Who Would Like This Book:
Quichotte is a madcap, multilayered love letter to storytelling itself. Salman Rushdie wraps sharp social satire, surreal humor, and heartfelt family drama into a road trip inspired by Don Quixote, but rooted in the chaos of modern America. The book is packed with pop culture, literary nods, and wild imagination - think talking crickets, reality-bending quests, and poignant looks at opioid addiction, racism, and our obsession with screens. If you love clever meta-fiction, enjoy novels that blend fantasy with reality and offer commentary on our times, or are a Rushdie fan eager for a wild ride, this one’s for you.
Who May Not Like This Book:
This book is definitely not for everyone. Some readers may find the story overly complicated, verbose, or self-indulgent - especially if you aren't into stories within stories, metafiction, and lots of literary allusions. If you prefer straightforward plots or get annoyed by novels that revel in weirdness and ambiguity, or if Rushdie’s signature wordiness has rubbed you the wrong way before, you might find yourself frustrated. Some also thought that certain themes were handled a bit heavy-handedly, the satire a touch too on-the-nose, or the characters not emotionally engaging enough.
About:
'Quichotte' by Salman Rushdie is a complex and ambitious novel that delves into themes of impossible love, family relationships, racism, and the intertwining of reality and fantasy. The story follows a character named Quichotte Quixote and his imaginary son Sancho on a quest to woo a movie star, all while exploring issues such as immigration, drug addiction, forgiveness, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction. Rushdie's writing style is described as thought-provoking, challenging, and rewarding, blending satire, humor, and poignant moments seamlessly.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for Quichotte may include themes of racism, immigration struggles, substance abuse, mental health issues, and elements of existential despair.
Has Romance?
There is a high level of romantic involvement as the protagonist Quichotte embarks on a quest to profess his love to the object of his desire.
From The Publisher:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An epic Don Quixote for the modern age, "a brilliant, funny, world-encompassing wonder" (Time) from internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
"Lovely, unsentimental, heart-affirming . . . a remembrance of what holds our human lives in some equilibrium-a way of feeling and a way of telling. Love and language."-Jeanette Winterson, The New York Times Book Review
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND NPR
Inspired by the Cervantes classic, Sam DuChamp, mediocre writer of spy thrillers, creates Quichotte, a courtly, addled salesman obsessed with television who falls in impossible love with a TV star. Together with his (imaginary) son Sancho, Quichotte sets off on a picaresque quest across America to prove worthy of her hand, gallantly braving the tragicomic perils of an age where "Anything-Can-Happen." Meanwhile, his creator, in a midlife crisis, has equally urgent challenges of his own.
Just as Cervantes wrote Don Quixote to satirize the culture of his time, Rushdie takes the reader on a wild ride through a country on the verge of moral and spiritual collapse. And with the kind of storytelling magic that is the hallmark of Rushdie's work, the fully realized lives of DuChamp and Quichotte intertwine in a profoundly human quest for love and a wickedly entertaining portrait of an age in which fact is so often indiscernible from fiction.
Praise for Quichotte
"Brilliant . . . a perfect fit for a moment of transcontinental derangement."-Financial Times
"Quichotte is one of the cleverest, most enjoyable metafictional capers this side of postmodernism. . . . The narration is fleet of foot, always one step ahead of the reader-somewhere between a pinball machine and a three-dimensional game of snakes and ladders. . . . This novel can fly, it can float, it's anecdotal, effervescent, charming, and a jolly good story to boot."-The Sunday Times
"Quichotte [is] an updating of Cervantes's story that proves to be an equally complicated literary encounter, jumbling together a chivalric quest, a satire on Trump's America and a whole lot of postmodern playfulness in a novel that is as sharp as a flick-knife and as clever as a barrel of monkeys. . . . This is a novel that feeds the heart while it fills the mind."-The Times (UK)
Ratings (9)
Incredible (3) | |
Loved It (5) | |
Liked It (1) |
Reader Stats (25):
Read It (9) | |
Want To Read (9) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (5) |
1 comment(s)
This was yet another reread, wanted to see if my enjoyment of this had changed since a year ago when I read it. But no, still love the story. It's a very entertaining read with a lot of happenings and sometimes funny characters. It's as odd as the original work but with its own charm. Really recommend this book
What can you read after
Quichotte?
About the Author:
Salman Rushdie is the author of fourteen novels-including Luka and the Fire of Life; Grimus; Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker); Shame; The Satanic Verses; Haroun and the Sea of Stories; The Moor's Last Sigh; The Ground Beneath…
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