A Brief History of Seven Killings, by Marlon James

All of it.

The narrator is so fabulous with the melodic Jamaican accents.

I loved it. Had me from the beginning. I also listened to it on Audible, maybe try that, the reader was very good.

The style reminded me of A Brief History of Seven Killings.

Completely agree on Shalimar, easy to get into and easy to follow from the start.

When you have Kindle connected to wifi you can long-press on a searchable item. With Rushdie, maybe he is referencing an actual historical figure, or location, or political situation, and it will bring up reference material/dictionary, probably not as extensive as searching on phone, but definitely help to provide context.

Great question that I have pondered often.

I don't think there is a subject that I can't read, they can be challenging and disturbing, but if the quality of writing is good, I can usually make it through.

A similar book that I have thought about a lot is Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club. When I first read, I just didn't get it. It just seemed like gratuitous violence for shock value. But I saw with it for awhile and reread. I felt differently after the second reading. I don't think the book could have expressed such primal drives without the gritty, graphic violence.