What a warm cup of tea of a book. So comforting

In a city of sad people, Rashid Khalifa is an anomaly as an upbeat storyteller who loves his wife and his son, Haroun. After his wife leaves him for their snivelly neighbor, Rashid becomes too sad to weave his famous imaginative tales, and Haroun sets out on a journey with a water genie, Iff, and a mechanical telepathic bird, Butt, to restore his dad’s storytelling abilities. But he soon finds out that it’s not just Rashid struggling to tell stories; the whole Sea of Stories has been poisoned and there’s a war brewing, headed by the villainous Khattam-Shud, the archenemy of stories and language.

Maybe I wasn't in the mood

This is a gorgeous little childrens’ tale. All the elements are there - the good, the bad, the funny, the frightening, the magical, the logical, the sheer force of adventure.

Haroun’s father is the greatest storyteller in the city of Alfibay and beyond. He’s relied upon to bring cheer to the mostly miserable inhabitants, and his success is abundant. After a heartbreak, Haroun’s father loses the ability to tell stories, and Haroun heads out on a quest to refill his father with all of the engrossing stories he’s lost.

Rushdie’s use of language here is masterful and profound. His engaging structure, and ability to weave stories within stories, with both references and imagination, is utterly glorious. He employs humour and tragedy in equal measure, both with success, in order to create this tale of bravery and resilience.

There’s a lot of love in these pages. The love between father and son is mainly apparent, and as Rushdie dedicated this story to his son, it’s clear to see his experience with familial love. Yet it’s more than just that - we have love of language and stories, love of another which can’t be understood, love allowing characters to commit acts they never would have dreamed of without that passion. It’s really beautiful.

Rushdie is commenting here on the importance of stories, and the importance of their telling. That the antagonist is someone who is entirely against language, and who lobbies for the eradication of speech, is telling in itself.

I read Midnight’s Children some years ago and loved it, but with Haroun, I can now see Rushdie’s diverse talent for prose. This is a very important and delightful story which I know I’ll come back to again.

about halway through the book, i realised it reminded me of something. but i couldn't put my finger on it. a very annoying feeling, it really is, to feel like you've read something that sorta kinda maybe looks like the thing you're eating throgh right now.

not to worry, i realised what it reminded me of. Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

yep. Salman Rushdie's writing reminded me of a radio show turned book.

is it bad? not really, no. it didn't remind me of easy, uncomplicated literature, which Adams writes, but it matched in absurdness.

now i know, people who read the series and liked it will say - no!, no no, it's not like that a bit. i'm tepmted to agree, on a larger scale. it's SF, it's extremelly funny and innuendo-ish and easy to engage in.

and this is a children's book i'm comparing it to, so this comparison shouldn't even exist. but, in my humble opinion, it exists. there's the "absurd" feeling of the characters, the story, the setting, the explanations and even the writing itself is shady, on some level.

this comparison only works one way, though. you can find Adams in Rushdie, but not that much Rushdie in Adams. Haroun is meant to teach you something about stories, about their importance, about how living without them is a curse and it should never befall upon us. the Guide is funny and lets you see how incredibly stupid humanity is and what a scam civilization is.

i read this because my History teacher asked me if it resembles a fantasy book or if it could somehow enter under the fantasy umbrella. it does have fantasy elements, but i don't see this going under that roof. it's not that it doesn't deserve it, it's just that it doesn't bring a certain style along with it. it's a children's book, and it's meant to be educational and entertaining on the simplest level, while still leaving space for a second read, where you can find other povs than you did before. fantasy is too big a name for something like this, and it's this opinion that i stand behind of.

2.5
Written in an intelligent manner, this was so much fun. Taking a dig at the art of how stories are formed. Loved the power packed beginning.
Picked this, thinking of it as a collection of short stories. Absolutely loved the first one, and was delighted to find that the story has not ended.
All the hidden meanings and interpretations were lost on me. How I wish I could understand it better.

I really wanted to like this book. It's central conceit - that stories are genuinely important, even essential - is one that I can really get behind and the concept of a sea of stories is a kind of lovely one. There are little gems of inspiration that pop up throughout the story. "What's the use of stories that aren't even true" is quite effective as the little refrain that echoes throughout the novel, and I got the occasional kick out of the absurdly chivalrous Bolo.

But unfortunately, it's a rather bad case of ideas far outstripping execution. There's an overload of puns that surpasses the point of diminishing returns, characters remain flat, and there's very little thematic development. It has all the plot contrivances of fairy tale without the element of mystery, magic, or joy that elevate them good fairy tales into something more. It's also pretty lacking in subtlety with most of its points and ideas. I'd suggest The Phantom Tollbooth instead. It has the same sort of whimsy and imagination that this book aims for, but it achieves it with a much higher degree of grace, nuance, and inspiration.

"Harún y el mar de las historias" de Salman Rushdie es considerado literatura infantil; sin embargo, yo no estoy totalmente de acuerdo. Es de esos libros que yo considero que dependiendo con qué edad lo leas, vas a descubrir diferentes cosas. Tiene muchísimo trasfondo y no creo que un niño pueda comprender todo ello.
Este libro lo escribió después de su cuarta novela, Los Versos Satánicos (1988), por la que se convirtió en objeto de varios intentos de asesinato y amenazas de muerte, incluida una fatwa, y por lo que tuvo que vivir en clandestinidad. El libro se lo dedica a su hijo Zafar.
El libro trata sobre un importantísimo cuentacuentos, el Sha del Blablablá, que pierde su talento para improvisar historias cuando su esposa lo deja. Su hijo, Harún, hace todo lo posible por que su padre recupere su don y termina viajando al mar de las historias donde deben vencer a enemigos poderosos y recuperar el don de la palabra de su padre.
El malo en este libro es Khattam-Shud, Príncipe del Silencio. Señor- sombra que obliga a todos a mantenerse callados, que mancilla las historias, las oscurece...
Creo que es bastante evidente uno de los entretejidos en el tapiz, de las realidades que podemos extraer. La historia está llena de reflexiones y yo creo que con cada lectura que se hiciera del mismo, se podría entender algo nuevo.



"—Pero pero pero ¿de qué sirve dar libertad de expresión a una persona si luego le dices que no puede utilizarla? —dijo Butt—. ¿Y no es el Poder de la Palabra el mayor de todos? Entonces debe ejercitarse plenamente."

This book is not my grade level. Definitely for someone younger. This being said it is still an amazing story and contains many life lessons for a young adult. The creativity to come up with the concept of the book is amazing and the imagery and detail is very well written. I enjoyed the characters and their personalities throughout and am happy with the ending.

Oh Mr. Rushdie! You have such a way with words! It's no wonder beautiful women flock to your feet!


okay Regine, let's be serious now

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a book that Rushdie wrote for his estranged son after the fatwa. Rushdie gives us his own version of Wonderland, Kahani. He writes about a world where stories are made, and a boy trying to rescue his father.

Rushdie gives us a book that is imaginative, enchanting, and heartfelt. Usually when a "great author" tries to write a children's novel, they sacrifice their style, and dumb themselves down so that children can appreciate the book. Not so with Rushdie. Although his style is simplified, you still get the taste of Rushdie. The imagery is still lush, and the prose pleasantly purple.

I was so captivated by the characters, especially Rashid and Haroun. I have such a close relationship with my father. Like Haroun, many of my fondest childhood memories are of my father's stories, and his jokes. Reading this book was actually quite an emotional experience for me. I can't imagine how emotional this must have been for Rushdie, who had to write the book when he was in hiding.

If you've never read Rushdie, this would be a good introduction to his work. If you've already read him, put this on your tbr list.

Rushdie, returns to his own familiar terrain with this book,the genre he has made utterly his own, Magic Realism. But this time it is not only a father writing a post-modern fairy tale for his son, Zafar, but also an author, who uses this facade to prove a point or two. Written two years since "Satanic Verses." Rushdie in this novel chooses a premise of a sad city so sad that it has forgotten its name. And of course a story teller, who suddenly loses his ability to tell stories anymore, after his own wife leaves him. Of course it is not merely a co-incidental.Deceptively simple and deeply allegorical, Rushdie creates two lands, the land of Gup, and the land of Chup. The former where stories are churned out and also maintained and the latter where people dont believe in talking. And of course conforming to the archetype of a fairy tale, a princess is captured (Princess Batcheet) and saved by her beau,Prince Bolo. Rushdie weaves this fantastic tale and entangles the audience in the the process. The deep allegorical tale does not, for once, overwhelm his tale, rather embraces it. And helps the book to transcend generations and appeal to all. The end? predictable and how a fairy tale generally ends. But yes, it remind the readers, in its own subtle way, this is also the end Rushdie wants for himself. Where the story teller regains his gift of story telling and also his wife. And of course they live happily ever after.

ೃ⁀➷ read for school

"What's the use of stories that aren't even true?"

im going to have to write an analytical essay on this anyway for school so why not write a fun little pretty one on goodreads

➳

Livro de fantasia infanto-juvenil que conta como Haroun viu seu pai, um famoso contador de histórias, perder seu dom em razão de uma desilusão amorosa.

Essa minha primeira obra do Salman Rushdie e achei bem interessante. Sempre gostei de realismo fantástico, sendo o  Murilo Rubião um dos meus maiores referenciais, inclusive lembrei varias vezes dele durante a leitura.

A narrativa é simples e ao mesmo tempo traz algumas complexidades, tendo Rushidie criado toda uma mitologia para explicar a origem das histórias de Rashid, com personagens relativamente bem caracterizados e interessantes. Além de trazer duas lições: histórias são importantes para manter a imaginação ativa e as pessoas felizes, e o silenciamento das vozes propicia a não união entre as pessoas (ou as sombras).

Não considero um livro excepcional, mas vale a pena a leitura.