haroun and the sea of stories...

what a delightful book.. it is a treat to read this children's book, which is enjoyable and pertinent for the young and the old alike; one, for its sheer simplicity, and two for the undeniable parallels that one can draw to real life. this book, which is salman rushdie's tribute to his son, is enjoyable at various levels. the writer's imagination, ability to write for children, keeping the thoughts and language simple, and yet as engaging as any other book written at any level. the fact that rushdie was not permitted to be in the country, there was a fatwa against him, that he had quite literally been gagged, is the underlying context. he didn't let that color this story tho. and credit to him for that. the storyline is predictable, as is for most children's books, and has a happy ending, again as is what we like children's books to have. but that's a fact, not a drawback. the beauty with which rushdie has woven this tale is frankly quite amazing. new found respect for him as a writer. am yet to read any of his others bodies of work, though have read and heard enough about them, needless to say. and this book is clearly completely different. the imagery is excellent. and the names of cities and people has a beautiful display of drawing from the indian context - baat-cheat, bolo, mudra, chupwala, gup city, general kitab, city of kahani, maali, king chaterjy and many more. the pun is delightful! very refreshing. a must read.