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India Press Store - The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel
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List Price: $26.00
Our Price: $13.00
Your Save: $ 13.00 ( 50% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Random House
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780375504334
ISBN: 0375504338
Label: Random House
Manufacturer: Random House
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2008-05-27
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: 2008-05-27
Studio: Random House
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Enchantress doesn't enchant
Comment: The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel
While the lyrical language in Salman Rushdie's latest novel is erudite and beautiful, the story line is incredibly hard to follow. Character's names change, as do the plot locations. Terminology from multiple languages are included. Sentences go on for a quarter page. In short, the reader can easily get lost in a sea of beautiful language.
I read this book for my long-running book club -- a group of people who are normally very conscientious about completing the books we select. None of us finished this one because we just couldn't slog through it. Too bad, because it's pretty to read -- just incomprehensible.
Customer Rating:
Summary: India and Italy in the 16th Century
Comment: Finally a book from Salman Rushdie that I could read and enjoy! I had tried a couple of his earlier works including the 'Midnight's Children' but found them too confusing and complex.
This is a wonderful story based in 16th century India during the time of Akbar the Great, the most well known Mughal emperor. The visitor from Florence, Italy comes to the Mughal court with a secret to tell to the emperor and the story keeps the reader enthralled throughout. The contrasting lifestyles and philosophies of the western and eastern world is beautifully brought out by the author. Mr.Rushdie's in depth understanding of history, religion, culture and philosophy is obvious and his ability to mesh them all together to bring out a great book is outstanding. Every line contains so much information that I am astounded on how much research that must have gone into this book.
This one deserves many prizes!! (maybe a Nobel?)
The history of the Mughals from Babar to Akbar is brought out well and Akbar's reign is covered in detail. The construction of the city Fatehpur Sikri and its final desertion is built into the story of this book. Akbar's famous courtiers such as Birbal and Abul Fazl makes the story even more appealing to Indian readers. Since I had visited Fatehpur Sikri recently, I found the references to this city (which is well preserved even now) even more interesting.
Some pictures from Fatehpur Sikri are in my blog samsanthosh.blogspot.com
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Enchantress of Florence
Comment: I kept thinking I must be missing something. It was so hard to follow all of the differenct stories within the same book. I did't experience suspense, joy, or any of the other feelings descriped in the forward. I could not reccommend this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decameron & Arabian Tales rolled into one
Comment: Western tales with Eastern characters (Qara Köz - "Kara Göz" in Turkish spelling, "Lady Black Eyes") meet Eastern tales of Western characters (the yellow haired European traveller -- a la Marco Polo). The plot follows Silk Road, and sometimes goes as slow as a camel. The language is pretty impressive though.
If you liked Eco's The Island of the Day Before and Pamuk's My Name Is Red, you will also like this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a little hard to follow, but beautiful poetic writing
Comment: To start with, I envy anyone who can put together words in such a beautiful way. But I had a pretty hard time following the story. I really didn't care, though, because the writing was so beautiful. If you're someone who has to understand what is going on in every aspect of the story, you might be frustrated reading this. If you can get over it and just enjoy the writing and the parts you understand, then it's definitely worth it. I loved the descriptions and the fable quality of the story.
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Editorial Reviews:
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A tall, yellow-haired, young European traveler calling himself “Mogor dell’Amore,” the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the Emperor Akbar, lord of the great Mughal empire, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the imperial capital, a tale about a mysterious woman, a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery, and her impossible journey to the far-off city of Florence.
The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man’s world. It is the story of two cities, unknown to each other, at the height of their powers–the hedonistic Mughal capital, in which the brilliant Akbar the Great wrestles daily with questions of belief, desire, and the treachery of his sons, and the equally sensual city of Florence during the High Renaissance, where Niccolò Machiavelli takes a starring role as he learns, the hard way, about the true brutality of power.
Vivid, gripping, irreverent, bawdy, profoundly moving, and completely absorbing, The Enchantress of Florence is a dazzling book full of wonders by one of the world’s most important living writers.
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