Haroun and the Sea of Stories

I thought this book was fantastic! Although it took me only a couple hours to get through, i felt really engaged from beginning to end -- it was just one of those books that i couldn't put down and didn't want to end.

Zembla, Zenda, Xanadu:
All our dream-worlds may come true.
Fairy lands are fearsome too.
As i wander far from view
Read, and bring me home to you.

I thought this little poem at the beginning of the story was great. As i sat contemplating its meaning i began flipping through blogs to see if anyone had posted anything about it. Sam Clanton found an interesting article about it being for Rushdie's son Zafar (notice to Z-A-F-A-R running down the left side of the poem) and the book overall being about a child saving his father and a way to cope with divorce. *Thanks Sam* (Sorry for stealing some of your thunder)

When i first read the book i believed it solely to be about the loss of stories in the modern day. A breaking away from the connection with our roots.

(pg. 86-87) "There was little demand for the ancient stories flowing there. 'You know how people are, new things, always new. The old tales, nobody cares.'....'And if the source itself is poisoned, what will happen to the Ocean-to us all?' Iff almost wailed. 'We have ignored it for too long, now we pay the price.'"

This quote is great. Foreshadowing the inherent dangers of forgetting what we are/were and where we came from are dangerous things.

Butt the Hoopoe is a favorite character from this book. Throughout the book, each of Rushdie's characters makes a sort of social comment or another, which is always great in children's books because it usually is so unexpected. (Sidenote: When George Orwell first published 'Animal Farm' - American bookstores didn't know which literary section to put it in, so it was included with the children's stories!!)

(pg. 67) 'But but but it is because of Speed,' Butt the Hoopoe responded. 'Speed, most necessary of qualities! In any emergency-fire, auto, marine- what is required above all things? Of course, speed: of fire truck, ambulance, rescue ship. - And what do we prize in a brainy fellow?-Is it not his quickness of thought?-And in any sport, speed is the essence!-And what humans cannot do quickly enough, they build machines to do faster.'"

"A machine cannot speak for the mind of men" - Immortle Technique

As we've already started Joyce, and we've now read Rushdie, i can't imagine this book would be considered as lowbrow. Although upon the initial read and though about its subject matter it seems shallow, Haroun and the Sea of Stories offers an amazing look into the mind of Rushdie- one able to take a serious series of topics (mans use of machine, divorce through a child's eyes, losing touch with our beginnings, etc.) and weave them into an easy to read, fun story such as Haroun. Thanks for a great read!