I am not generally a fan of short stories, but these were poignant and to the point and did not leave you with the feeling of an abrupt end. No meandering, no foreshadowing--simple short stories that wrench your heart and leave you wondering about life's complexities. The common feeling of the heart jockeying for position in one's new home vs from where one came, the feeling of complete allegiance to the new country esp when one grows up there from a young age, the feeling of being a nomad that although one may feel like it is their home one may not be accepted as belonging...the constant struggle and tension of being someone and of belonging somewhere.

Einige Kurzgeschichten haben mich richtig abgeholt, einige waren mir zu detailreich und voller Verweise, die ich nicht kannte.
Alles in allem wurde ich trotzdem oft zum Nachdenken angeregt. :)

I read "The Prophet's Hair" from Salman Rushdie's "East, West". This story bases itself on the human need/desire for money and religion.

Contrary to popular belief, Rushdie portrays religion as a dark and imprisoning force instead of a liberating one. When Hashim comes in possession of Muhammad’s hair (Rushdie’s symbol for religion), he suddenly becomes an extremely orthodox and devout Muslim. This change in Hashim is accompanied by the new constrictions he places on his family as well as the violent turn in his nature. It seems as if Hashim is possessed by religion; his blind faith and strong belief in superstitions only make the situation worse for him and his family, with the eventual result being his and his children’s death. Religion, thus, acts as the oppressor.

The importance that Rushdie places on money and human greed is exaggerated and misleading. Hashim, the moneylender, is initially driven by money. It is when he switches from worshipping money to worshipping God that his entire household is uprooted. Sheikh Sin, the Thief of Thieves, has an insatiate desire to get richer. He is ultimately met with death due to this greed. Even flat characters such as the flower vendor and Sin’s sons see money as the ultimate power. Rushdie portrays money as the only incentive that motivates people to be good or bad, religious or impious.

Lastly, “The Prophet’s Hair” presents a thief, an ill doer, as the only solution to the problem’s being faced by Hashim’s family; he is the ultimate liberator. By placing a thief in good light, Rushdie conveys the wrongful message that performing deceiving deeds can prove to be helpful and can sometimes lead to success. What Rushdie depicts is that doing evil can have a good result; it is a message that is immoral and disrespectful.

Due to the presentation of these three issues/ themes in his story, Rushdie fails to impress me. I do not like the portrayal of religion as a dark force as well as the exaggeration of human greed as it makes the story wicked and dissolute. The depiction of the thief as the good guy also tends to make Rushdie’s story weak and immoral. I, therefore, do not like Rushdie’s “The Prophet’s Hair” because of the themes that it presents. I do not recommend you to read this book when there are far better books on the shelf.

This is the first short story collection I’ve read by my favorite writer. It’s incredibly clever collection-- not surprisingly-- and is organized into stories centered on the East, stories centered on the West (England mainly) and then stories that refuse to choose. In West, there’s a story about Christopher Columbus which originally appeared in the New Yorker. It is one of the best stories I’ve ever read and I think it nails Christopher Columbus in the most surprising way possible. It is a jewel.

I also love the story set in Srinigar. About a relic and a family that lives in a big house on the lake. the images are so beautiful the ending is inspired. Of course Kashmir is a piece of heaven and everyone knows that. Chekov and Zulu are impossible to describe... I’m surprised it was never published before as it was my third favorite because it was so surprising so originals.

It was a delicious treat to read these gems. Rushdie deserves a Nobel Prize. Period.

Yazarın politik mücadelesi saygi eder ancak muhteşem öyküleri olduğu söylenemez bu kitaptakilerin.

Umm...no. I'm not really a fan of writing just for the sake of writing, and this really is a great example of that. These short stories have no purpose - filled with bland characters and high-writing just for the sake of having something down on paper. I thought the East stories were annoying, but the West stories were even worse - confusing and pseudo-high-minded and heavily worded. Not worth the read (I actually couldn't even finish it - had to skip the last fifty pages or so...on with life.)

GENERAL:
- short story collection
- enjoyable but not the most amazing
- some stories were more engaging than others
- common theme: the desire for transcendence

LIKES:
- pacing of each story, as well as the overall collection, was great.
- Rushdie displayed an impressively wide range of writing styles.
- each story had amazing endings that were punchy and left me awed.
- "Harmony of the Spheres" was one that moved the best. Captivating beginning. Plot that moves forward (but doesn't rush). Strong ending.

DISLIKES:
- not as magic realism as the others works I've read by him.... only "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers" and "The Prophet's Hair" were sort of fantasy-esque
- "Yorick" was hard to understand for me. But that's a me problem and not an author problem.
- "Chekhov and Zulu" was also hard to understand in parts because of the Star Trek references.

SHORT STORIES RANKED:
- "The Courter"
- "Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate their Relationship"
- "The Prophet's Hair"
- "The Harmony of the Spheres"
- "The Free Radio"
- "Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies"
- "Chekhov and Zulu"
- "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers"
- "Yorick"

This was my first time to read Salman Rushdie and I was thoroughly impressed. His command of language is masterful and extensive. The 'East' stories were probably my favorite as they had the most traditional format. In 'West', Rushdie began playing with language and setting a little more, and some of them were difficult for me to understand. 'East, West' stories were good, but depressing. But that I think, is just my fault, because I like happy endings.
Favorite stories: 'Yorick', 'Auction of the Ruby Slippers' and 'Chekov and Zulu'

I read 'The Prophet’s Hair' by Salman Rushdie from this book, and it has a good theme, but a very dark meaning. The story is written in Magic Realism like many other works by Rushdie. The story line and the way Rushdie is portrayed it is extremely negative. It shines a dark shadow on any form of religion, specifically orthodox Islam. Although I support freedom of expression, it is unjustified when what someone expresses explicitly attacks a particular set of people or beliefs and that is exactly what this story does. Through very pointed metaphors and allusions Rushdie casts religion and orthodox religious people in a negative light and makes it seem as though religion and religious following itself as the reason for everything difficult and wrong in a person’s life. This is quite evident in the way everything goes wrong for the moral and good family when the head of the family comes in contact with the greatest symbol of his religion, the vial containing the Prophet’s Hair in it. The story conveys that just because of that one relic, Hashim became the most orthodox Muslim in the world, and this too is represented as a bad and violent trait, although Islam is one the most peaceful religions. Islam not being sacred for Rushdie does not justify him mocking or attacking the religion or the people who follow it.

Rushdie’s language is also just as pretentious. The sentences are long and the language is verbose and vivid. This makes the story even stranger and harder to read. The sentences lose their meaning in their length and are awkward as a result, making the entire experience of reading the story unpleasant. He uses long and hard words where much simpler words will do just as well. Some sections of the story need to be reread to understand their complete message because of the nature of the language used and the length of the sentences. Sentences such as “These breaches of the family’s unwritten laws of decorum alarmed Atta and Huma, and when, that evening their mother attempted to…” (Rushdie pg. 47) are winded in a complicated manner that is quite unnecessary. The word choice and the construction of the sentences are quite awkward.

There is situational as well as dramatic irony used in the story. The way the irony is used suggests that religion is just like money; it corrupts people and destroys their moral ground. This theme is hard to convey in exactly the right way and Rushdie does not seem to have grasped that. There can be several parallels drawn between Sheikh Sin and Hashim who are both greedy, one for money and the other for artifacts. This greed kills both of them and destroys their families. This aspect of the story furthers the negative denotation in it. The characters in the story are not very well developed, and this makes his argument even weaker. The theme Salman Rushdie has attempted to convey through this story is just as good as it is controversial and needs to be portrayed very carefully. I admire the idea, but it’s execution by Rushdie is not good, the language as well as the irony used is too extreme and in its harshness the story falls short of the effect it could have had.

I read this book with my husband in a hosptial in India, after he had an attack from his leukemia. I read this series of short stories to him as he lay in his hospital bed. He was very ill in a foreign country, and despite these very frigthening circumstances, we laughed till we cried, convinced that this book could speak to no one else in the world more directly than to us.

çok saçma, çok kişisel bir duygu ama okurken sürekli gani müjde'nin ölümsüz eseri (!) "kahpe bizans"'ın bir o kadar ölümsüz şarkısı aklıma geldi:

"doğu batı sentezinden kimseye zarar gelmez..."

neyse adeta 90'lar çöplüğü beynimin bu oyununu paylaştığıma göre; beni açıkçası hintçe seslenmeler, ünlemler, ünvanlar falan çok yordu. o yüzden kırdım zaten puanını. tabi bir de başucu kitabım olacak derecede taptığım floransa büyücüsünden sonra okudum ki; hayal kırıklığı yarattı. sakal-ı şerif öyküsü çok ince mesajlar içeriyor okunası...

yine kitaptaki öykü isimlerinden esinlendiğim bir cümle ile bitirelim...

"iyi öykü yakutlardan bile ender bulunur."

This is a lovely collection of short stories, it really is. Divided into three parts (East, West, East West), it is written in a variety of styles. I read this book today (in one sitting) and found it quite an endearing read. Salman Rushie does really well in the short form. I'm really glad I picked this one in the library today. (I actually wrote a rather lengthily review and then I accidentally deleted it. What is one to do? Instead of writing another lengthily review, I'll just grade the stories separately and write bullet reviews.)

EAST
GOOD ADVICE IS RARER THAN RUBIES 4/5
Surprisingly optimist and heart-warming ending was not what I expected, but it felt appropriate enough. I quite liked this one.
THE FREE RADIO 4/5
A successful short story, quite depressive and gloom in tone but it feels all the more authentic for it.
THE PROPHET'S HAIR 5/5
It is written in what I would call Rushie's own style of magic realism and thus quite delightful in its mix of subtle irony, dark humor and sincere tragedy.

WEST
YORICK 3/5
This story that puts words into mouth of fictional characters like Hamlet and Ophelia is interestingly written. The experimental style of writing is a nice change, but quite frankly I found it a bit hard to follow.
AT THE AUCTION OF THE RUBY SLIPPERS 4/5
Set in a future world, this story talks of a man who attends an auction for legendary ruby slippers in hope of winning a lost love. I quite liked its clever commentary on consumerism and its fantastical elements.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN CONSUMMATE THEIR RELATIONSHIP 4/5
One more story belonging to magic realism, this wonderfully imaginative tale will be hard to forget.

EAST, WEST
THE HARMONY OF THE SPHERES 4/5
Excellent portraying of characters and a fantastic ending make it stand out.
CHEKHOV AND ZULU 4/5
At times a bit hard to follow, maybe because the Star Trek references and metaphors took a life of their own. I was having a hard time figuring who among the Star Trek is supposed to represent who in the modern India (are Klingons a metaphor for Sikhs?) Still, it is a wonderfully written story that speaks of two friends and their relationship.
THE COURTIER 5/5
A touching tale that touches on many aspects of life of one immigrant family. The people they come in contact with have tales of their own to tell. Especially sweet was the unexpected romance between an elderly Indian Aya (nanny) and a Slavic porter who suffered a stroke and who knows what else, but could still play chess as a master he used to be and teach it to Aya.