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bg86's review against another edition
2.0
The stories are written in the vibrant language we have come to expect from Salman Rushdie: sentences not to be pondered over but read at full speed, in order to fully enjoy the haphazardly placed phonetically spelled and made up words to the fullest. So far so good. But contrary to his (in my opinion) best work 'midnight's children' there is not enough context to derive the meaning of some of these words and the stories are too short to enable everything to fall into place. Still the stories are highly enjoyable. I had been expecting more of Rushdie while working out this east-west theme, being someone stuck between both worlds himself. Judging from the stories however, I offer him some free advice: stick to the East! (With the exception of Fury, which is another story of course).
alafoliee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
katrinky's review against another edition
4.0
these stories are so intelligently written, so funny and full of humor that Rushdie manages to make feel like inside jokes with you, his literary reader who knows things about literature and history. (he definitely comes across as a writer's writer here.) too many of the stories were sad for them to be the kind I'll want to read over and over, but every one of them affected me. the wild frontier of the future, where the ruby slippers are up for auction, the world of Indian security and Star trek stories after Indira Gandhi's assassination, a love quadrangle involving paranoia schizophrenia, the courtship between two elderly folks playing chess and not needing much shared language....all good, and memorable, and poignant. recommend. (this book was assigned to me in school the year I ended up taking off, and it's taken me this long to finally pull it off the shelf.)
"witches bide their time on the balcons and galeries of the Grand Saleroom, living gargoyles with, in many cases, high credit ratings."
"witches bide their time on the balcons and galeries of the Grand Saleroom, living gargoyles with, in many cases, high credit ratings."
sabs98's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Although some of the stories in this book were good, overall the styles of writing were not for me.
spiderfelt's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliant and complex, as I would expect. Collections of short stories leave me hungering for more. Often I'm just starting to inhabit the story when it slams to a finish. The last story in the collection was my favorite for the perfectly logical and equally bizarre named characters, the story that arced and promptly disappeared and for the sheer meta-ness of it as the final piece in a book called East-West.
drcptnash's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the East section, but West seriously let it down - far too over the top to even be read with enthusiasm, goes beyond the realm of critique and into seeming ignorance.
clonazine's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Una locura como escribe este tipo. Si tuviese que elegir un relato elijo el de LA SUBASTA DE LAS ZAPATILLAS ROJAS, de todas formas es una combinación de culturas, personajes, idiomas, mitos, géneros literarios, historia....
greg_giannakis's review against another edition
5.0
"But I, too, have ropes around my neck, I have them to this day, pulling me this way and that, East and West, the nooses tightening, commanding, choose, choose.
I buck, I snort, I whinny, I read, I kick. Ropes, I do not choose between you. Lassoes, lariats, I choose neither of you, and both. Do you hear? I refuse to choose."
I buck, I snort, I whinny, I read, I kick. Ropes, I do not choose between you. Lassoes, lariats, I choose neither of you, and both. Do you hear? I refuse to choose."
signus's review against another edition
Best: At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, The Harmony of the Spheres
Worst: Yorick, Chekov and Zulu
Worst: Yorick, Chekov and Zulu