October 4, 2015
I've gotten very behind on my reading lately. I could blame this on a number of factors. I've just had a hard time getting back on track. This book wasn't super long, but it took a while to get through. I did enjoy it, I just wasn't making the time to read.
Like Rushdie's most celebrated book, this story mixes historical fact with magic and whimsy. This story mostly takes place 400-500 years ago, when the world was changing and growing. It takes place in Muslim-ruled India and the Middle East, Italy (of course), and to a much lesser extent, the "New World." A blonde young man arrives at the Indian emperor's palace with a strange tale to tell.
Although this young stranger with many names is shown to be a scoundrel at the beginning of the text, his story has enough proven truth to earn the mighty emperor's trust. The emperor is a rather imaginative man himself; he has many wives and slaves in his harem, but he most lusts after a woman he made up in his own mind. So it's no surprise that he, along with all his people, are sucked into this man's kinda-true story.
To be honest, I wasn't so much drawn into the story of Qara Köz as I was to the historical details and overall imagery of the story. I was more interested in the Mirror, the princess's doppelgänger slave and constant companion. She is described and shown as an echo of her even more beautiful mistress. I felt very sad for her, to have no life or personality outside of being this other woman's shadow. When Qara Köz is given the Western name Angelica, the Mirror is called by the same. She's not the only example of the oppression of women in this work. Slave girls are literally game pieces on chess-type boards in the emperor's court. And of course, the entire concept of the harem. The desires and dreams of all of these women mean nothing.
Meanwhile, the whimsical emperor is a person prone to deep philosophical thinking. He is having an existential crisis, and he feels that his efforts to find meaning are fruitless. The young visitor, who may or may not be his own blood relation, gives him some hope. But his story only pushes the emperor deeper and deeper into his own mind. He's certainly no better off for having heard Qara Köz's tale.
I'm not clear on the message of the book, which bothers me a little. Still, I enjoyed it, and the setting was very interesting, misogynistic though it may have been. In the story, women are the ones with powers. Still, it isn't enough to give them status over men, or in Qara Köz's case, to bring her happiness.
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