În 1986 Rushdie a călătorit în Nicaragua, la şapte ani după alungarea clanului Somoza şi instaurarea la putere a socialiştilor radicali din Frontul Sandinist de Eliberare Naţională. Surâsul jaguarului conţine impresiile autorului care timp de câteva săptămâni a călătorit prin această ţară răvăşită de dictatură şi revoluţie. Aici i-a cunoscut pe principalii lideri politici, începând cu eternul şi pe atunci tânărul Daniel Ortega, astăzi bătrânul preşedinte (din nou) al statului. Capacitatea de sinteză şi talentul controversatului Rushdie fac din această carte o lectură excelentă despre principalele puncte de interes ale celui mai întins stat din America Centrală: sărăcia teribilă, cutremurul care a ruinat Managua, guvernarea sandinistă şi politicile sociale, opoziţia, imixtiunea SUA şi finanţarea grupării Contra, falia dintre coasta de vest, predominant hispanică şi cea de est, predominant indigenă şi vorbitoare de limba engleză, îmbinarea originală dintre catolicism şi revoluţie etc.
Un amănunt interesant: frapează Nicaragua ca ţară a poeţilor. Din doi politicieni, unul scrie poezie. Fireşte, din cauza frământărilor din interior, sursa principală de inspiraţie este lesne de bănuit...
Deşi se străduieşte să fie imparţial, opţiunile politice de stânga ale autorului sunt cât se poate de vizibile, pentru că acesta pur şi simplu nu le ascunde. Ceea ce, în fond, este cât se poate de onest.

Rushdie's literary journalism is an outstanding introduction to Nicaraguan culture. Written during the height of the Contra War, he is largely sympathetic to the Sandinista cause, but it is not without critique. Revolutions are not panaceas for societal or governmental disfunction. Too often they turn into what they overthrew. Still, Rushdie expressed optimism for the country that rid itself of an oppressive dictator, and regardless of the course of history, the Nicaraguan people continue to be upbeat, friendly, and feisty.

Rusdies account touches many engaging topics besides the turbulent political history of Nicaragua. The reader learns about the strange quirks of Managua, the literary exploits of Nicaragua's famous poets, and the unique qualities of th afro-carribean atlantic coast. Written 25 years ago, it still conveys the magic and tension that exemplifies Nicaragua today. When visiting this country, you feel as though you are a participant in the making of history, not just a product of it.

great !

Романът представлява по-скоро политически анализ, основан на впечатления придобити по време на краткия престой на Rushdie в Никарагуа. Важно е да се отбележи, в случай, че някой очаква пътепис, например. Иначе основното, което може да се научи от книгата, според мен, е откъслечна информация за сандинстите, контрите, САЩ, СССР и несполуките, през които са преминали хората в Никарагуа през годините следствие на най-различни влияния.

Well, Rushdie did say it was biased and one-sided, so I can't rightly blame him for being just that. However, as far as a travel journal goes, it's inadequate. Nothing interesting really happens beyond what I would have to describe as giving a voice to propaganda from the source. And I don't mean to put down the people at the time - I know nothing of the conflict really and this book did not help educate me either - but it feels like 90% of the novel is people who did the thing justifying the thing and Rushdie telling the reader he felt everything was right and fine and whatnot (except the censorship which he took offence towards).

I don't really know what to make of this, maybe some 'the other side' type of documentary might bring the two together for me to be able to form an opinion. But on its own, this novel just is barely worth the effort. There's also a bunch of poetry which I personally did not care for but I honestly don't really like most of poetry.

Unlike his fictional novels, The Jaguar Smile by Salman Rushdie does not get a lot of press... and why is that? Is it a plot by the CIA dogs to suppress information on Nicaragua? Is it communist apologetica? Does it just plain suck? The answer to all three questions is, no, quit being silly.

The Jaguar Smile is not a novel, but a journalistic account of Rushdie's visit to Nicaragua to ascertain what the deal was with the Sandinistas and why Reagan wanted to crush them (spoiler alert: it's because Reagan is a douche-bag). As such, it does not carry the stylistic writings seen in Rushdie's other works... and which may be why people read Rushdie to begin with.

Combined with a much simpler writing style, this book does not portray the Sandinistas as blood-thirsty jungle guerrillas seeking to establish Stalinism in Central America. The reason for this is simply because they weren't any of those things. They seem to me to have more in common with the Spanish Socialist Party of the Second Republic of Spain, but I digress. A lot of Americans demand that anyone who is labeled a communist is portrayed in an Orwellian manner, otherwise you're a commie-sympathizer.

But how is Rushdie's viewpoint? Is it balanced? Rushdie is very clear on his position and includes some critical condemnation of Sandinistan policy (principally the closure of the newspaper La Prensa). He is mostly favorable to the post-revolution Nicaragua and sees in it a potential for a people to build a nation for themselves after decades of tyrannical exploitation.

Overall, this book is a snapshot into the political climate of Nicaragua during the first reign of the Sandinistas. It is somewhat informative, but also simple and serves as a great introduction to Nicaragua as a modern nation.

Well-written but inevitably lacking

I "saved" this book for several years, thinking it would be another Rushdie book to savour. When I finally read it, I felt that it was mere journalism, OK, maybe well-written journalism, but.... I did not find the flavour of Central America (though I have never been to Nicaragua), but rather the observations of a keen mind in a situation that was quite unfamiliar. The resulting book, I fear, shows that unfamiliarity. I thought, "Yes, Rushdie, from another Third World country with a certain style of contradiction, would understand Nicaragua and the revolutionary process with a special eye." I think the latter (process) turned out to be largely true, but not the former (Nicaragua). I would recommend this book to all authors who might feel that they could produce an excellent book on a place they know little about. Travel writers are excused, because they write about travel, not necessarily deep insights. But a major novelist ? I thought it would be better.

Una crónica de la visita del autor al séptimo aniversario de la revolución sandinista en Nicaragua

A surprisingly good little book about the post-Somoza era Nicaragua, ruled by the leader of the „Frente Sandinista”, Daniel Ortega. Rushdie's visit to this country comes at the height of the war between the Sandinista power and the Contras troops and ends up with this volume, which depicts a Latin American country in which: almost everyone is or, at least has the character of a poet; the authorities accept the financial and material aid of the USSR and Cuba, but they are reluctant to enforce typical communist measures; the confrontations with the US-funded Contras troops are so frequent that they seem to have become somewhat of a banality.

To sum up, an interesting and engaging read by which Rushdie proves that he is a very good writer also of observational non-fiction, not only of memorable novels.

I really enjoyed this short portrait of Nicaragua in 1986, seven years on from the Sandinista revolution with the US backed Contra counter insurgency as massively funded by Republican President Ronald Reagan in full swing. Such a shame that even post the Vietnam fiasco the US felt the need to support undemocratic fascist dictatorships as opposed to left wing governments supported by a majority of the populace. Thank you Salman Rushdie. I may not like your novels but this piece of political and social history was great.

What a clear view of what the United States looks like to people outside of the country

No 110 in my Reading the World Journey

Country Nicaragua

The Jaguar Smile is Salman Rushdie's first full-length non-fiction book, which he wrote in 1987 after visiting Nicaragua. The book is subtitled A Nicaraguan Journey and relates his travel experiences, the people he met as well as views on the political situation then facing the country. The book was written during a break the author took from writing his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.

After a period of political and economic turmoil under dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (commonly known by the initial FSLN or as the Sandinistas) came to power in Nicaragua in 1979 supported by much of the populace and elements of the Catholic church. The government was initially backed by the U.S. under President Jimmy Carter, but the support evaporated under the presidency of Ronald Reagan in light of evidence that the Sandinistas were providing help to the FMLN rebels in El Salvador.

Rushdie's three-week trip to Nicaragua in the summer of 1986 was at the invitation of Sandinista Association of Cultural Workers which was billed as, "the umbrella organisation that brought writers, artists, musicians, craftspeople, dancers and so on, together under the same roof".

I appreciated both Rushdie's candid appraisal of the situation as well as his trips to both the Pacific and the Caribbean Coast.

4 stars

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jag....