Here it finally is, folks. The long-awaited first installment of Literary Speak.
Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a short novel by renowned British-Indian author, Salman Rushdie.
For those of you who, like I, had almost no idea who Salman Rushdie is, I'll fill you in.
Salman Rushdie is a Knight Bachelor for 'Services to Literature,' or so declared by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, which is pretty much the modern equivalent of being Shakespeare.
He's also loved by the French, being awarded the rank of Commandeur in the Ordre des Artes et des Lettres, which, when translated into a real language, means 'Order of the Arts and of the Letters,' which I assume means literary stuff. French is a very direct language, but it's incredibly confusing. He also holds a place in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which is very likely to get hate mail from Twilight fans as soon as they realize it exists and that Stephenie Meyer hasn't been elected to it.
Due to his book, The Satanic Verses, he was the subject of Muslim protests worldwide, and the 'Supreme Leader of Iran,' Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against him, and that means that, for some Muslims, a death sentence on Rushdie.
Anyways, now that you've been educated on the various achievements of the author, let's talk about Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
Personally, I loved it, and judging by the title, I assumed it would be about a storyteller named Haroun and a collection of disconnected short stories, but I was proved wrong and I didn't mind.
The novel is described by Stephen King as "...a book for anyone who loves a good story. It's also a work of literary genius." I'm inclined to agree. I haven't disagreed with anything I've heard from Stephen King (i.e., that 'Stephenie Meyer cannot write worth a darn), and I'm not going to start now.
A story about a young boy named Haroun Khalifa and his father, Rashid who is a storyteller, who, when asked about his talent from his son, says that, and I'm paraphrasing here, he gains his abilities from 'magical Water Genies.'
When Rashid's wife leaves with the incredibly boring neighbor living upstairs, leaving he, Haroun and the neighbor's former wife, distraught. Since the wife left at 11, Haroun's attention span becomes 11 minutes.
Soon, he and Rashid go on vacation, where the two learn that, in place of his stories, all Rashid can say is 'Ark,' which is rather problematic for the politicians who hire him to tell stories at their campaigns. (It is much more comforting to hear what is definitely false, than to hear possible lies from a politician.)
Another politician hires Rashid, but before the date where he is scheduled to speak, Haroun hears someone in the hotel bathroom. It was a water genie, wjo was there to disconnect Rashid's Story Water supply.
Haroun, being a rather resourceful young boy, negotiates a hearing with 'The Walrus,' who controls the water with a P2C2E, or 'Process too Complicated to Explain.'
(No, the walrus is not John Lennon. I was disappointed, too.)
He and the Water Genie, Iff, travel to Earth's second moon, Kahani, where Haroun, Rashid, Iff, two rhyming fishes, a robotic bird, a gardener, and the city of Gup save a rather ugly princess and the entire moon of Kahani.
I won't go into the details, but Rushdie's light-hearted, silly approach to writing reminded me somewhat of Douglas Adam's work, made it all worthwhile. If this review holds any sway over you, I will use my magic blogger powers to make you buy a copy and read it.
