The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie

 

In this anthology, Salman Rushdie has given his readers five stories about the end of life.  In the first, 'In The South', two men live next to each other.  One is rich with a large family, the other is poor with no one.  They share a last name but are not related and have known each other for years.  Yet which is happiest?

In 'The Musician Of Kahani' a girl is born who is a musical prodigy, playing both the piano and sitar.  She makes a bad romantic choice, falling in love with an extremely wealthy athlete who lives for fun and entertainment.  As the marriage progresses, she becomes pregnant and the differing ways they see the pregnancy leads to a life-shattering event.

Another story, 'Late' tells what happens to a Cambridge don when he dies.  In 'Oklahoma' we read of a man who idolized a famous one.  As they were both immigrants, the older man took the younger under his wing for a while but then he disappeared one morning, his clothes left on the beach when he went for his morning swim.  The younger man learns the reality of the older one's life as he delves into it.

Salman Rushdie has long been my favorite author and these stories are just reminders of his genius.  Although all are focused on the later years of life, they portray old age and death as just another step in life and not something to be feared.  Readers will enjoy the stories and the message underneath.  I regard anything he writes at this point in his life to be a jewel to be appreciated and enjoyed.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.