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A review by minxjda
East, West by Salman Rushdie
3.0
3.5
on the whole i actually liked these short stories, though definitely with a preference to the east and the east, west stories - the west stories began to lose me, with ‘yorick’ feeling especially uninspired and disjointed from the other works. unsurprisingly, rushdie pulls off magical realism incredibly well, though i found i most preferred the simple and honest story of 'the harmony of spheres', in which a man reflects on his relationship with a friend whose schizophrenia leads to his suicide.
my only, and rather strong, grievance with this collection came when i considered his intention behind some of his allegories more deeply - i.e. ‘the prophet’s hair’ was thrilling to read and yet it left an odd taste in my mouth once i’d finished it; was the point of the story to state that the introduction of islam into the household, through the mythical vial of the prophet’s hair, was the ultimately the fatal flaw that brought on the family’s downfall?
of course, contextually, it’s understandable why he was possibly harbouring some resentment - this was, after all, written post fatwa, attempts on his life and immigration to the uk to be placed under police protection - but i don't appreciate the fact that he chose to reflect this by generalising the orthodox muslim dynamic to be decisively abusive and oppressive.
on the whole i actually liked these short stories, though definitely with a preference to the east and the east, west stories - the west stories began to lose me, with ‘yorick’ feeling especially uninspired and disjointed from the other works. unsurprisingly, rushdie pulls off magical realism incredibly well, though i found i most preferred the simple and honest story of 'the harmony of spheres', in which a man reflects on his relationship with a friend whose schizophrenia leads to his suicide.
my only, and rather strong, grievance with this collection came when i considered his intention behind some of his allegories more deeply - i.e. ‘the prophet’s hair’ was thrilling to read and yet it left an odd taste in my mouth once i’d finished it; was the point of the story to state that the introduction of islam into the household, through the mythical vial of the prophet’s hair, was the ultimately the fatal flaw that brought on the family’s downfall?
of course, contextually, it’s understandable why he was possibly harbouring some resentment - this was, after all, written post fatwa, attempts on his life and immigration to the uk to be placed under police protection - but i don't appreciate the fact that he chose to reflect this by generalising the orthodox muslim dynamic to be decisively abusive and oppressive.