The End of All Ends

In the past week, I have officially finished Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. I am really happy that it is over, though I have definitely learned more than I ever though imaginable out of a children's book. The last section was good, but nothing I was not expecting. Every loose end I would have wanted was tied up and I was not left with any confusion. I did think it was cute that Rushdie named the city that Haroun and Rashid were from Kahani. I think it made the story come full circle.

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Ah Hero's Journey, my favorite yet least favorite lens to read a story through as well as the other lenses.... I have learned a lot about Salman Rushdie in these past few weeks that has really helped me understand his style and the point of his story. If I were to ever read this book again, I find I would laugh more often. When I think about it, there is a level of humor and social criticisms that Rushdie is trying to get across and they are very accurate to the real world as well as his life. And I love social criticisms! The satire of Prince Bolo and Snooty Buttoo were my personal favorites. I could clearly see the connection Rushdie strives for. I would be interested to learn about some of my other favorite books' authors and the connection to the world they lived in as they were writing the story and the characters' lives/comments.

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I already mentioned my favorite annotation of this section of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, but I liked it so much that I feel it is necessary to mention a second time. At the end of the story, after Haroun and Rashid returned home, a policeman tells them of the city's name saying, 'Kahani, Isn't it a beautiful name for a city? It means "story", you know,' (Rushdie 209). That honestly was the best line of the book.

There is just a magical element to that revelation. I never knew language and its meaning could be such a powerful tool. It was so simply written, but had a powerful impact.

Speaking of the things to annotate for.... the words and meaning of the story. I thought it was very interesting that Salman Rushdie chose the names for the characters and places to mean specific things. I also really appreciated that there was a glossary in the back, so I could search the meanings. I thought it was a nice touch of Rushdie tying the fictional story and his life together. The words made me want to learn more about Hindustani words.

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I remember before my class started reading this book, my teacher posed the thought, "Fictional Stories are Morally Good Lies". At first glance, I was confused about that phrase having an impact on some children's story I was about to read. Now, I see its relevance. Fictional stories can be, but are not limited to morally good lies. Rushdie chose to tell Haroun's story as a similar one to his own real-life story. He wanted to talk about how at one time he lost his ability to tell stories after the issues with the Satanic Verses. In my opinion, Rushdie is a parallel to Rashid. Once lost, but with the help of his family and a few new friends, found again. Obviously, parts of the story are embellished, but when the opportunity arose for Rushdie to tell a story, he picked one that he was already very familiar with. I think that concept of writing about what you are familiar with goes back to the TED Talk about the Storytelling Animal and the readings we did along with it.Humans always seem to imagine themselves in the story as a way to test out potential reality. In Salman Rushdie's case, he was trying to make sense of something that already happened. Based on the definition of lies and intending for your audience to believe it, I don't think he wanted his audience to think this story was real.

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This week, my class again did not disappoint with discussion. There was a huge debate about lies and their intentions. While I understood the reason for the argument, I felt my class was just unnecessarily dragging it out.

Some of the more interesting parts of the discussion geared towards the ending of the story. I personally feel like it fit the story, but others in my class wished it could have been longer and not as happy. I feel that if the story had a different ending, it wouldn't have been as good of a children's book. I am not sure who wants to read a story without a happy ending to their 7 year old child, but that is just me.

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Haroun and the Sea of Stories: Final Thoughts

I would give this book about a 7/10. I liked some aspects of the book, such as the satire and the references to Rushdie's real life. The plot is very predictable, but I guess I am not surprised by that. I think that it was a "cute" book with a happy message. The concept I will take away most from reading this is what I learned about storytelling and lies. Each author has a story to tell and more than likely it is about them.