Night Of The Golden Butterfly

A well paced story of a different time and culture

More easily deciphered by the non-erudite, yet as densely layered with literary and cultural references as Rushdie's Satanic Verses, Night of the Golden Butterfly is at once a love story, a masterful tutorial in Pakistani identity, and political commentary.Why is the enchanting storyteller Tariq Ali not more widely read? Here is a book inhabited by Dick Cheney's heart surgeon, Barrack Obama's portrait painter, and other fictional characters who offer seriously hilarious and hilariously serious insights into the workings and malfunctions of 21st century.

Tariq Ali does another wonderful job with this latest book - his writing is superb and research on Muslim Chinese is deep and very enlightening, though sometimes a little too much for a non-"Fatherlandi" reader (which is why he lost a star). Tariq does a wonderful job of immersing the reader in the poignant and romantic tales of his characters, which come across as very real.

The Islam Quintet are a classic. Very engaging and enjoyable read. This a a modern setting.

Very long and winding. I began to loose interest after a while with the introduction of too many characters who were not nearly tied in together. The beginning and middle of the book were wonderful. The last section became tedious to read.