a must read - Rated 
Years ago (more than I'd like to think about), one of my tutors recommended that I read Salman Rushdie's "Haroun and the Sea of Stories." I tried to finish the novel but have to confess that I didn't. I probably lacked the sophistication back then to appreciate the exquisite prose style and painstaking craftsmanship that went into creating that award winning novel. And truthfully speaking I rather thought that Salman Rushdie was going to be one of the many winning authours that would never make to my reading pile. But something about "The Enchantress of Florence" beckoned, and I decided to give it a go. And I'm truly glad that I did. What an exceptionally enthralling and compelling read "The Enchantress of Florence" turned out to be.
The Mughal Emperor, Akbar, is ready for a diversion away from the woes of family and ruling a vast nation, when a mysterious yellow-haired stranger arrives at his court in Fatepur Sikri, claiming to be an ambassador from England. The stranger has many tales to tell about the distant European city of Florence, and the enchantress from the East that enraptured the people of Florence with her beauty and grace, and soon everyone in Sikri is enthralled by the young storyteller's tales. But will these stories prove the undoing of the court, and will Akbar's growing affection for the storyteller cause even more strife amongst his family?
When I was a child, my mother used to subscribe to an Indian magazine for women that had recipes, articles, sewing tips and vignettes about Akbar and his wise advisor Birbal. Reading "The Enchantress of Florence" transported me back to those wonderful carefree days. Constructed somewhat like "The Arabian Nights," with the mysterious stranger playing the part of Scherazade, "The Enchantress of Florence" is a series of short stories that follows the supposed adventures of Qara Koz, a grandaunt of Akbar's, and that of her greatest love, the mercenary general, Argalia. Many of the stories are based on some historical fact, but are told with elements of the fantastical, so that the mood and atmosphere of the novel is really quite fairy-tale like and dazzling. Also adding to this magical tone is Rushdie's powerfully lyrical and vivid prose style and brilliantly rendered scenes. All in all, this was a very, very fascinating and beguiling read that enraptures, dazzles and seduces. Not a book to be missed -- and I think I may be finally grown-up enough to appreciate the authour's other novels
350 pages of bewilderment - Rated 
I came to Amazon to read other people's reviews and see what they had made of this novel, as when I started The Enchantress of Florence, I thought it was a fable and expected to find out of what later on, our modern times, perhaps. But I didn't.
I do not think the Enchantress is an ode to love or eroticism; other novels and writers would spring to mind much before this one. It isn't an ode to anything in particular, to boredom and perplexity, would be my guess. I can only explain this novel thinking that writers are like all of us; they have good and bad moments and would class this one with Fury, in the not-so-good Rushdie category. I will still buy his next novel the minute I hear it is out; some loves are helpless and irremediable.
Salman Rushdie - Sorcerer for The Enchantress of Florence - Rated 
Who breathes life into whom in Salmon Rushdie's latest book, The Enchantress of Florence, the women or the men?
Who believes whom regarding passion, incest, protocol, deceit and corruptionin the sixteenth century?
The Indian princess known as Qara Kos is a descendent of Ghengis Kahn, Timor the Lame and then a few generations later is aunt to Akbar, great military emperor of peace. Her companion is known as the Mirror and both are called Angelica. Through travels and men in the late 1500's, they bring together two far away cities, Florence and Akbar's creation of Fathepur Sikri, capital of India , an hour from Agra, both sharing debauchery, controversial power, philosophy, consciousness of reason, loss, secrets embracing a world of courtesans, wives or fictitious lovers.
Rushdie casts a spell with highly inventive fiction based on carefully documented historical data to combine fact and fable. This reader wonders if he might have been inspired by the tradition of ancient Persian tales such as Alladin's Lamp from Tales of One Thousand Nights - such storytelling perhaps part of Rushdie's heritage to make him a sorcerer like some of his characters.
Florence is the backdrop for the youthful relationship of three male friends each who embark on different lives, which leads to the arrival of Qara Kos in Florence and later supposed offspring who then seeks out his relationship with his distant relative, Akbar, Shelter of the World, Elephant King. Fatehpur Sikri comes alive during its short fifteen-year existence. Time plays a curious role in the unfolding of events.
Where lies the mystery, magic and witchcraft when Akbar, a leader without knowledge to read, searches for answers by bringing to his court some of the greatest minds around the world? Water was crucial to the existence of Sikri fortress in the desert. Sophisticated systems for reservoirs and canals were devised -even today incomprehensible, how. Then the plug was pulled, water gone and the kingdom fell to its ruin. Akbar felt deceived though was it his visitor/distant relation whom he had deceived that broke him?
Unlike Rushdie's controversial Satanic Verses - a dense labyrinth of intellectualized ideas, not so easy to follow though an example a great mind at work - this narrative feels more resolved. Sensitivity and curiosity makes one think that the writer's own fascination with the story has conjured the magic of telling it.
Renaissance Florence is around every corner, all walks of life through much political unrest. For those that have visited the magnificent ruins of Fathepur Sikri or have not, the trials of Akbar's vision for tolerance and love soar beyond conventional barriers of poetic prose, one of Rushdie's signature feats.
Not without challenge to keep wanderings of the tale centered, a full circle intrigue of dynasties unfold with a terrific pace until the final sentence....... maintaining Rushdie as among the highly respected, multi-cultural writers of our time.
THE NEW VIAGRA - Rated 
I think Rushdie has always been seriously overrated, what with all his misadventures both in the religious and sentimental areas, managing to ride the surf of fame without really deserving it. His books are tedious, convoluted, ultimately unattractive... Perhaps Rushdie is a bit too clever for his own good.
Well, anyway, that's my personal opinion as a reader: the fact is, I cannot finish Rushdie's books, as they get me utterly bored with their "exquisite" pomposity and "glittering" style. But I do find them superlatively soporific: so don't read them in bed!
This particular 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 artificiality of dreary tale-telling.
Rushdie has covertly and overtly accused aggressive Islamic fundamentalism of a cowardly fear of women's sexuality. One expression of this is the insistence on women wearing the veil, which he has said, publicly, sucks. In this novel the enemy and object of ridicule is a group of Christian fundamentalists, Girolamo Savonarola's Weepers, whose life-denying doctrines are laid to rest in a murderous, Dionysiac frenzy. Rushdie is the new Viagra.
With the sex there is death; this is definitely not for children, but then most fairytales shouldn't be either. Rushdie goes beyond the call of duty with his accounts of the vicious thoroughness of 15th-century horror figure Vlad the Impaler (the name's the game), who also makes an appearance in the book. Skip those bits if you feel delicate. Obviously, Rushdie does not like to bore himself, but it surely bores me, with a glut of strange names and places, making you long for the staid restraint of, say, his good mate, Ian McEwan. History, as Rushdie exploits it, shows us that the high cultural refinements of East and West did not lead to niceness; these people were as expert in violence as in the erotic arts.
Ultimately THE ENCHANTRESS OF FLORENCE is grossly overwritten, with a plethora of words in different languages, a veritable verbal diarrhoea meaning nothing. Fantasy deserves better than to be used as a safe-conduct pass for melodramatic cliché, arbitrary-seeming lurches of event, and reams of overinflated 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, in past novels, seemed to be his forte. And actually, when he does, the novel's flabby artificiality momentarily flickers into life. Momentarily.
Too dazzling for me - Rated 
This is the first novel by Rushdie that I have read, and I doubt I shall now go off to look for others by him. Now let me try to explain why. . .
As another reviewer has stated, Rushdie's prose is challanging. He very rarely creates a simple sentence; instead they are often long in length and in meaning. What this means is that Rushdie is able to create dazzling descriptions which bring his world to life, right there on the page for you. But what this also means is that, unless you are paying the utmost attention, you can be left lagging behind. So, even though I revelled in his imagery and ability to bring things to life, there were many times when the story just washed over me. I was not able to give THE ENCHANTRESS OF FLORENCE the attention and the time that it really needs.
Having said that, what I have taken away from the novel is the beauty of storytelling. There is a recurring theme looking at if something exists in the imagination of another, does it have a life independent from this?
Also there is the exploration that stories have a danger of being spoken wrongly or even being lost altogether.
Although I would not say this is a light read, if you like to completely immerse yourself in another world, and have the time to dedicate to properly doing this, THE ENCHANTRESS OF FLORENCE would probably satisfy you. If you are looking for an 'easier' read, look elsewhere.
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