Deborah van der LindeI have to admit, I am really quite excited for the September release of Salman Rushdie’s new book, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights – which, if you add it all up, equals 1001 nights. I suppose now would be a good time to admit that I have a weakness for anything involving myth, legends, folklore and fairytales, so it’s probably no surprise that the title of this book caught my eye.
The novel is set 1000 years in the future where people are fighting to save their world, and are looking back over the centuries at what caused so many strange incidences. Rushdie’s website describes the book as “Inspired by 2,000 years of storytelling tradition yet rooted in the concerns of our present moment, it is a breathtaking achievement and an enduring testament to the power of the imagination.” With fantastical stories, and a princess djinn who loves the human race, I can’t see how this book could be anything else but enjoyable.
Salmon Rushdie is best known for his book, The Satanic Verses, released in 1988, on account of the controversy it caused – and the ensuing calls for his death. However, he has also written 1o other books, which have won numerous awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, Writers’ Guild Award, and the James Tait Black Prize, just to name a few. He is also a fellow of the British Royal Society of Literature.
