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Evening Standard

Entertainment

Melanie McDonagh

Victory City by Salman Rushdie review: Bravo to this funny, cynical, bewildering mix of satire and fantasy

Salman Rushdie Bravo Victory City United States

Author Salman Rushdie
(Picture: Salman Rushdie)

Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Game of Thrones; The Wizard of Oz; and one of those illuminated manuscripts from India where animal headed deities mingle with beautiful princesses, and you get an idea of Salman Rushdie’s latest: Victory City.

To that mix you can also throw in The Sleeping Beauty, because there’s the same awakening scene here (except a girl does the kissing). But what unites this bewildering mix of fantasy, Hindu myth, Sanskrit saga, actual history and satire is the voice of Salman Rushdie himself: funny, cynical and idealistic.

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