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A review by bittersweet_symphony
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
4.0
A quick, charming romp through an Oriental fantasy world, blending the silliness of Alice in Wonderland with, occasionally, the sentimentality of Peter Pan (uses similar shadow and lagoon imagery). It's plot structure echoes the Wizard of Oz and reads at a comprehension level hovering near the Chronicles of Narnia. The Sea of Stories is a playful ode to the essential role of stories ("What use is a story if it isn't true?!?").
I appreciate it's challenge to literalists, fundamentalists, and material-realists. We need metaphor. It gives us voice and clarity.
This book came to my attention too late and was finished too early.
(Also, Rushdie does a great service here, advocating so unabashedly for freedom of expression and the importance of free speech. More speech. More stories. More subversion of authority. More diversity of voices.)
I appreciate it's challenge to literalists, fundamentalists, and material-realists. We need metaphor. It gives us voice and clarity.
This book came to my attention too late and was finished too early.
(Also, Rushdie does a great service here, advocating so unabashedly for freedom of expression and the importance of free speech. More speech. More stories. More subversion of authority. More diversity of voices.)