How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Is this how Mary would have told it? I ask. Is this what that fisherman would have said?... And by those standards it is undeniably true that, one day in January 1947, my mother heard all about me six months before I turned up, while my father came up against a demon king. (1.6.3)
Now we get it—Saleem's definition of truth isn't whether or not it happened. It's whether or not Mary or Tai would have told the story the same way. Remember, at least one of those people is a liar for the majority of the book.
Quote #5
Suppose yourself in a large cinema, sitting at first in the back row, and gradually moving up, row by row, until your nose is almost pressed against the screen. Gradually the stars' faces dissolve into dancing grain; tiny details assume grotesque proportions; the illusion dissolves-or rather, it becomes clear that the illusion itself is reality... we have come from 1915 to 1956, so we're a good deal closer to the screen. (2.12.1)
Salman Rushdie trivia: he dreamed of starring in movies throughout his childhood. Now that you have that explanation for all of his weird cinema metaphors, maybe this quote will make more sense. Anyway, what do you think he means by saying that "illusion itself is reality?"
Quote #6
Re-reading my work, I have discovered an error in chronology. The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi occurs, in these pages, on the wrong date. But I cannot say, now, what the actual sequence of events might have been; in my India, Gandhi will continue to die at the wrong time. (2.12.2)
Saleem says, "in my India," but isn't there only one India? If there's more than one India, where different things can happen, are there also multiple truths?