Salman Rushdie is the master of the English language and it shows in these nine short stories. The stories are simple and the collection is neatly divided into three stories from India, three from the west and three hybrid stories. Plus, Rushdie knows how to spin a tale - short, concise and often with a great punch. "The Harmony of the Spheres" is very disturbing and yet :Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies" is a wonderful love story. He covers all the bases even with a sci-fi futuristic story "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers".

I am a big Rushdie fan and this is one of the few books that I haven't read. Having read his autobiography "Joseph Anton" recently, I see the importance of this book. Written after "The Satanic Verses" controversy, he tried to bridge the gap but sadly the "believers" didn't buy it. Now thirty years later, I see it as an act of beauty and truth that shows its relevance to our modern world of cross cultures. We need more stories!

3.5 - 4 stars. Some excellent stories in this collection but I wasn't a fan of all of them.

Tough to read and understand. Purposeless short tales.

He is not at his best here, though he tried real hard; my personal parameter of Rushdie's best is Midnight's Children on the scale of his usual classical narrative and craft, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories on the scale of sheer storytelling. Perhaps some of the stories, especially two really odd ones in the 'West' failed to hit the cord because he tried too hard to carry a craft he is not good at; consequently, the narrative comes out as a fragmented assortment, which is neither imagination nor plot driven. Anyway, it is a fast, casual read and two or three stories are really worthwhile the time.

This review is on the short story ‘The Prophets Hair’.
I wouldn’t recommend reading the short story ‘The Prophets Hair’ in the book ‘East West’. Personally I feel that it was confusing and it in a way portrays religious beliefs as superstitions. The start of the book was quite interesting when he talks about how Atta and Huma goes to the lair looking for a thief but as the reader goes on, the book becomes very puzzling and the reader gets lost in the story.
Firstly, the story is not consistent. It was hard to keep track of what was going on in the story. The sentence structure Rushdie uses is very complex. While reading The Prophet’s Hair there were some sentences that I couldn’t understand and had to read it twice before I got what the writer was actually trying to convey. The book was really confusing and it didn’t make a lot of scene because everyone just died at the end. I think that the ending was very vague. It did not make a lot of sense to kill so many people in such a short time in the book.
Secondly, the story portrays religious belief as superstition. I think that the Hair of Prophet Mohammed didn’t posses magic in it. It is just something that a person believes in and that was likely to happen. For example, I believe that if you see a black cat crossing your path then it is unlucky and something bad can happen to you, but what I think is when you see a black cat, you think that something bad is going to happen to you and it eventually will. In the story there are a lot of superstitions that we believe in and it in a way makes fun of the religious beliefs.

"East"
- Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies ★★★★☆
- The Free Radio ★★★★☆
- The Prophet's Hair ★★★★★

"West"
- Yorick ★★★★☆
- At The Auction of the Ruby Slippers ★★★★☆
- Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship (Santa Fé, AD 1492) ★★★★☆

"East, West"
- The Harmony of the Spheres ★★★★★
- Chekov and Zulu ★★★★★
- The Courter ★★★★★

First things first. I have not read Rushdie's seminal work, Midnight's Children. Perhaps I should have, before I picked up this anthology. After reading this, I'm more on the fence about Rushdie than ever. Short stories have never fascinated me too much, as I always prefer a leisurely unraveling of a story with its attendant detail. However, I have read and enjoyed the form when in the hands of someone like Jhumpa Lahiri.
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The anthology is divided into three segments. The East. The West. The East, West. I thoroughly enjoyed the first segment, was hopelessly lost during most of the second and found myself on terra firma once more by the time the third came around. There are hints of the much feted genius of Rushdie in evidence, as he tells charming tales rooted in the Indian soil, folklore and society. However, when he moves on to tales of the West, the writing becomes prone to an uneasy rambling, like forcing oneself to wear ill-fitted shoes. Rushdie is at his sparkling best, however, when writing of the coming together of the East and West. Like the title of one of his stories, it is here that he finds 'The Harmony of The Spheres'. His understanding of the immigrant experience is rooted in his own life, lending a familiarity and depth of understanding that shines through in his words, especially as one reaches the last story 'The Courtier'. This is perhaps the only story in the book that explains the phenomenon of Salman Rushdie.
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Read it for the occasional flashes of extraordinary writing. Skip the 'West' tales if you, like me, find yourself in danger of flinging a book across the room when confronted with unnecessarily convoluted prose.

DNF- the first two stories were very good, but most of the stories that came after were hard to follow.

Enjoyed the Indian "East" short stories tremendously. Somehow did not relate much (actually not at all) to the "West" stories - somehow in those, felt he was trying too hard to impress when simple is what he does best - although since I've not read Rushdie before have no clue what he does best but that was my impression - that he was trying to capture an audience not familiar with him... Maybe I failed to see the message of the collection?. "Yorrick" just didn't seem to fit in with the other themes but maybe I was expecting far too much East and disappointed there was less.. Of the "West" stories only the auction of the "Ruby Red Shoes" pulled any chords with me. This does not put me off Rushdie - am glad I got a taste of him, though I will be more selective in choosing the next one of his.

Not sure how I've managed not to read any books by Salman Rushdie until now .... to be corrected asap! I was enthralled by his remarks at a recent National Book Festival in DC and put several novels on my To Be Read list. I liked this collection of short stories; the East stories more than the West but all were creative and interesting. This felt like a delicious appetizer before a more fulfilling main entree. The fantastical elements reminded me a bit of Huraki Murakami and Gabriel Garcia Marquez - two of my favorite authors.

Classic Rushdie and much in the same style as his novels but in the digestible short story format, to which I am especially partial. I wish he had more short story collections. I get such a kick out of his writing. He's delightfully and even shockingly irreverent. I particularly enjoyed "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers". Such an acid trip!

Nine beautiful samples of typical Rusdie flavours. All are great