海角大神

Salman Rushdie鈥檚 鈥淨uichotte鈥� is a behemoth of a novel, and with reason. A postmodern dystopian tale, it tackles everything from global warming to the rise of white supremacism to the opioid crisis 鈥� which is to say, most of the ills of contemporary society. All this is gathered within a double-frame of a novel within a novel, authored by a crime writer referred to only as 鈥淏rother.鈥� The premise is that Brother is composing an updated version of 鈥淒on Quixote,鈥� the tale of the famously deluded nobleman of La Mancha, who anoints himself a knight-errant and rides across the country in search of adventure.聽 聽

Though 鈥淨uichotte鈥� can be enjoyed on its own merits, to understand what Rushdie is up to it helps to have some familiarity with Miguel de Cervantes鈥� original text. Episodic in structure and peppered with references to its author himself, 鈥淒on Quixote鈥� was published in 1605 and is considered one of the first modern novels. When Alonso Quixano searches for brave deeds to perform as 鈥淨uixote鈥� in the name of a country girl he rechristens 鈥淒ulcinea,鈥� it鈥檚 because he has read too many chivalric romances 鈥� a commentary on how the over-saturation of fiction (or at least, fiction with idealized plots) can warp our perception of the world. It鈥檚 a theme that has resonated increasingly over time. A century after 鈥淒on Quixote鈥� took Europe by storm, the Scottish novelist and poet Charlotte Lennox penned 鈥淭he Female Quixote,鈥� warning of young ladies rejecting sensible marriage proposals under the sway of romance novels. And in our own times, the comedy series 鈥淐razy Ex-Girlfriend鈥� models its heroine after Quixote 鈥� the anthem 鈥淲est Covina鈥� is an homage to 鈥淒ulcinea鈥� from the musical 鈥淢an of La Mancha.鈥� That musical is also threaded through the latest season of the series 鈥淕race and Frankie,鈥� as a commentary on how age is shunted aside in favor of youth. There鈥檚 also Terry Gilliam鈥檚 2018 film 鈥淭he Man Who Killed Don Quixote鈥� and the list goes on. In other words, everyone has their own Quixote.

In Rushdie鈥檚 version, Quichotte (pronounced key-shot) is an avid and indiscriminate consumer of daytime TV. His Dulcinea is the celebrity television host Miss Salma R, who, in this fictional universe, is second only to Oprah. Quichotte鈥檚 sidekick, Sancho, is a son born of his desire and imagination, in episodes that deliberately cannibalize Pinocchio 鈥� Rushdie is a romantic himself when it comes to fathers and sons. Quichotte鈥檚 delusions, and Sancho鈥檚 uncertain participation in them, create an opening to introduce surrealist elements that are so often a part of Rushdie鈥檚 repertoire. Marcel Duchamp is playfully alluded to, as is Eug猫ne Ionesco鈥檚 absurdist play 鈥淩hinoceros鈥� with its insightfully bizarre take on the contagion of fascism.聽

Quichotte is also an emblem for America; in other words, an idealist. This analogy gives the novel teeth, showing Quixote not as a harmless romantic dreamer, but as Cervantes wrote him, a man who through his delusions sows chaos that culminates in violence, ironically harming those he would help.

Quichotte isn鈥檛 the only violent force at work. Still more threatening is his cousin and former employer, the wonderfully drawn Dr. R.K. Smile, a pharmaceutical head who orchestrated the opioid addiction crisis in a striking parallel to what鈥檚 been exposed about Purdue Pharma, the maker of the powerful opioid, OxyContin, in such skin-crawling, horrifying detail (points to Rushdie for prescience). Rushdie is at his best in writing of Smile and the cadre of salesmen and physicians who, out of unbridled greed and corruption, make their trade in abuse and addiction.

Odd to say, though, 鈥淨uichotte,鈥� despite how well it captured the opioid crisis, felt at times a bit 鈥� well, dated. I couldn鈥檛 help but think, hasn鈥檛 social media supplanted daytime TV as smartphones have overtaken televisions? Or, if TV is the drug of choice, isn鈥檛 binging by streaming more addictive and of the moment? Even stylistically, Rushdie鈥檚 writing can seem to me a bit tired (鈥淨uichotte鈥� was shortlisted for England鈥檚 coveted Booker Prize for Fiction, so my opinion appears to be in the minority). But the conflation of a fictional author and character, which hints at the slipperiness of the relationship between the real author and the characters he invents 鈥� wasn鈥檛 this postmodern territory sufficiently mined in the 1980s?聽

That said, there鈥檚 much that feels absorbing and true in Rushdie鈥檚 latest work, including a portrait of a civil rights lawyer who is sucker-punched by a social media mob. Although she plays a supporting role, she was the character in whom I felt most invested. The way Rushdie handles racial animus, too, is as incisive and complex as in his earlier fiction, where in one case, police brutality transforms a man into a literal ass. In 鈥淨uichotte,鈥� the question is how whites鈥� suspicion and antipathy towards anyone with brown skin might provoke an uncoupling from the world by a man like Quichotte. As is too often the case, what鈥檚 most disturbing is the way the craziness and violence of the actual world today can threaten to outpace even fiction like Rushdie鈥檚.

Elizabeth Toohey is assistant professor of English at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York.