Key Highlights
- The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie ends with a statement that “Our words fail us,” signaling a shift in the author’s perspective on language.
- Rushdie’s latest work is less optimistic than his previous books, focusing on themes of death and endings.
- While some stories in the collection showcase Rushdie’s humor and wit, others are described as clumsy and recycled with familiar tropes.
- The book’s title and its stories explore the artist’s legacy and the search for meaning in life after achieving success.
A Literary Reflection on Language and Life
Salman Rushdie’s latest collection of short stories, The Eleventh Hour, published by Penguin Random House in 2025, offers a poignant exploration of the artist’s journey and the limitations of language. The book concludes with a stark statement: “Our words fail us.” This line serves as both a coda to the fantastical allegory within the collection and a profound commentary on Rushdie’s own career.
Set against the backdrop of his life-threatening attack in 2022, The Eleventh Hour delves into themes of mortality, legacy, and the ephemeral nature of artistic achievements. The title itself is evocative, suggesting a final reckoning or a moment of truth.
A Dark Core to the Collection
The stories in The Eleventh Hour are woven around a funereal theme, tying up loose ends as if preparing for an inevitable conclusion. This dark core is subtle but unmistakable. The opening tale, “Two Lifelong Friends,” set in Chennai and narrated by Senior and Junior in their 80s, offers one of the few glimpses into Rushdie’s old flair with its sardonic tone.
It portrays a bittersweet friendship between ordinary men rather than celebrated artists or literary geniuses.
However, the majority of the stories are described as clunky and burdened with recycled tropes. In “The Musician of Kahani,” set in Bombay (now Mumbai), supernatural forces collude to bring about a revenge for Chandni Contractor, a prodigy who masters both piano and sitar. This story is part of a pattern that has become familiar to readers over the years.
Humor and Pathos: A Tug-of-War
Despite the overall uneven execution, The Eleventh Hour does contain moments where Rushdie’s wit and pathos shine through. “Late,” the finest story in the collection, features S.M. Arthur, a writer and life fellow of an Oxbridge college, who grapples with his impending death. This ghostly tale is a striking contrast to Rushdie’s usual voice, offering a wry English humour and pathos that reflect on a life misspent.
Rushdie’s sense of humor remains the silver lining in this collection, evident even as he writes about the hurt felt by the tepid reaction his colleagues have toward his passing. “It appeared that death was a more sentimental, narcissistic condition than life,” he notes, a statement that could be read as an arch self-criticism.
Exploring Endings and Beginnings
The stories in The Eleventh Hour collectively probe the questions of what remains for an artist at the end of a long, prolific life. Rushdie himself seems reluctant to accept that words may fail even the finest masters of language. The book’s uneven quality suggests that while Rushdie’s stars have been fading over his last few books, he still strives to return to fundamental artistic principles.
However, the final statement in The Eleventh Hour is unequivocal: “All the stories are attempts to make sense of endings—literal and metaphorical.” This reflects both a personal struggle with mortality and a broader exploration of the human condition.
While the book may not be entirely satisfying, it remains a significant contribution to the literary canon.
The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie is a complex and nuanced collection that challenges readers to grapple with the limitations of language and the inevitability of endings. Despite its flaws, it offers valuable insights into an artist’s reflections on his own life and work.
