I have the urge to say, dear dear Capn' Padlock, but I fear being labeled Bianca Castafiore, although, I have no problems crooning her "Ah my beauty, past compare...!!!" Ah, such vanity, I harbor. ;) Actually, you are right, I did paint the whole book with a broad stroke because of sudden shifts in language-- there are certain places where the protagonists describe events in what would be considered magical-realist language-- sometimes the high drama inappropriate for the context. Hence, my "dream was burst"--in fiction, when the dream or fictional reality is disturbed with the reader raising his/her eyebrows at a certain sentence, prose, then the whole story sounds forced. Unless of course, author gives deliberate comments to keep the reader from delving into the fictional dream. And I can yada yada yada on and on and on!!! It's best if you ignore my blather, sir. I thought a better book than "Shalimar The Clown" was "Kite Runner" where the descriptions were poignant and yet real enough to draw the reader in. But I do digress. HI Scarlett Maicha, how have you been?! Talking about Houdini, speak for yourself Maiya, been following Lahure ji, I see! :)