Instruct: Classify the given review as either positive or negative.
Query: Work of genius

While I am a big Rushdie fan, his last few novels (especially Fury) have disappointed me. This, however, is again Rushdie at his best. Slowly, he weaves the reader into the plot and the characters. One thing I found missing in this novel, is the humor that was such a part of Rushdie's earlier works. This made the whole experience of reading Shalimar somehow more opressive.