The Moor's Last Sigh

The Moor's Last Sigh, a short novel by Salman Rushdie, is based in Bombay, India. It is centred around the concept of conflicting interests and their resolution (sometimes inappropriately) according to the priorities of individuals. Also colouring everything in the novel is this sense of echoing loneliness that seems to be a part of many of Rushdie's works.

About post-independence India, the book speaks about the changes occurring in Indian society. Though in the very unreal style of Rushdie, a sense of having your finger on the pulse of things prevails. At least, on a certain perception of them.

Plot details

The main characters, being descendents of Portugese settlers, happen to be members of a prolific family that belongs to a minority community. The plot speaks of their 'rise to power' and the various struggles involved in the resolution of conflicts, at both a larger, more global level and an equally compelling, domestic level. Though temporal linearity is disregarded completely, the story proceeds fairly simply, with digressions that add colour to the experience in a truly Rushdie-esque manner.