Rushdie ravishes the pre-conceived notions of diaspora through his obtuse stories. The life-affirming characters are not consumed in the oceans of wistfulness, rather choose to navigate through their respective post-modern struggles. The stories are written masterfully, encompassing elements of humor and irony which bridge the archetypal divide between East and West. The autobiographical elements do not disturb the balance of sympathies between the orient and the occident, allowing Rushdie to explore the similarity of the human condition across the confluence of the cultures. Definitely, a book racking one's brain against.

I'm made my way through a decent chunk of Rushdie's backlist this year, but this collection of short stories isn't one I particularly enjoyed or plan to revisit. While Rushdie explores some compelling themes and turns familiar narratives on their heads in interesting new ways in this collection, I don't think the short story is an ideal format for showcasing his (considerable) skills, not least because one of his greatest strengths lies in conjuring novels that read like vast patchworks of short stories and vignettes, woven together in dizzyingly unpredictable ways. The stories in this collection often feel rather abortive, and have failed to make a lasting impression on me.

‘Home’ has become such a scattered, damaged, various concept in our present travails. There is so much to yearn for. There are so few rainbows any more. How hard can we expect even a pair of magic shoes to work? They promised to take us home, but are metaphors of homeliness comprehensible to them, are abstractions permissible? Are they literalists, or will they permit us to redefine the blessed word? Are we asking, hoping for, too much? As our numberless needs emerge from their redoubts and press in upon the electrified glass, will the shoes, like the Grimms’ ancient flatfish, lose patience with our ever-growing demands and return us to the hovels of our discontents?
*
Since those days I have dedicated myself to her memory. I have made of myself a candle at her temple.
I am aware that, after all these years of separation and non-communication, the Gale I adore is not entirely a real person. The real Gale has become confused with my re-imagining of her, with my private elaboration of our continuing life together in an alternative universe devoid of ape-men. The real Gale may by now be beyond our grasp, ineffable.

Absolutely charming, heartwarming, and wonderfully weird collection of short stories. As someone who straddles the East and West, and feels the pulls of both noises around my neck, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. As always Rushdie never fails to impress.

Eine Sammlung interessanter Geschichten von jemandem geschrieben, der sich zwischen Ost und West bewegt

A book of short stories, three focusing on the "East", three focusing on the "West", and three mixed between the two. I think I prefer Rushdie in the short story format; at least, I liked this book much better than the novels of his I've read. I found the three "West" stories particularly interesting. Each one focused on an aspect of what you might call modern Western mythology (Shakespeare and Hamlet, The Wizard of Oz, Christopher Columbus), but twisted and turned around, and retold in his usual lyrical style. Very good.

Interessante bundel met korte verhalen. Ik hou enorm van het magisch realisme! Helaas kwam ik er bij meerdere verhalen niet goed doorheen. Onderstaande waren mijn favorieten (en dus waar ik mijn beoordeling op gebasseerd heb):
- Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies
- The Free Radio
- The Prophet's Hair
- At The Auction of the Ruby Slippers

8/10 stars

Salman Rushdie's collected short stories focused on the meaning of home.

Some real pearls in this one: At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, angry and prescient, and laughing madly through tears, Chekhov and Zulu, a heartwarming and heartbreaking tale of friendship and displacement masterfully clad in the Star Trek language and concepts, and The Courter, a beautiful love story stretched between East and West.

There was one complete dud, too, alas -Yorick was just absolutely not to my liking, even with the knowledge that it's meant as a typical cock-and-bull story I felt that the joke was stretched too thin.

My first of Salman Rushdie and I'm quite nervous about it. Heard a lot about this author and been thinking to try out reading a book or two by him but haven't had a chance, yet. But luckily I got this short stories book from the Big Bad Wolf so I guess it will do as my first reading from Salman Rushdie.

The book separated to three part-- East, West and East, West. I really love the East part, enjoyed reading all of the 3 stories-- narratives were gripping, took me into a journey of cultural and tradition, family and religious. While the West part was a bit confusing and thought-provoking for me (I actually twice reading the Christopher Columbus story pheww!). I was a bit blurred at this part and really trying my best to enjoy my read. The writings took me into an imaginary and bizarre feeling but somehow I love the writing style a lot. It seems 'heavy' but quite impressive. East, West was my favorite as well, the balance of the other two parts-- I love Chekov and Zulu so much! Wonderful prose and entertaining.

A very intriguing book, I may say. Not bad for my first. 3.5*!

I’ll start off by saying that I’m not really a fan or avid reader of short stories, so this probably impacted my thoughts on the book. A few of the short stories were entertaining, but overall I kind of missed the point or the central thesis of all of the stories. Not a huge fan, but it was a quick read.

I thought the stories in the first section, "East," were decent without ever reaching greatness. They're interesting and fun, but not anything I'm going to think about a lot. Perhaps it's a cultural barrier that prevents me from being really compelled by them, but I just don't feel that excited about them upon reflection.

The Christopher Columbus story is the only one from "West" that I feel the same way about. The other two from this section were brilliant. "Yorick" is a fascinating retelling of Hamlet. It changes the dynamics of oppressed and oppressor from the original, forcing you to rethink western biases. And "The Auction" is such a brilliant ode to our longing for home. I think that's the desire everyone in the West is still seeking, and the portrayal here was brilliant.

The three stories of "East, West" were also brilliant. The wide variety of pop culture references throughout work surprisingly well. Honestly, I'll never see Star Trek the same again. But I have trouble trying to pick a favorite between these three, because they were all so good. All present us with the troubles faced by immigrants who have moved to the country that colonized their homeland, particularly the different ways they are still treated as colonized subjects, as inferiors, as people to exoticize. The troubles of "West" and "East" come together to create this collection's most complex stories, and perhaps its best too.

Salman Rushdie uses a vast array of sophisticated narrative techniques to clarify his views about religion and its apparent stronghold on an individual’s life. The Prophet’s Hair has an almost satirical theme, often mocking individuals who absorb themselves into the world of religion. While some might perceive this as offensive and demeaning, the point of the story remains valid. Through the short story, the reader is shown a glimpse into a man whose world is run by religion, and it tries not to diminish the stronghold of any one religion, but rather to emphasize that family and friends should not be forgotten in the chase of religion.

While the story steps on eggshells by referring to the Prophet (the founder of Islam) in an unintentionally negative light, Rushdie is generally careful to not blatantly attack any religion but subtly displays his opinion on the falsehood of religion by means of a story. He has a constant theme of sarcasm and mockery but maintains a mature stance about his views. He is aggressive in his tone, but all the while remaining respectful not to blatantly accuse religion, or the preaching’s of religion itself, on the creation of a selfish man. Many have accused Rushdie of blasphemy towards Islam, however he is wise in directing his visions for religion through appropriate, but certainly controversial channels. Rushdie bases his story on the fundamentals of magic realism, using fictional or magical elements and blending it into a real-world scenario. He easily emphasizes his point of view on religion as he characterizes the father as being overtly obsessive of a tiny object, and in the process creating turmoil between his family. Rushdie uses omniscient point of view, narrating from an unknown this party. Symbolism through the prophets hair, and a certain native-ness within Rushdie's diction can easily be noticed.

Lastly, Rushdie uses irony to illuminate the strict cultures and traditions of India. He uses language related to that of texts speaking of a post-colonial India to depict the brutality of Indian traditions with doses of irony. Through The Prophet's Hair, Rushdie uses distinct literary tools to put emphasis on a deeper meaning, allowing the reader time to reflect on his controversial views on religion, while doing his best to avoid anger and hatred from devout religious personalities.