Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Rating:
Summary: An unbelievable work of art.
Review: This is one of the best books that I have read. My World Lit. teacher gave us this book to read in the middle of the year. It was a wonderful escape from the less desirable literature we had been reading. I would suggest this book to anyone, especially teachers. It has literary and entertainment value and makes for a wonderful conversation piece

Rating:
Summary: Splendiferous!!! Bring on the stories!
Review: This is without a doubt one of the best books that I have ever read. Salman Rushdie is one of my heroes, because he has the courage to write so well with all of the political mayhem that has surrounded him. This book is absolutely wonderful. I wrote about it as "a book that has influenced me the most" for one of my college essays. I find the imagery absolutely breathtaking, and the characters poignant and hilarious. The story is very touching; a boy and his father growing apart and then growing back together. And the other stories that Rushdie throws in create a "Sea of Stories" right inside these pages. Rushdie writes some amazing stuff here.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully lyrical and humorous novel - great for kids.
Review: This is a great children's novel in the tradition of Roald Dahl's BFG. Rushdie's sense of humor and poetic command of the language are both in full force, making it a wonderful book to read out loud, regardless of whether you have kids around to listen. There's also a great message, but they (and you) can have a blast even if you choose to miss that bit.

Rating:
Summary: A Resonant Fairy Tale for Our Times
Review: What do the film SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and Rushdie's HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIES have in common? They are both about why human beings need comedy in their lives. On the run from an idiotic bounty on his life issued by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, Rushdie more than any other man knows what happens when someone misunderstands a satire (THE SATANIC VERSES). Rushdie's first work of fiction after the "fatwa," HAROUN is a quick read about the wellsprings of humor and what happens when those springs are dried up. Shades of the Blue Meanies!

Rating:
Summary: Required Reading for Pleasure
Review: I had to read this book for a humanities lit class. I found myself really enjoying it. It is a really excellent book. It kind of made me feel like a little kid. It is such a fantasy story, but it isn't written for kids. It was quite inspirational too, it made me feel like everything would be ok. I have recomended this book to two other people, they loved it too. I don't want to tell you any of the plot because it suprises you as you read it, but it is a really good book. One that I would recomend to anyone who asks what to read.

Rating:
Summary: A unique... dissapointment
Review: I was recomended to read Haround and the sea of stories by a friend. I am an avid fantasy reader and hate bad books. I know its bad to say that a book is bad without giving a reason so here is mine:

The Plot: to save a sea f stories and thats what we have. we have an author who thinks his story is the "One story to rule them all". Or at least thats what I think he meant =P

The characters: All of the characters are stereotypical and 2D. We have the Father, Rashid, who lost his powers but not his wisdom. (want a character like this, see "Another Fine Myth"), We have a warrior love interest that has the cheeziest line: "you may be a good boy, but I am a very bad girl indeed." Kind of made me think of Xena, except without the whole princess. We had rhyming Luv fish that literally made me tear a page out of the book for stupidity. We have a bird that say's bt but but alot. and a bussdriver that does too. We have an unintresting Genie without any real character traits, And we have a heroe who doesn't beleive. The bad guy of the story, is actually intresting. He is a religious, Scientific, Silence loving, stereotypical office worker?? if this book is to be bought for anything it should be for him. to bad he only has an apearance on all of 8 pages..

Rating:
Summary: Superb Storytelling
Review: This is a tale about a young boy named Haroun and his father the storyteller Rashid (The Shah of Blah to his enemies). It is also about magic, wonderful adventure, the power of love, a good story, and the importance of free speech and democracy.

When his father's magic ability to tell stories dries up, Haroun desperately wants to help him. When he by chance encounters the water genie(!) Iff, Haroun "persuades" Iff to take him to the secret story Moon Kahani, to renew his father's subscription to the wonderful water from the Ocean of the Stream of Stories.

At their arrival to Kahani, however, they discover that a great shadow threatens the Ocean, and Haroun soon learns that most of the myths and legends of his father's stories are indeed very real!

Rushdie skillfully weaves the different layers of reality and imagination together, and the result is a breath-taking tapestry, which keeps surprising (and delighting) you, as you go along.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it to everyone who loves getting lost in a good adventure, and having their imaginations sparkled with story-water! There's also plenty of "food for thought", and students and adult readers will certainly benifit from this experience as well a younger readers!

Rating:
Summary: Haroun and the Sea of Stories: a magical world created by Sa
Review: In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salmon Rushdie leads the reader through a magical journey filled with creative characters, parallels, symbolism, and most of all he teaches us the importance of words and verbal expression. When Haroun's mom leaves him, and Haroun's father Rashid, a renowned storyteller known as the "Ocean of Notions" loses his ability to tell stories, Haroun finds himself on a heroic journey to save his father's storytelling ability and learn the importance of stories. Haroun's journey takes place on Kahani, earth's second moon where the source of all stories, the sea of stories is located. Like currents, the stories in this ocean are bountiful and beautiful. The sea itself is being destroyed by Khattam Shud, "the foe of speech," and Haroun must choose whether to save his father, the storyteller, or the source of all stories. Filled with plentimaw fishes, mechanical birds, floating gardeners, shadow warriors and much more, Rushdie continues to surprise the reader with delightful and creative characters. These characters ultimately help Haroun on his journey to defeat the evil Khattam Shud, and save the ocean and it's stories from being destroyed. The following is an excerpt from the book which describes Mudra, a warrior who fights with his own shadow:

"What terrifying eyes they were! Instead of whites, they had blacks; and the irises were grey as twilight, and the pupils were white as milk." (Rushdie 125)

With descriptions like these, Salmon Rushdie paints a picture of the characters in the mind of the reader. Not only are the characters in this story are original, creative, and intriguing, but they are well described.

What's the use of stories that aren't even true? This question is asked repeatedly throughout the book. Haroun questions storytelling when his mother leaves him and his father is no longer able to tell stories. Salmon Rushdie could have been questioning storytelling himself when he wrote this book in hiding after he was censored for his work on the Satanic Verses. Haroun and the Sea of Stories explores literature and its importance. It provides an answer for this question, and the reader learns that words can bring people together and inspire many. Essentially, Salmon Rushdie has created a classic heroic tale where characters help the protagonist achieve a goal. However, in this heroic story, the protagonist learns about stories like his own, and their importance. In a way, Haroun faces the evils of censorship (Khattam Shud). This is not only a heroic story. It is a heroic story about heroic stories. With descriptive characters, unique settings, and flowing words, this book is intriguing, humorous, and fun to read. It is fast paced, and hard to put down. People of all ages will enjoy this book. In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salmon Rushdie lets us into a world of creativity, where the importance of story telling is questioned and answered.




Rating:
Summary: Required Reading for Pleasure
Review: Coming from a land where free speech is not a privilege, Rushdie presents a strong case on its place in society, government and in human relationships. A story with a strong message written in a style of a symbolic fairytale, there is meaning injected into each character and action which inspires and delights a reader willing to take the time to understand Rushdie's opinions on the brutality of censorship and the power of personal expression.