“Before there were books, there were stories.” The Biblical ring in these opening lines of Salman Rushdie’s new book, Languages of Truth , ...

“Before there were books, there were stories.” The Biblical ring in these opening lines of Salman Rushdie’s new book, Languages of Truth, forms the crux of both the design as well as the dialectics of the book in more ways than one.
Whether the simulation was deliberate or not, the allusions ring loud and clear. The echo of “In the beginning was the word,” the first line of the book of John, clearly establishes Rushdie’s faith in the undeniable connection between the celestial power of the “word” right from its genesis and the magic imminent in words woven together to create “stories”.
He is especially enamoured by stories rendered in the oral form and demonstrates in great detail, again through stories themselves, how storytelling has been captivating, nourishing and shaping human imagination from the beginning of time.
Then comes into play the magnificent design Rushdie borrows from one of the most superlative stories of the Book of Genesis – the incredible story of Noah’s Ark built to survive the Great Flood and preserve the life of all animal species for a fresh start.
Cover design
Books, more often than not, come with a book cover that kind of ushers one into the book! That is a job well done. (Wait! Do not let...