francisco de Goya; the full caption in the Prado etching reads: "Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: united with her, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of their marvels.")
Dedication
First words
Very little is known, though much has been written, about the true nature of the jinn, the creatures made of smokeless fire.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"From Salman Rushdie, one of the great writers of our time, comes a spellbinding novel that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story. A lush modern fairytale in which our world has been plunged into an age of unreason, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a breathtaking achievement and an enduring testament to the power of storytelling"-- "Once upon a time, in a world just like ours, there came "the time of the strangenesses." Reason receded and the loudest, most illiberal voices reigned. A simple gardener began to levitate, and a powerful djinn -- also known as the Princess of Fairyland -- raised an army composed entirely of her semi-magical great-great-great-grandchildren. A baby was born with the ability to see corruption in the faces of others. The ghosts of two philosophers, long dead, began arguing once more. And a battle for the kingdom of Fairyland was waged throughout our world for 1,001 nights -- or, to be more precise, for two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a masterful, playfully enchanting meditation on the power of love and the importance of rationality, replete with flying carpets and dynastic intrigue"--

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary
Dschinn kämpft gegen Dschinn
Chaos in unserer Welt
so wurde erzählt
(hatorikibble)

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

Salman Rushdie's book Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.49)
0.5
1 6
1.5 1
2 21
2.5 8
3 60
3.5 20
4 74
4.5 6
5 28

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 202,660,297 books! | Top bar: Always visible