Haroun and the Sea of Stories

This was also an Audible daily deal. I already owned a used paperback copy, but someone thoroughly marked it up, which I hate (and did not notice before buying.) I thought the audiobook version would be a good alternative, especially since it’s a fairly short book. Rushdie pitched the book a little younger than I was expecting, but I didn’t mind that so much. It was a fun adventure that reminded me a bit of Catherine Valente’s Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own (presumably the influence flowed the other way, but still.)

Once again, Rushdie reminds me why I love this writer so much. This is a story about storytelling and it is simply beautiful. The main character, Haroun, is the son of a well-known storytelling, Rashid, otherwise known as the Shah of Blah (love it!). When Haroun's mother runs away with another man, Rashid's gift of the gab simply deserts him. To save his faterh, Haroun must travel to a mystical land (on the Earth's second, hidden moon, no less) to recover Rashid's talent. It reminded me of "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Geared towards anyone who appreciates a good story with a dash of socio-political commentary thrown in.

What a delightful story! There are many blurbs on the back and front of this book, and I agree with all of them: it is Swiftian, it is written on more than one level (fable, fantasy, allegory), and it is wonderfully inventive. Haroun and the Sea of Stories can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

This book was written after Satanic Verses, and is very much about the freedom of speech and the right to be creative. *take a look at the very back of the book, where the author explains the names of the places and characters, which are derived from Hindustani words. It's not essential to understanding the story, but it's very interesting:)