Haroun and the Sea of Stories

What a phenomenal read! This brought back so many memories from my childhood! When I was in my single digits my mother got me a book that was a personalized story. It wasn't nearly this elaborate or lengthy but it was still very cool to be the protagonist in something professionally printed!

I loved how this novel was written! Easy to read and yet educational! It reminded me of Shakespeare in a way. Partly for fun and partly for education, or written for two different "classes" of reader.

Some of the things I found really interesting are:
p.19: "... and when she hugged him the great cascades of her flesh seemed to surround him completely, to his considerable alarm." I liked this quote because it really shows how attentive Rushdie is to the perspective of a child. This is something I really appreciate. Really finding that connection, or rather, really holding that connection through maturity and into adulthood is something that is rare and, I believe (as the author seems to), should be cherished.

p.20: the use of the word "Panjandrums" makes me really happy. I haven't seen this word in years!

p.22: "Haroun wanted to get those words back, to pull them out of his father's ears and shove them back into his own mouth; but of course he couldn't do that." I think everyone has felt this way before. It's why I always forgive people. I know that occasionally, no matter how bad we wish it didn't, it happens. One day I just hope the person I accidentally slip with will be as forgiving as I am.

p.51: reference to The Ocean of Story which we either downloaded or read online. I'll blog about that as soon as I get to it. Probably tomorrow.

p.97-8: One of my favorites. The response to the idea of torture. "Where do you pick up such bloodthirstiness? ... write I mist not spy one thousand and one times. Or is that too severe?" Along with the awesomeness of the passivity of this comically crime free moon, I like the many references to One Thousand and One Nights and the plethora of other stories that are in the book.

p.152: "... switching the tanks' stirring mechanisms on and off again, swabbing the decks. It was all as boring as could be; and yet ... what these ... clerical types were actually up to was nothing less than the destruction of the Ocean .. itself!" Heavily edited obviously but I love this quote. It reminds me that there is a multitude of perspectives to every argument. War included. Like ours. Neither side feels evil but they are branded as such. Not really fair is it?

p.156: Right around here it clicked that what I was reading about was a war between a right-side dominant thinking culture and a left side dominant thinking culture. Analysts and Artists. Kind of sad it took me this long to consciously make the connection. Must be fresh off a break or something...

Well, that's the majority of my margin scratching. At least the stuff that I found relevant to class and not silly stuff for personal notations. Like "I forgot about the Archaeopteryx! What a random place to find mention of it!"