the pencil reads

I love the opening paragraph.

There was once, in the country of Alifbay, a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name. It stood by a mournful sea full of glumfish, which were so miserable to eat that they made people blech with melancholy even though the skies were blue.

Rushdie wrote this story for his 10 year-old son while he was in exile. The characters are quite extraordinary -- perhaps similar to the characters Alice meets when she falls through the looking glass in Alice in Wonderland . The story line is unique too. It is a quest to save the power of stories and imagination.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is also an allegory of the Kashmir dispute. Rushdie openly champions the freedom of speech in this story in the fight between Gup and Chup. It is the story of light against darkness, speech against silence, and in the midst of this, Rushdie also pokes fun at hierarchcy, political figures and the election process.

Perhaps I've been spoiled by Tolkien. Rushdie's story-telling doesn't come near the fluidity and power of Tolkien's prose. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining read.

Posted on Monday, August 22, 2005 at 10:14 AM. :)