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Sep 29, 2008

Nicholas rated it:

"The Satanic Verses" bent my brain funny. I thought Rushdie had some good prose, the ideas were interesting, but the surrealism combined with moments of silliness made for an odd mix, and in the end I left satisfied but disoriented, like I'd eaten an exotic meal.

"Haroun and the Sea of Stories" was Rushdie's attempt to write a children's book for the son he was estranged from. There's a certain sadness to the tone of the book, wherein a storyteller loses his abilit More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2011

Victoria rated it:

Salman Rushdie is known for writing The Satanic Verses. After publication in his country of India, many violent protests against the book occurred. Faced with many death threats including the request of his killing by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Rushdie went into hiding for nearly a decade. During that time, in order to entertain his family and young daughter he told many fantasized stories. This novel stemmed from that experience.

Haroun's father is the famed storyteller Rashid Kha More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2007

Ken rated it:

there is something about a story written for an adult audience as myth or child's tale that i love. it seems to be more concise, concentrated, and make the simplicity of good vs. bad, and having a moral seem beautiful rather than simplistic. maybe that is because dualities were more pristine as a child. rushdie's earlier works never captured me; "midnite's children" seem windy and ornate with insufficient structure to hold up the explainations. "haroun" is still written with More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Nov 12, 2007

Gretel rated it:

This book is about a boy named Haroun Kalifa, who lives with his father and mother in "The sad city." A city so sad that it forgot its name. His father Rashid Kalifa was a storyteller. The famous "ocean of notions." The poeple of the city loved to hear his stories, of the many heros who would rescue the princess from danger, and no story was alike. One day Mr. Oneeta , who was their neighboor, a grumpy, gloomy, and bored neighbor who always had something negative to say, deci More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2007

AlegraMarcel rated it:

This is a kids book that really is just for kids. I know the editors' reviews tell you that it will change your life, change the world, or something else great. But, trust me, it's just a cute story.

Haroun's dad is a story teller. His life is happy until one day his mom leaves him and his dad and his dad can no longer tell stories. This puts the mat risk of losing everything because that's how they maek their money. They are invited to tell stories on behalf of politicians, and More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2007

elissa rated it:

This was recommended to me by Laurice as a children's novel--we both love kids' books--so I went into it expecting a children's book, albeit, a children's book as Salman Rushdie might approach children. As a 6th grade teacher, my first thoughts were that it would be too difficult to teach to my class (I prefer the teacher lens to the previous MFA creative writing student lens, but ultimately the best is when the lenses recede because I'm too far into the world of the book, which quickly happene More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 15, 2008

Zoe rated it:

Haroun and the Sea of Stories reminded me very much of The Phantom Tollbooth, especially, of course, in its use of allegory.
I thought this would make a good reading assignment for a middle schooler. I can't say it affected me any which way at age 42 except that I was not immune to the horribly depressing image of the sea of stories being choked by poisons. I guess I also thought it was interesting that the son's pronouncement on the father's stories could have such a profound effect.
More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 11, 2009

Alli rated it:

i hate this book!!!!!!!!!!! it's so bad- what with its unneccasary capitalization, cheesy, overdramatic-ness, and just plain being weird. ugh, so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 17, 2008

Melissa rated it:

So let's start of by saying that this book, its awesome
i really appreciate that Ms Erickson & Ms Zar-Kesler take
time to read it to us during ELA class. This book is funny & very interesting. I like books that are funny so yeah this one fits right in.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 26, 2011

Chad added it

NOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! excited to read, but it is a summer reading book.

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2008

☆•Käthÿÿ•☆ rated it:

Rashid is the father of Haroun and his father is a storyteller but he is kind of shy to say his story in front of a big audience. Haroun and his father go throw alot. Finally his father get the wish he wanted.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2010

Mario rated it:

"Happy endings are much rarer in stories, and also in life, than most people think. You can almost say they are the exceptions, not the rule."
Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories invokes a tale of learning, to strive for the better things in life when everything seems like it's a mess. Set in a world where chatter and noise are separated from silence by a Twilight Pass, a young boy discovers that his choices determine how his life would turn out to be.

I en More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 18, 2010

Rach rated it:

Enchanting, delightful, full of fun and intrigue. Haroun is a boy who finds his way to Kahani and the Ocean of the Streams of Story, where all of the world's stories comes from. There he not only saves the Ocean and all the stories, but his father, mother, town, and self from sadness. There were so many wonderful parts to this book: the P2C2E (aren't many things that way?), Mr. Butt and Iff, the blending and renewal of stories in the ocean. It is a fascinating narrative, full of a sort-of-dream, More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2007

Rebekah rated it:

This book felt like Salman's version of The Phantom Tollbooth The Phantom Tollbooth. Haroun's father, Rashid, is touted as the greatest story teller in all of India, until his mother runs off with their next door neighbor, a sniveling clerk who asks, "what is the point of stories if they aren't even true." Soon after, when his father steps on stage at a political rally to tell stories in support of a candidate, his story well dries up and for the first time in his life, Rashid can n More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2009

Wyndi added it

i can really relate to this book because instead of my mom,my dad left my house.I was only 5 okay Haruon is older buht no matter what age you are, you never understand how your parent can just leave like you dont excist.It hurts but after a while you live with it and in this book Haruon trying to figure out how to help hes dad get his stories back. The thing is it might look like the stories arent there but they still are. I think its just that he remembers the times when she was there listening More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

I really enjoyed this book and my favorite character is haroun.I also liked how one of the characters in the books loved to play arounds with how the word where being spelled.I also loved this book because if you wanted to know what was going to happen next you had to read the next chapter. So this book kept you wanting more in my opinion it was a very funny book because of the crazy songs. Point is i love this book and wouldnt mind reading it again. i think this book should be mad into a movie! More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2011

Julia rated it:

A very fun read. Amazingly different from anything else Rushdie I've ever read!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2008

Julie rated it:

These were my journal entries in 2004:

Rushdie is a damned good writer. I'm LOVING this. As with Satanic Verses, I'm savoring every word, every line, trying not to go too fast because I don't want it to be over. I'm halfway through and I can't afford any more time to read it. One more week until school's out and I'll find out what happens in this magical world of (Kahini?)

I'm inspired to read Arabian Nights after this. And of course, more and more Rushdie.
I'll jour More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 24, 2012

Lady rated it:

This is one book that should be in both the children’s and adults’ sections in libraries and bookstores. I read some sections of it to my son last year - he loved it and we reread it again sometime back. I wrote most of this review at that time but added some more comments after reading it all over again with my son.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a wonderful book by Salman Rushdie. Reading this book was like seeing a beautiful sunset - as the colors change, your mind is filled with More...

0 comments like

Jan 08, 2012

Jaclyn rated it:

Haroun Khalifa is a young man growing up in a sad city in the country of Alifbay. Although Haroun's city is sad, his home his happy. His mother Soraya, sings all day long, and his father Rashid is the most famous storyteller in the world... until it all falls apart. Soraya runs off with their upstairs neighbor, a dull little man who considers stories useless, and Rashid loses his storytelling ability. Haroun watches his father grow more and more depressed and feels responsible for the predic More...

0 comments like

Oct 22, 2011

Truly rated it:

Tapi, tapi, tapi
Tapi, tapi, tapi

Seperti yang pernah saya sebutkan, manusia selalu cenderung melakukan pengulangkan penyebutan sebanyak 3 kali untuk mempertegas. Sebut saja dor,dor,dor atau kring, kring, kring. Begitu juga buku ini, banyak menggunakan tapi, tapi, tapi, Itu kesan yang paling melekat saat membaca buku ini

Buku ini berkisah mengenai kehidupan seorang anak lelaki bernama Harun yang tinggal di Negeri Alifbay bersama ayahnya Rasyid Khalifa sang pendongeng, ra More...

2 comments like

Sep 08, 2011

Georgie rated it:

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is probably on the top of worst books I’ve ever read. I still don’t understand the book to be honest but I do know to read this book you need to be very opened minded and creative which I am not. This book talks about dreams like it is real life which is hard to follow. The names are also really fascinating and every name has a meaning to it. The story was very jumpy and extremely slow so it was very hard to go through.
Rashid, Haroun’s dad, was a story teller More...

0 comments like

Sep 07, 2011

Tommy rated it:

Tommy Beard

Rich

English II

31 August 2011

Book Review A

Rushdie, Salman. Haroun and the Sea of Stories. London. Penguin Books, 1990.

One of the books that I read was Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. The book was an overall struggle to get through. Sometimes it would take me a couple weeks to get a chapter finished. Although it had its slight moments of excitement, it was mostly drab and confusing. One example of ho More...

0 comments like

Aug 18, 2011

Megs rated it:

When i bought this book i was desperate to water my vast imagination field so it would bore new fresh dreams and thoughts… Despite being bombarded with “newness” of Indian mighty subcontinent ( i could not stop myself from quoting the “bible” of all travellers : Lonely Planet as i stared at this exact quote on the cover for over a month!) on every step… Because it was not about the breathtaking landscapes (!) and the amazing creatures I kept meeting there. It was about the worn off thoughts and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 30, 2011

Marika rated it:

Have you ever had a child ask you why? The ubiquitous why, followed by your fumbling to come up with an answer that, if it is buried in your mind, is too complicated to explain? Rushdie gives you an answer: the P2C2E (problem, or process, too difficult to explain) perfect to use in the rush of life, when most of the objects around you are too complicated for you to understand, let alone explain.

If you’re an adult and have browsed the Rushdie selection at your local bookseller or librar More...

0 comments like

Apr 19, 2011

Neeraja rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Mar 13, 2011

Marianne rated it:

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is Salman Rushdie’s fifth fiction book, and his first children’s novel. He dedicated this book to his 10-year-old son Zafar, from whom he had been separated for some time. The story concerns Haroun, the son of storyteller, Rashid Khalifa. Rashid is described as the Ocean of Notions, the Shah of Blah. When a tragic event stops the flow of his father’s stories, Haroun sets out to rectify the situation. In a journey that involves mechanical birds and blue-bearded Water More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 27, 2011

Shakri rated it:

‘But but but,’ I thought as I finally finished the last lines of Rushdie’s ‘Haroun and the sea of stories. ‘This is no children’s book as was proclaimed originally!’, I went on still reeling under the dizzying array of the thrill ride I had had during my record time of reading it in a flat 2 days. Of course, given that it is less than a 6’ x 9’ paperback of 211 pages makes it easier. And the reason I used the three ‘buts’ was to quote the effervescent Butt the hoopoe, a large mechanical robotic More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2010

Maureen rated it:

I was first introduced to this book as an English Education undergrad in a British Literature course, as a piece of "light" reading to finish out a semester of heavy-hitting Brits. My two best friends and I, all aiming to be high school English teachers, agreed that this was a novel we'd want to teach some day - a near-perfect mixture of those "literary devices" we'd need to expose our kids to, a timely theme developed through an entertaining allegory, and (most importantly) More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 14, 2010

Sarah rated it:

I LOVE this book. If I ever have kids I will read this to them at bedtime. It is an enchanting story with layers of value. Haroun and the Sea of Stories can be read as a nice adventure about the importance of story telling. And it is most certainly about the importance of stories, foremost. It can be read as a sort of manifesto, with Rushdie painting amusingly wicked pictures of corrupt politicians and advocating freedom of speech and government transparency. I don't know why this is not mo More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)