The Enchantress of Florence

By
Salman Rushdie

Created
by
Book Club Classics

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Table of Contents The Enchantress of

Florence

Questions

Positive Reviews

Negative Reviews

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The Enchantress of Florence Discussion

Questions
The following questions approach the novel from a number of different
angles -- including how the novel functions as a work of art, how it addresses
fundamental questions of humanity, and how it engages the reader.
A good discussion tends to start with our heads and end with our hearts.
Therefore, you may want to save subjective opinions of taste until after you
have discussed the more objective elements of this work. It is tempting to
begin with, What did everyone think? But if a number of people really
didnt like the novel, their opinions may derail a discussion of the novels
merits.
On the other hand, I recommend starting with a few accessible questions
and asking every member to respond to ensure that all voices are present
and heard from the beginning. Just a few suggestions -- most importantly,
Enjoy!

Warm up questions:
Has anyone read Rushdies other novels? If so, how did this novel
compare?
The author has won eight literary awards to date, including the Booker
for Enchantress. Could you tell from the way this novel was written
why its author is so well-regarded?
This novel has been described as a fairy tale, historical fiction, magical
realism, fantasy, and a romance. How would you describe the nature
of this novel?
_____________________________________________________________________________
1) Check out the following cover images. Which seems most appropriate
for this novel? Which seems least appropriate (and why)?

How affected are you by the cover of a novel? What was the effect of your
particular cover image on your impressions of this novel?

2) The Enchantress of Florence begins with two epigraphs. First,

Her way of moving was no mortal thing
but of angelic form: and her speech
rang higher than a mere human voice.
A celestial spirit, a living sun
was what I saw...

Francesco Petrarca

What meaning does this quote have, now that you have finished the
novel? Why did Rushdie choose this quote as an epigraph for The
Enchantress of Florence? Who does the quote most likely describe?

Here is the second epigraph, which introduces the motifs of travel,

strangers, and story-telling in this novel:
If there is a knower of tongues here, fetch him;
Theres a stranger in the city
And he has many things to say.

Mirza Ghalib

How is this quote ironic, now that you have finished the novel?

3) The narrative begins with the following lines:

In the days last light the glowing lake below the palace-city looked
like a sea of molten gold.

Why did Rushdie choose to shape your first impression with this line?
Of what significance is the lake at the very end of the novel?

4) The importance of water is emphasized on page 8: Without water we

are nothing, the traveler thought. Water is the real monarch and we
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are all its slaves. What other significance does the image of water

have in the novel?

5) The Enchantress of Florence addresses many significant subjects:
power, politics, ego, lust, love, adoration, loyalty, gender, God, time,
and perception to name a few. Which of these topics does the novel
cover in an especially unique or compelling manner? Which is least
essential to the overall meaning of the novel? If you were asked to
describe this novel in one sentence, what would your summary focus
on?

6) The role of power is significant in this novel, and is addressed from a

number of angles from the power of a beautiful woman to the
unyielding tyranny of a despot to the desire to usurp power at all costs.
Early in chapter 1, the question is asked Is power the only
justification for an extrovert personality? In chapter 9, Dashwanths
painting of Qara Koz was described as an allegory of the evils of
power, how they pass down the chain from the greatest to the lesser.
Human beings were clutched at, and clutched at others in their turn.
If power was a cry, then human lives were lived in the echo of the
cries of others. The echo of the mighty deafened the ears of the
helpless. (123). Throughout history, why does power tend to have

such a corrupting influence? Who is the most corrupted by power

whether actual or desired in this novel?

7) Another issue explored in this novel is the power of language. At the

end of chapter 5, Akbar contemplates, Language upon a silvered
tongue affords enchantment enough and then the following chapter
opens with: When the sword of the tongue is drawnit inflicts
deeper cuts than the sharpest blade. The bulk of this novel involves
a story told by a stranger to the emperor. How did the structure of
this novel affect your enjoyment? Did you enjoy the strangers story?
Which of the three parts of the novel did you enjoy the most? Did you
enjoy the suspense of the gradual revealing of the strangers secret?

8) The role of the individual self is contemplated from the very beginning:
You are from Florence so you know of the majesty of that highest
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of sovereigns, the individual human self, and of the cravings it seeks

to assuage, for beauty, for value and for love. Akbar struggles

with the concept of self throughout the novel and tries to discard the
royal we at one point, secretly calling himself I. However, he
realizes that even reason was a mortal divinity, a god that died, and
even if it was subsequently reborn it inevitably died again. Ideas
were like the tides of the sea or the phases of the moon; they came
into being, rose, and grew in their proper time, and then ebbed,
darkened, and vanished when the great wheel turned. How is
Akbars ambivalence indicative of the time period of this novel?

9) This contemplation of the self is contrasted with questioning the nature

of religion and God. Akbar muses: Was faith not faith but simple
family habit? Maybe there was no true religion but only this eternal
handing down. And error could be handed down as easily as virtue.
Was faith no more than an error of our ancestors? Maybe there was
no true religion (If man had created god then man could uncreate
him too. Or was it possible for a creation to escape the power of the
creator? Could a god, once created, become impossible to
destroy?) (81). Then, much later: IF there had never been a God
it might have been easier to work out what goodness wasWherever
goodness lay, it did not lie in ritual, unthinking obeisance before a
deity but rather, perhaps, in the slow clumsy, error-strewn working
out of an individual or collective path. (310) How did you react to

Akbars questioning of his faith?

10)

In an interview with James Mustich, Rushdie states:

In the book there is the constant question of how we come to mean

something. So there are two kinds of characters in the book. First,
there are characters who think that your life acquires meaning as
the consequence of a journey -- that you go somewhere, do
something, conquer something or realize some achievement. Thats
how you become somebody: by leaving home, traveling. The
Mughals came from what is now Kyrgyzstan to India and established
an empire, and thats what they meant.
On the other hand, there are characters in the book who think thats
kind of absurd. They think, "Why would you leave home?" -- because
for them, home is the place where you mean something

I wanted the book to contain, if you like, this kind of dialogue about
how human beings believe themselves to mean something, the idea
that there are these two different ways that we think that we can
achieve significance as human beings -- the journey and the antijourney, staying put.

So, how would YOU answer the question of how we come to mean
something? Which resonates stronger for you: the journey or the
anti-journey?

11)
This novel ends with a 5 page bibliography, and the author
admits that even this list may not be complete. Did you have enough
historical background to appreciate the references in this novel? If not,
did this affect your enjoyment of the novel as a whole?

12)
Ursula Guin addresses the role of the women in the novel in her
review for the The Guardian:
"This brilliant, fascinating, generous novel swarms with gorgeous young
women both historical and imagined, beautiful queens and irresistible
enchantresses, along with some whores and a few quarrelsome old wives -all stock figures, females perceived solely in relation to the male. Women are
never treated unkindly by the author, but they have no autonomous being.
(...) But in the end, of course, it is the hand of the master artist, past all
explanation, that gives this book its glamour and power, its humour and
shock, its verve, its glory. It is a wonderful tale, full of follies and
enchantments. East meets west with a clash of cymbals and a burst of
fireworks." - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Guardian

Do you agree that the female characters are all stock figures, females
perceived solely in relation to the male? If so, did this affect your
enjoyment of the novel?
13)
What was your reaction to the ending? Do you agree that
Akbars treatment of the stranger was to blame for the future demise
of his empire?
14)
Is the title of this novel appropriate? What are the implications of
the word Enchantress?

15)
This novel has been quite popular with book clubs and has
already won a Booker award. What seems to draw both critics and
mainstream readers to it?

Wrap up Questions!
1.
2.
3.
4.

Would you recommend the book to others? (Why/not)

If you could change anything, what would it be?
Would you read a sequel of this novel?
Should this novel be considered one of the best novels
written in 2008?

The Enchantress of Florence Positive

Reviews
"Such an undermining attitude could be tiresome, but what Rushdie achieves so
marvellously is to ensure that the evocation of the ephemeral retains the force of
the tangible; this is the "magical task of metamorphosis" that he believes to be
central to the act of writing. (...) The prose is fast, simple and prioritises facility over
felicity. (...) The Enchantress of Florence is, in the best sense of the word, childish
fiction for adults: a welcome splash of bright colour; Rushdie, a virtuoso in posterpaint." - Stephen Abell, The Telegraph
Link to full review:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/fictionreviews/3672165/Acolourful-performance-from-Salman-Rushdie.html

"There are other powerful enchantments in this novel. Renaissance Florence and
Mogul India are brought noisily, nastily and splendidly back to life. Rushdie has
irreverent fun with figures such as Botticelli, his muse for the Primavera, and
Machiavelli, who feature in the back story. The two cultures create an opportunity
for exhilarating switches of perspective. (...) This book is unusually concupiscent,
even for Rushdie. Overexcited, perhaps, by the Kama Sutra, which he cites as a
source, Rushdie goes to town with scenes of harem life and brothels. This novel is as
much a celebration of sex, of every kind and degree of expertise, as it is of the
potency of tale-telling." - Stella Clarke, The Australian

Link to full review:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,234289495003900,00.html

"Rushdies latest work is convincing and funny, less manic in its prose than earlier
novels but still ambitiously written, and with a seriousness beneath its silliness. As
with most fairy-tales, it keeps very little of the main plot hidden, but if we can
generally see where we are heading when we read it, the view here, at least, is a
beautiful one." - Simon Baker, The Spectator

Link to full review:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/598861/the-magic-lingerson.thtml

The Enchantress of Florence Negative

Reviews
"The best thing about Salman Rushdie's tiresome and confusing new novel The
Enchantress of Florence is its lovely gold and orange cover. At the bookstore,
admire the cover, then move on. (...) Set in both Asia and Italy, the book is neither
historical fiction nor effective fantasy. Instead, it's an ornately written drone-fest
designed to show off Rushdie's undeniable stylistic brilliance." - Deirdre Donahue, USA
Today

Link to full review:

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http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2008-06-04-rushdieenchantress-of-florence_N.htm

"The Enchantress of Florence is a bravura entertainment, but one which is finally

disappointing. In its attempt to encompass everything, it develops very little.
Clichs are what they are because we come back to them without end, and it is -perhaps -- brave and beautiful to immolate ones legendary lovers. But it amounts
to not much more than itself, to evocations of feelings one can conjure up again in
time for the next nights performance." - Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement
Link to full review:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/
article3668259.ece

"(B)y a long chalk, the worst thing he has ever written. (...) (F)antasy deserves
better than to be used as a safe-conduct pass for melodramatic clich, arbitraryseeming lurches of event, and reams of penny-dreadful prose. There are lines that
churners-out of blood-and-thunder grand guignol would blush to acknowledge (.....)
Only rarely does Rushdie find scope for the quick, cartoonish vividnesses of
description that are his forte. When he does, the novel's flaccid artificiality instantly
flickers into life."
- Peter Kemp, Sunday Times
Link to full review:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/a
rticle3627640.ece

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