Sir Salman Rushdie has written some of the finest and most compelling literary fiction of the past half-century. So it is regrettable that he is perhaps best known for the controversy that has followed him since the 1988 release of THE SATANIC VERSES, which brought about calls for his assassination and a fatwa being placed upon him by radical Muslims due to his alleged unsavory depiction of the prophet Muhammad.

This all culminated in 2022 when a man stabbed Rushdie repeatedly at a speaking event, costing him the use of his right eye. Since then, Rushdie has been more reflective in his writing, which includes KNIFE, a memoir inspired by this attack, and now the short story collection THE ELEVENTH HOUR, which specifically focuses on the last phase of life over a quintet of fictional tales.

I will briefly summarize each of these unique and vastly different stories.

"Rushdie exhibits his mastery of the written word while creating compelling characters and ideas. The concepts of death, grief, respect and faith are all utilized and snake through these five tales with a message for all readers lucky enough to receive it."

“In the South”: Two elderly men in India, born just 17 days apart, go by the nicknames Senior and Junior. They live next door to each other and each morning stand on the veranda of their homes, separated by a small wall. They discuss life, talk about their personal issues, and share opinions on nearly everything. But their strong bond is challenged as Junior is suffering from an incurable disease. This story, which might have worked just fine as a somber tale of death and the loss of a friend, assumes a much larger scope when a tsunami that took many lives in India is connected to the two men.

“The Musician of Kahana”: Chandni is a musical prodigy. As she witnesses the failure of her parents’ marriage, she becomes involved with her former teacher once she is out of university, which sets the tone for the rest of her life. Later, Chandni finds herself engaged to a young man who comes from a sports background and is nothing like her. She manipulates the relationship via her extraordinary gifts to wreak havoc on her fiancé and his wealthy family.

“Late”: S.M. Arthur, an Honorary Fellow, wakes up one morning to find out that he has passed away. He continues to roam the boundaries of his university in the form of a new, confused spirit. His loneliness is broken when a student, initially referred to as R, is able to see and communicate with him. They share a love of poetry and literature, and S.M. says that his vision of the afterlife is akin to Shangri-la in John Milton’s epic poem, “Paradise Lost.”

“Oklahoma”: This story is set in Long Island, New York, where a young writer becomes embroiled in a journey of self-truth attempting to clear the name of a mentor who either killed himself or faked his own death. We see how the writer’s family set him down the path of life as a wordsmith by sharing a love of literature that includes writers like Kafka, Shelley and Lord Byron. The mystery that he is a part of becomes personal when a transcript from his mentor’s last work arrives in the mail with a cryptic note: This is your fault.

“The Old Man in the Piazza”: The final and shortest story in the collection follows an elderly man whose home overlooks the nearby piazza. Each day, he walks to the café in the piazza where he is held in the highest esteem. He starts as an audience of one but is soon attracting people of all ages and means who come to him to listen and learn. He speaks his mind and shares everything that he has picked up over the course of his existence. His words are akin to the wisdom of Solomon, and this parable sheds light on the concept of freedom of speech.

Rushdie exhibits his mastery of the written word while creating compelling characters and ideas. The concepts of death, grief, respect and faith are all utilized and snake through these five tales with a message for all readers lucky enough to receive it.