“Quichotte is Don Quixote for our time, a smart satire of every aspect of the contemporary culture. Witty, profound, tender, this love story shows a fiction master at his brilliant best.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
This reimagining of the Cervantes classic Don Quixote takes place in our current era. It is a novel within a novel.
Sam DuChamp is a struggling down on his luck author who has created a character named Quichotte in his new novel.
Quichotte has a quest to go on, the meeting and loving of Selma R., a former movie star in India and currently a very successful daytime talk show host. For companionship on his trip, Quichotte has imagined a son for himself named Sancho.
His trip through America is full of satirical insight into our countries current problems with a little touch of fantasy thrown in, just for taste. Many obstacles will be thrown in the duo’s path, some of them due to DuChamps making this story quite biographical at times. The characters themselves are sometimes puzzled as to how this whole situation has developed, but Rushdie never loses sight of the ultimate quest, to find the love that Quichotte craves.
This is my first time I have read a book written by Rushdie and his writing prowess can’t be denied. While some knowledge of the original Cervantes book would be helpful, I wouldn’t say it was a requirement. Rushdie’s satirical look at everything is quite enjoyable and the book moves along at a decent pace. I would recommend this to anyone who would like to take a leap into the world created by Rushdie. It’s an interesting place to go.
Reviewed by:
Richard Franco
Added 18th October 2019
