I don't often read short stories, but Rushdie has never once ceased to impress me (and, more often than not, totally bowl me over), so I figured it was worth a shot.

As expected, it was mostly magnificent. His style varies widely from story to story, demonstrating his erudition and imaginative capabilities as he jumps deftly from poignant snapshots in time to experimental postmodern monologues. As always, he writes with exuberance, precision, delicacy, joy, and occasional venom.

As other reviewers have written, some stories struck me more than others (though it's interesting to note how the stories some people highlight as dreck are the same ones that the next person will describe as their favorites). Though I enjoyed them all, I was particularly impressed with "Yorick," "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers," "Chekov and Zulu," and "The Courter" (yes, I realize that my list there covers nearly half of the book).

Contentwise, the stories cover a lot of the same topics of Rushdie's novels: the concept of "home," the often corruptive powers of religion and money, the often redemptive nature of love, and (obviously) the interactions, collisions, and engagements between East and West. The reader occasionally becomes aware that this was written during his decade of hiding after the Ayatollah's fatwa, particularly during "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers." In that story, the reader finds the narrator longing for the abstract "home," and criticizing the extreme type of tolerance that opens the doors of dialogue to intolerant people (read: people who would order a death sentence for an author because of what he wrote) because to not invite them to the table would be intolerant.

Stylistically, as others have remarked, it is curious the way that the triad of "East" stories, all of which take place in India, are written in a relatively straightforward, realistic style. Though he is not employing his magical realism or postmodern linguistic pyrotechnics here, Rushdie is as sharp as ever. In contrast, all three of the "West" stories are written in experimental postmodern styles. To my mind, this implies that the West has lost its grounding to some extent. With all of the varieties of people and thoughts inhabiting the Western world, we don't have a stable foundation of thought and philosophy. We are ummoored from reality in a way, without a clear concept of "home." The style of the three "West" stories reflects this state.

Overall, I gave this a four-star rating because short stories still aren't quite my bag. I respect what he has done here and deeply enjoyed the book, but I found myself wanting more. In a full length novel, Rushdie has the space to expand his thoughts and really grapple with huge issues. In short stories, he is limited to snapshots of those big issues, so he has a much smaller canvas on which to dazzle the reader. Nonetheless, it's still Rushdie, and it's still marvelous.

Master piece if you understand the Magic realism of Rushdie writings.

The Ties that Bind, Also Pull

In a well-crafted series of short-stories, Rushdie begins in the East, with three stories that reflect the way of life for people in the East; illustrating governmental graft and abuse, mystic religion, and violence. He then moves to the West with three stories that touch on our Western literature, capitalism, and imperialism. These are capped off with three stories that bind the whole together; illustrating the lives of Easterners who have come to the Western world. These capstones reveal the way immigrants are ever pulled in both directions by external and internal events, almost as if the gravity pull of the continents were pulling them apart.

Rushdie is a thoughtful writer, and his words carry you across oceans; immersing you into different societies. The endings are often unexpected. Actually, as a reader I was just caught up on the tide-washed shores, as I was following the rolling waves. The stories wash over you. You don't know where he is taking you. At times, you feel like an 'intimate stranger' gazing too long at other lives. By the time you close the book, you see that you have been reading about yourself as much as about a stranger. It is at once foreign and personal.

The following two quotes are an example of Rushdie's writing style. The book is well worth reading.

"We the public, are easily, lethally offended. We have come to think of taking offence as a fundamental right. We value very little more highly than our rage, which gives us, in our opinion, the moral high ground. From this high ground we can shoot down our enemies and inflict heavy fatalities. We take pride in our short fuses. Our anger elevates, transcends."

"At sixteen, you still think you can escape from your father. You aren't listening to his voice speaking through your mouth, you don't see how your gestures already mirror his; you don't see him in the way you hold your body, in the way you sign your name. You don't hear his whisper in your blood."

Salman Rushdie says a lot in a few short stories. He's clearly not willing to give up on either his East or his West heritage. And that's good because it gives him a unique voice. You can learn a lot from reading him.

Rushdie je jedan od onih pisaca koji me zanimaju, ali nikad nisu uspjeli doći na red. Zato sam objeručke prihvatila ideju klupske kolegice da ga čitamo za čitateljski klub. I nije mi žao.
Ovo je zbirka kratkih priča kojima Rushdie na satiričan i izazovan način želi čitatelju prenijeti svoje stavove o razlikama između istoka (Indije, Pakistana, muslimana) i zapada (Engleske kao kolonijalne sile, zapadnjačkog potrošačkog društva). Priče su mi bile većinom zanimljive i potaknule su me na razmišljanje o svim razlikama. Bilo je i par priča koje su mi laički rečeno bile bez veze i nisam ih razumjela, nisam skužila „što je pjesnik htio reći“.
Pročitala sam i pogovor engleskog i pogovor hrvatskog izdanja i oni su mi dali još nekakav dodatni kontekst Rushdijevim razmišljanjima, iako su se moje pretpostavke kod nekih priča pokazale točne.
Evo malo i o svakoj priči:
ISTOK
1. Dobar savjet od rubina je rjeđitt***
Djevojčina odluka je za pet. Isprva sam se pobojala za nju, ali snašla se cura.
2. Besplatni radiottttt**
Ova mi je bila tužna i tu se baš jasno vidi ta razlika između istoka i zapada i kako je ta se kolonizacija uplela u sve sfere istočnjačkog života. Ali u ovom slučaju ne na dobar način.
3. Prorokova vlasttttt*****
Jedna od najboljih priča u knjizi. Provokativna. Eto što vjerski fanatizam sve može učiniti ljudima.
ZAPAD
1. Yoricktttttt*
Ovu apsolutno nisam shvatila i mislim da mi je jedna od dvije najgluplje priče u ovoj zbirci.
2. Na dražbi rubinskih cipelicattt*****
Ova priča savršeno dočarava ludilo zapadnjačkog potrošačkog društva i ideju kako će svaka roba naći svog kupca. Rushdie kao da ju je napisao u ovom našem dobu društvenih mreža u kojem je normalna pomama za nekim nebitnim predmetom kad ga influenceri spomenu.
I je li moguće da je Weir u ovoj priči dobio ideju za svog Marsovca?!?!?
3. Kristofor Kolumbo i kraljica Izabela Španjolska ispunjavaju svoj odnos *
Onak, WTF?
ISTOK, ZAPAD
1. Suglasje sferattttt****
Mislim da je ipak za sve bila kriva šizofrenija. A obrat na kraju – lajk.
2. Chekov i Zuluttttt***
Star Trek je valjda jedan od najboljih ambasadora za povezivanje ne samo istoka i zapada, nego svih rasa i religija na svijetu.
3. Udvorniktttttt*****
Joj ova mi je bila baš lijepa, i pomalo tužna, i zabavna. Savršeno pokazuje sudar svjetova, neshvaćanje različitosti i čežnju (starijih) za onim poznatim, onim svojim.

Book Club Osijek 2024. – 4 (Ana)

3 ulduzla 4 ulduz arasında qalmışdım. Amma 4 ün üzərində dayandım çünki yenidən Salman Rüşdüyə qayıdıb oxumaq fikrim var.

Kitab üç hissədən ibarətdir.
1.Şərq
2.Qərb
3.Şərq-Qərb
Şərq hissəsi koloritli, ətirli, mistik, sehrli və fərqli idi. Oxuyanda sanki ordasan, hər şey yanında, gözünün qabağında baş verir və sən də bu tamaşanın bir hissəsisən.
Qərb hissəsi isə əksinə koloritsiz, ətrsiz, mistikasız, sehrsiz və çox dolaşıq gəldi.
Şərq-qərb hissəsi isə hər ikisinin qarışığı idi.

Mətndə tənhalıq, əlacsızlıq, hüzn kifayət qədərdir. Görünür hindistanlı heç zaman axıra kimi ingilis ola bilmir... Olsa belə üzdə olur, necə deyərlər yalandan)))

Very good short stories about the east, the west and all the people in the middle. Just to show that even if the context are different, people are all the same.

Brevi storie sull'est, sull'ovest e tutte le persone che si trovano in mezzo. Il modo giusto per mostrare che, anche se il contesto é differente, le persone sono sempre le stesse.

Rushdie is such a beautiful writer. I normally don't read short stories, as I can't help but feel that something is missing, but these stories were full, meaningful, and blended together so well to create a larger understanding of the book's themes of location, home, immigration, culture, and belonging.

An excellent anthology and compilation of beautiful stories which materials were accrued from eclectic sources. Both Occidental dream and oriental mysticism mingle together in this hybrid literature. West drown in the ocean of East and East fly in the sky of West. Its Western part is more Indian than any other Indian literature and its Indian part is more Western than any other western literature. Its prose are magical, lyrical and poetic. Rushdie is the inventor of a new English language, the architect of Indian English. What is Shakespeare to the English literature, Rushdie is the same to the Indian English literature?

I want to read more Rushdie. He has such an excellent voice, or rather versatility of voices. Each of the sections in this book dealt with identity and the relations between the east and the west. The first section, “East,” was pretty good. I enjoyed “The Prophet’s Hair” the most out of the three stories, although “The Free Radio” was close behind.

From the second section, “West,” I really liked “Yorick,” a retelling of Hamlet. The narrative voice in this one was so verbose and fun, although it did make it harder to follow. “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers” was really good too, but it didn’t click for me in the same way. The story about Christopher Columbus was weird.

The final section, “East, West,” was my least favourite. I’m not sure why, the stories just didn’t click for me. “Harmony of the Spheres” made me feel gross reading it, and “Chekhov and Zulu” was just eh. I didn’t understand why it had the Star Trek references. I think both of them were well told stories, I just didn’t care about them. However, “The Courtier” was really good. I’m not sure if it was the 60s setting, or the chess games, or just the fact that I knew how to say “Mr. Mxyzptlk.” It was just the most engaging story, and incorporated the idea of East and West the best for me. It might have been my favourite of the book, I’m not sure. It definitely had my favourite ending.

As in any short story collection, the stories here varied wildly but overall I enjoyed my time with this book. The first (Good Advice is Better Than Rubies) and the last (The Courters) stories are most definitely the strongest in the collection with the latter reading incredibly personal to the author.

This collection raises the questions of identity, of borders in the sand and the sea, of history that shape us, choices we make, validity of nostalgia for something you only experienced as a story from your parents, and finally the big boss of what exactly makes us who we are. Spoiler alert: nobody knows.

Do not start Rushdie with this book though. It is a great conversation to have after initial introduction.

Salman Rushdie's occasional magical realism elements, occasional cliffhangers find themselves sprinkled in this medley of short stories, which carry the theme of intermingling of Indian-foreign cultures and fates. These stories by themselves are rendered beautiful not just by the author's panache in narration, but also by this complex palate and diversity of styles across stories which make any curation of objects interesting. Some deal with Indians immigrating/immigrated to England in a post Indian-independence world and making/trying to make a future within the usual hostility towards an outsider, and accompanied by the loneliness that distance naturally creates. Some are well adapted and have embraced/have been embraced to feel that they belong in this modern world that exists beyond national boundaries and conflicting pasts. Some are just caught in the after-effects of the changes that the colonial British left in their wake. And then there are stories which are just happening irrespective of the space and time, but have this exploratory element of human nature which connects everything. The dichotomy of the two opposites that east and west represent are first observed separately, and then, as naturally as we think of the confluence point of these two poles in our mind, do we arrive at probably the highlight, the east-west section that concludes this anthology where the author shows us his acumen for changing styles like one changes clothes.

n  
n  Eastn  
n   Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies - The pathos of unconventional romance, a signal for modernity and western freedom. n  
n   The Free Radio - An unfulfilled reality compensated by imagination, the universal allure and caution of foreign promises. n  
n   The Prophet's Hair - (Probably the most magical-realist of all) The corrupting and potential of native beliefs. n  
n  Westn  
n   Yorick - (One of the most creative ones!) Imagines the childhood of Prince Hamlet and how he is driven towards scheming patricide through his jester - The controlling grip of passions and consequences of abandoning reason in the face of it. n  
n   At The Auction of the Ruby Slippers - (My favourite, by far!) Some underground bidding over a pair of shoes whose magic can solve any world problem - A powerful symbol of how lives are universally pivoted and altered around the fantastical pursuit of certain dreams advertised as the solution-to-all-problems. n  
n   Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship (Santa Fé, AD 1492) - A tribute to the spirit of exploration and challenge that individuals feed on to fulfil a sense of purpose in their lives. n  
n  East, Westn  
n   The Harmony of the Spheres - Friendship between a Welsh and an Indian origin person connected by a love for occult and dark magic - The allure of escapism and how it dangerous it can be. n  
n   Chekov and Zulu - Friendship between two Indian origin British officials who were connected by a love of Star Trek - A contrast between how two people adapt to lives in a foreign place and diverge paths despite an endearing connection. n  
n   The Courter - (Brilliant conclusion!) Courtship between an Ayah/house-help and a porter - The mis-fitness of two foreigners connects them through love and brings vitality to the otherwise draught of their own lives. n  
n