A review by manda2491
East, West by Salman Rushdie

3.0

Rushdie explores the relationships between India and England in his short stories, East, West. The stories incorporate dark themes and unsavory characters while still maintaining an aura of mystical lightness. Rushdie, in a show of his own oeuvre, uses multiple narrative strategies including collective consciousness, third & first person, metanarrative, and stream of consciousness. Resonating through the work are themes of home, nostalgia, government corruption, spirituality, and inner peace. Though each story deals with the theme of book's title, they do not form a cohesive whole. As a result, Rushdie's work manifests as collection of stories more so than a book of stories. Nevertheless East, West is an inventive and dynamic approach to bridging two distinct cultures, poignantly revealing moments of intimacy and unexpected truths along the way.