Rushdie, Salman - Haroun and the Sea of Stories

[oyceter]

Haroun's father Rashid is known as the Shah of Blah for the stories he tells (I forgot the more flattering nickname), but one day, Haroun's mom leaves them, and Rashid loses his ability to tell stories. As Haroun tries to figure out what happened, he soon finds himself in a magical land where there is a very real threat to the Ocean of Stories.

I keep feeling like I should have loved this, but I didn't. It's very much like classic children's fantasy, with a lot of wordplay and punning and silly yet pragmatic creatures (or pragmatic yet silly), and it reminds me a lot of The Phantom Tollbooth. I also felt I should have loved it because I loved China Mieville's Un Lun Dun. I'm not sure; maybe on a reread, I will love this too.

Part of it may be that I'm missing many of the references Rushdie is riffing off of (though I caught the Mudra one!), and part of it may be my wanting more girls. It's hard to say.

Anyway, still recommended if you liked Un Lun Dun, and maybe I will reread some time.

Comments

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I did love it, but I was much younger when I read it, and not so eagerly looking for the women. In a coincidence, my friend chash just namechecked it as one of her favorite books of all time....

[oyceter]

Yeah... I was thinking it would be so fun to read to kids! And I keep wondering if it's just because I read it while I was in a grumpy and/or down mood.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

And it may just not grab you. It happens. :D

[deepad]

Yes, see, here's where post-colonialism jumps in! Because we can all appreciate pop culture references on Buffy since we know them, but a lot of the fun things in Haroun are really India-specific.

I read it when I was a kid, and I loved Blabbermouth, but I can understand why it didn't work for you. I think A Village By The Sea will make you happier.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I know! I was really irritated at myself for not being able to catch a lot of references, although my copy of the book had nice notes about the names (I feel I should have gotten the Caliph Haroun al-Rashid reference earlier, ha). I also think this would be an awesome book to read aloud to a kid.

[kouredios.livejournal.com]

Here via 50books_poc, and I wanted to just comment quickly, because I'm finishing up teaching Haroun and the Sea of Stories to my class of 11th and 12th graders.

The thing I kept reminding them was that this was the first novel Rushdie wrote after the fatwa was handed down. Within that context, the repeated question in the text of "What's the use of stories that aren't even true?" becomes both the theme and evidence of an author's wrestling with the power of his own words. Ultimately the entire text is an argument for free speech: the Guppees defeat the Chupwalas, not due to superior strength in war, but due to the strength of their discourse and the unity that they forged as a result. Haroun's changing the orbit of the moon to shine a light into Chup is a physical manifestation of sunlight being the best disinfectant. At the same time, Gup learns that a little bit of darkness sometimes helps them appreciate the sunlight.

My students were a bit frustrated with the "happy ending," but then, I reminded them of the intended audience, which included Rushdie's son, who was, I believe, 10 at the time.

As far as wanting more girls-- while I am a total Rushdie fangirl, and love his postcolonial commentary, I am not unaware of his issues surrounding feminism. Once, during a talk he gave at UMass, where I am a grad student, he made a smart remark concerning Victoria Secret models when asked about the goddesses about whom the Satanic Verses were written. It was both amusing and troubling at the same time.

And now I think I'll copy and use this in my own entry for 50books_poc

edited to fix html fail

[oyceter]

Oh, thank you for the background knowledge! That is very helpful.