Haroun and the Sea of Stories
by Salman Rushdie
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Book Summary Information
Author: Salman RushdieEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-11-01
ISBN: 0140157379
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780140157376
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Book Review: "What's the use of stories that aren't even true?"
Summary: 5 Stars
Back in the days when Salman Rushdie was a literary fugitive, he fulfilled a long standing vow to his son. Zafar, then about nine years old, had begged his father to write a children's story. Rushdie had put this off until the hubub over his fourth novel exploded. Then, throughout the Muslim world, soot from charred copies of "The Satanic Verses" wafted skyward and the faithful wailed for the infidel author's demise. In response the essay "In Good Faith" appeared. An exhausted Rushdie, somewhere, who knows where, it probably felt like nowhere, was left with just enough energy to take on a short project. "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" was conceived in this strange fugitive exile from everyday life. The results display a fervent imagination in no way limited by the threats surrounding it. Though "Haroun" targets twelve to fifteen year olds, readers will recognize Rushdie's indubitable style weaving throughout the fantastical tale. If Roald Dahl had been from India, he probably would have written something like this. "Haroun" works at the level of myth and fable with a lurking moral. Every now and then it peeks out and winks at the reader. That it relates to freedom of speech and the importance of storytelling should come as no surprise. Veiled references to certain religious persuasions will also not go unnoticed. Though "Haroun" does not relate, storywise, to Rushdie's predicament at the time, he nonetheless uses the medium to express some opinions about his censorious detractors.
The fable tells of young Haroun's journey to the moon Kahani to restore the storytelling powers of his famous father, Rashid. One day Soraya, Rashid's wife and Haroun's mother, stops singing and abandons her family, leaving Rashid in a muted state (though he bleats and mutters "Ark, ark, ark.") Rashid's fallen reputation has fatal implications since a political thug has hired him to entertain and sway the masses before elections. No stories, no life. Ouch. While sleeping on this same thug's houseboat on Dull Lake, before the next day's ominous speech, Haroun notices a small man in the bathroom. From this point on things get very interesting. His name is Iff and he has come to disconnect Rashid's story water supply. Haroun confiscates Iff's valuable Disconnector and forces Iff to take him to the Walrus to bargain for his father's story water supply. Riding a fantastic mechanical telepathic bird named Butt the Hoopoe, the ride to the moon Kahani at just the right speed. There Haroun learns of the lands of Gup and Chup. Gup oversees the Ocean of Stories, the source of all narrative threads, and "The Process Too Complicated To Explain" or "P2C2E." Chup lives in internal darkness under the cruel rule of Khattam-Shud. Here silence and censorship reign. Khattam-shud schemes to poison the Ocean of Stories and plug up the ocean's source with a stadium-sized plug. Suddenly, Rashid appears on Kahani. The Chups suspect him of spying, but he warns them that their princess Batcheat has been apprehended by Gups. They threaten to sew her lips together to keep her from singing (her looks and singing apparently leave much to be desired). Joined by Plentimaw fish, who have multiple mouths, water walking gardeners, and a rebellious Shadow Warrior named Mudra, the Chups go to war against the Gups. All seems lost until Haroun remembers his Wishwater. With it he literally raises the sun.
"Haroun and the Sea of Stories" revels in fabulism, absurdity, pop culture references (most notably the Beatles), and, most of all, fun. But it represents more than just a wild ride. It serves as a poignant literary metaphor for Rushdie's oft-repeated defense of fiction and the novel. He had more in mind than a children's story, and it shows. Scenes of moving melancholy flow into scenes of unhinged joy. The ending, though many adults will see it coming, is magnificent. So if anyone ever asks, as Old Man Sengupta defiantly asks Soraya, "What's the use of stories that aren't even true?" Tell them it's all here, right here in "Haroun". Look no further.
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