So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
Continue »
A dazzling, bleak and ornery masterpiece of historical imagining, this book makes you feel like God gazing into the hearts and minds of the Polish peasantry from about 1939-1950, mostly trying to recover from the horrors of WW II. Crammed with head-spinning set pieces, rants, and interior monologues, it takes you through the Polish resistance, petty village politics, the intricacies of farming, the wonder of bread, the drunken and sex-filled frenzy of barn dances, and even a priest's doubt about God and the afterlife. Folk wisdom mixes with superstition and inherent human suspicion, covetousness and greed. This is not a sentimental historical epic--more like Faulkner than Michener.
Magical realism, Indian style. Rushdie packs in lyricism, intrigue, deception, family history, sectarian animosities, historical sweep and pure farce. An ever-astonishing roller-coaster ride.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(33 of 60 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
Richard has commented on (2) products.
Stone Upon Stone by Wieslaw Mysliwski
Richard, January 18, 2012
A dazzling, bleak and ornery masterpiece of historical imagining, this book makes you feel like God gazing into the hearts and minds of the Polish peasantry from about 1939-1950, mostly trying to recover from the horrors of WW II. Crammed with head-spinning set pieces, rants, and interior monologues, it takes you through the Polish resistance, petty village politics, the intricacies of farming, the wonder of bread, the drunken and sex-filled frenzy of barn dances, and even a priest's doubt about God and the afterlife. Folk wisdom mixes with superstition and inherent human suspicion, covetousness and greed. This is not a sentimental historical epic--more like Faulkner than Michener.Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Richard, August 16, 2006
Magical realism, Indian style. Rushdie packs in lyricism, intrigue, deception, family history, sectarian animosities, historical sweep and pure farce. An ever-astonishing roller-coaster ride.(33 of 60 readers found this comment helpful)