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ranked #242,095 most helpful
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★★☆☆☆
Avoid. A Complete Bore
To begin let me say I have long been an admirer of Salman Rushdie, and consider him the finest writer in the English language today. His new novel, an homage to Cervantes Don Quixote, is a dense maze of interwoven stories. In it an elderly Indian man called Quichotte living in the US, who spends his days immersed in watching television, falls in love with a beautiful young drug addled Indian television superstar (a younger, more svelte version of Oprah). She becomes his Dulcinea. Quichotte, along with his son Sancho will make their way across the country to woo her. Interspersed in the Quichotte story there is the story of the author of Quichotte, a third rate writer of spy novels who has decided to try his hand at another genre. Insert into the Quichotte story the story of an Indian pharmaceutical millionaire called Dr.Smile who is making big bucks off of opiods. If it all sounds like a muddle be assured it is. Even worse it is a complete bore. I had no interest in any of the characters. Multiple times I wanted to abandon this book, yet I soldiered on. But even worse it is a great slap at America as a racist cauldron of stupid, evil white people. If you are new to Rushdie please avoid this book and begin with the magnificent Midnight's Children.
