By Heidi Simmons
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“Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights”
by Salman Rushdie
Fiction
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This world seems to be on the brink of chaos. Perhaps for all generations it appears that way. As human beings, how have we come to be so intense, so religious, so hostile? Is there a way to understand the mystery of the universe and our human behavior? In Salman Rushdie’s Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (Random House, 304 pages) a mythology of colliding worlds sheds light on our human nature.
Set in our recognizable world, a terrible storm hits New York devastating the city and disrupting lives. It has also ripped a whole in the fabric of the universe allowing the Jinn to slip into the human world. But these Jinn, more commonly thought of as “genies” who are trapped in bottles, are no longer bound.
Since the storm, Geronimo Menezes, a gardener, no longer touches the ground. He floats just inches above the earth. His neighbors now fear him.
Jimmy Kapoor loves comic books and video games. He lives in the Bronx with his mother who only wants him to settle down with a nice girl. Then a wormhole cracks the wall in his bedroom and he becomes a “real-life” superhero.
Mayor Rosa Fast discovers an abandoned baby who can identify frauds. Together they clean up city hall.
What do these simple people have in common beside strange powers? Small earlobes. They are the descendants of the ancient Jinnia Princess Dunia. A Jinn.
The Jinn are shape-shifting, timeless creatures who make love often — although love itself is rare — are quick to anger, are resentful, vindictive, possessive and believe women are for men’s use. They live in the moment and are not good at making plans.
Millennia before the story takes place, Dunia, taking the shape of a 16-year-old girl, falls in love with a mortal, the great philosopher Ibn Rushd. Together they had over 20 children.
Brokenhearted after his death, Dunia slips through the tear into the human world. She falls in love with Geronimo knowing he is her great grandson – too many greats to count – and a reincarnation of her once beloved Rushd.
Meanwhile, other Jinn have found their way into the world and are set on colonizing the earth and enslaving its people. The most powerful of Jinn, Zumurrud, Zabardast, Ra’im Blood-Drinker and Shining Ruby wreak havoc on New York’s landmarks and people.
After the death of Dunia’s Jinn father, she becomes the Queen of Qaf. She seeks vengeance on the four evil Jinn known as the Grand Ifrits. Her desire is to restore civility to the earth and it inhabitants. It becomes the War of the Worlds.
Dunia and her Dunizát fight the evil that is set on destroying mankind. Geronimo, Jimmy, Mayor Rosa and others also use their powers to help fight the evil Jinn. It is a messy battle of monsters and trickery, but with the help of her half-mortal relatives, Dunia gains control and re-bottles the worst of the Jinn thus saving the human race. From the start of the storm, to the final conflict, it takes exactly two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights.
This novel is beautiful and meaningful magical realism. Author Rushdie uses existing mythology, ancient history, known religions, global events and real places to weave a tale of human turmoil. Using the 1,001 Arabian Nights as an inspiration, Rushdie explores a world that is filled with old belief systems. It is a world that has lost its ability to reason.
Underneath the whimsical characters, the poetic sentences and layered plot, is an intense philosophical debate about belief.
Told to the reader by unknown chroniclers, they are not judging behavior or reprimanding. Just stating the events and how the two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights unfolded in the world.
Giving the story credibility, the chroniclers make references and include the origins of the old and new gods and the ancient and modern individuals who shaped the world. They debate the legitimacy of what I call the “god wars.” The Chroniclers acknowledge that after a millennia the story has degenerated. Furthermore, it is possible that the story of the War of the Worlds has become mere legend, rank speculation or pure fiction.
But the Chroniclers’ summarize the story as “a plea for a world ruled by reason, tolerance, magnanimity, knowledge and restraint.” In Rushdie’s novel the Jinn are defeated. Greed and fear cease to drive humans to a vengeful God. Humans are finally “able to set God aside, as boys and girls put down their childhood toys or as young men and women leave their parents home to make new homes for themselves.” Reason rules and the earth is beautiful again and humans live in peace.
Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is so dense and idea-filled that at times it’s hard to absorb. It can feel overwhelming. But, once I set aside the allegories, metaphors and symbolism — if indeed there are any — and just surrendered to Rushdie’s prose, wit and charm, I was smitten. I was moved by his passion, knowledge and love for the people of this world.
