My own lack of background knowledge limited my appreciation of Rushdie's account of his 1986 visit to Nicaragua. He makes his scorn for the American intervention efforts clearly evident in the early chapters, where he portrays Daniel Ortega facing the US as David and Goliath. Much of the later portion of the book is focused on politicians and writers in Nicaragua who were familiar to him but unknown to me. He describes the Sandinistas rather sympathetically, and seems to excuse their early failures as the result of their youth, inexperience, and unrealistic idealism. His description of the censorship of journalists and the intentional spread of misinformation are sadly reminiscent of the frequent claims of "fake news" by the current US administration. Through conversations with citizens and politicians, leaders, followers, and those simply struggling to survive under whatever power structure might emerge, he portrays a country facing serious political, social, and economic challenges and where, “nothing is simple, everything is contested, and life-or-death struggles are an everyday occurrence”.

This short read follows Rushdie on a trip to Nicaragua in the 80s. Rushdie reflects on his few weeks in the country and its post civil war, Sandinistas government.

Rushdie comes to the country with sympathies for the revolutionary, DEMOCRATICALLY elected government, as he has long established anti-imperialist views, growing up himself in an India that recently gained independence from Britain's imperial hold. That being said, he is not without criticism of the government-- he comes down pretty heavily on the censorship-- also aligns with Rushdie's own personal history.

All told, the short read offers various vignettes into Nicaraguan life. He visits different cities and speaks with various political figures, poets, soldiers, citizens. This book offers a good sampling at a very specific point in time. A greater knowledge of the political movements at the time would have been beneficial to my total understanding before reading, but this lack has pushed me down a path to obtain a more comprehensive understanding and i may return to this again.

A fun exercise is to look up various reviews though-- as reviwers are appalled that Rushdie would have anything bad to say about America-- almost all I have read talk about his anti-american bias. It should be noted, that all the reviews I have read thus far, are also coming out of the late 80s where that proAmerica propaganda must have been strong -- bc of how hard they come down on Rusdhie for supporting the Saninista government of Nicaragua, all while the US was doing it's best to fund a coup, even after Congress voted to prohibit federal funds to be sent to aid the Contras and the Hague judged the US aid to the Contras was in violation of international law.

Maybe I've been hit too much with South American magic realism, that I thought this was Rushdie's foray in novel form, rather than his journalistic look at the Sandinista and Nicaragua. I actually enjoy Rushdie more in his non-fiction, than his fiction. Again, I don't emotionally connect as well with magic realism that is often in Rushdie's fiction.

The issues of Nicaragua, as Rushdie notes in his afterward, feel dated and more as a sort of a period piece from the Cold War, but that was also its strength. The issues and crises of the moment almost always fade with time, and when they don't it is because our view of history changes them, not the events themselves. The big issues of art, literature, democracy, self-governance, corporate and oligarch power, violence, poverty, and on and on, still remain a striking part of the human condition and Rushdie explores these with aplomb.

Книжката е малко като снимка от старите ленти. Пробуди носталгия в мен по детството, когато пращахме колети на другарчетата от Никарагуа. Трогателни ми се сториха усилията на Салман Рушди да бъде положително настроен към идеите на сандинистката революция, явно обезпечила пътуването му до страната. Научих доста неща за Никарагуа, които са били актуални преди десетилетия. Все пак малко или повече повдигна завесата пред тази непозната и интересна страна, а също така ми даде материал за разсъждения.