Published in 1990. 224 p.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Summary: Haroun Khalifa’s father, Rashid, is a much-loved storyteller. Haroun’s mother has just run off with a neighbor, wreaking havoc on the Khalifas left behind. Haroun, in a moment of anger, belittles his father’s profession, asking the point of stories that aren’t even true, and this causes Rashid to lose his gift for storytelling. However, his reputation has already garnered him a job telling stories for a political candidate who could become dangerous towards the Khalifas if Rashid cannot tell stories. It is up to Haroun to save them by going to Gup City to get Rashid’s powers of storytelling back, but he finds an even graver situation when he gets there…the stream of stories are being polluted, one by one.
Review: In 1988, after a fatwa was issued for Salman Rushdie’s head for his novel The Satanic Verses, Rushdie was forced into hiding and separated from his son. In the first couple years of his exile, Rushdie wrote this book, a children’s book of sorts, for his son. However, most readers have agreed that this is not a children’s book for children, but a children’s book for adults.
The book’s greatest selling point is the numerous literary and cultural allusions scattered throughout the book. The one on the grandest scale is the allusion to the Wizard of Oz, to which Rushdie has always had a great love for (he wrote a published essay on the Wizard of Oz.) Things are bad at home, so the main character must go off to a magical land to fix things, so everything at home will be well again. In the magical land, the main character must see the head honcho, but is given a mission to carry out which will save the magical land before any wishes are granted. Wait, which was I describing again? Oh, both.
Perhaps the most obvious allusion was to the Beatles. When Haroun gets to Gup City, he meets the Eggheads, who tell him that to have his wish granted, he needs an interview with the Walrus. Eggheads…Walrus…Beatles. Yes, Rushdie is a Beatles fan as well. It seems his references are also his preferences. When the shadow warrior stutters, he stutters the names of great writers: “‘Gogogol,’ he gurgled. ‘Kafkafka,’ he coughed.” Also, when some of the characters get deep in the dark side, they realize they are in the “heart of darkness”. And of course, there are Plentimaw fishes in the sea. (Say that one out loud if you are having trouble getting it.) Oh, thinly disguised, Rushdie, thinly disguised.
Rushdie also uses Hindustani words (and variations on them) throughout the book, mostly as names of characters. He provides a handy reference guide at the end of the book as to what those words/names mean. It was a neat touch, but I wish it had been at the beginning of the book, so I would have known to look for it.
A point of irony I must bring up. Rushdie, after having a fatwa issued on his head by an Ayatollah (Khomeini) of Iran, is safely housed by Britain. And yet, Rushdie takes a shot at the Royal Family…Iff the water genie tells Haroun “it’s not as if we really let our crowned heads do anything very important around here.” Ouch.
So, all in all, is it a good story? Well, it’s decent. If you are a die-hard Rushdie fan, check it out. If you are an occasional reader, don’t bother. Grab one of his other books (The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s Children.) Having read The Satanic verses, I know the importance and the beauty that Rushdie is capable of, and this book simply did not match up. While I enjoyed the literary allusions throughout, the book seemed rather stale, and I can’t imagine a child enjoying it. I do, however, think that it would make a really cool movie along the lines of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or some other technicolor glory. So if you are a Hollywood movie producer…hire a screenwriter to adapt it, it’ll be a hit movie.
