My Take - Haroun and The Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

Haroun and The Sea of Stories is a brilliant tale by the master storyteller Salman Rushdie. Strictly speaking, the book belongs to the category of children’s literature but it enthrals the adults all the same. The novel has many layers to it, it can be read as a fanciful fairy-tale or as a nuanced story subtly mocking the drudgery of adult world. The brilliance of the novel is that it is neither merely a fanciful fairy-tale nor a preachy, boring moralistic sermon. Rushdie has struck the right balance while brewing this tale.

Rushdie in his signature style morphs reality to subtly present the truth, which otherwise might be too bitter to consume. How ingeniously does Rushdie describe the drab modern urban life through the sad city, a city so unhappy that it has forgotten its name and the factories that manufacture sadness which people can’t get enough of! The novel with its taut and interesting narrative is a definite page turner. Rushdie vividly renders the fantastic world (or moon) of Kahani so that every scene and character of the novel materialises before the reader’s eye. The novel is also replete with the quirky humour of Rushdie. What makes it even more fun is that the humour comes at the most unexpected and gloomiest of places.

The description of the imaginary world (or moon) of Kahani is so convincing that not for once did my imagination was stretched to its limit. For me, Gup City, Iff the Water Genie, Butt the Hoopoe, Mali and all other fantastic elements seemed absolutely plausible rather perfectly real. The story telling was so smooth that I just drifted along with it, enjoying things as they came (I wish I could do the same with Life instead of worrying about things that I cannot control).

Haroun and The Sea of Stories is one of the most subversive novels as Rushdie craftily dismantles the binaries, such as those of speech-silence, light-dark, etc. as mere constructs. There is no prescribed way of life, everyone can live as they want and the seeming binaries can harmoniously co-exist if given a chance. We should not be prejudiced against anyone, even against those who appear to be the polar opposite of us. Because more often than not, we are more similar than we are made to believe, just like the Guppees and the Chupwalas. Differences can harmoniously co-exist and rather than suppressing differences we must celebrate them, because without darkness there is no light and vice-versa.

I also loved how forgiving and accepting most of the characters were, especially Rashid Khalifa. He was heart-broken when his wife left him but he did not let himself to be embittered. One of the most fundamental premises of love is acceptance, and that is why he forgave and accepted his wife at once when she returned to him. After all, it is only human to err, but forgiveness is a virtue that is a rarity even among Gods.

This novel was an entertaining, delightful and lovely read. It also taught a thing or two about life without being preachy. It is the best magical realism story that I have read until now. Stories are important because they help us survive when reality becomes too harsh to bear. I hope each one of us finds such lovely stories more often; they make life more bearable and sometimes add a dash of magic to our drab existence as well.

I will end my review with two of my favourite lines from the novel:

“He knew what he knew: that the real world was full of magic, so magical worlds could easily be real.”

“That’s the trouble with you sad city types: you think a place has to be miserable and dull as ditchwater before you believe it’s real.”

My rating - A perfect 5 🌠