Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories: A Book Review

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Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories stands out as a calm and complacent piece of literature among the author’s normal social controversies. Written more for children, but enjoyable by adults, the piece centers on a young man named Haroun. Haroun’s father Rashid stands as a storyteller in a sad city (unnamed) located in an unknown country that most likely stands as India. Yet when Haroun’s mother walks out on the family, life is thrown into turmoil and his farther loses the gift of story. It is here, when Iff, a water genie, appears to disconnect Rashid’s story stream, that the pair encounter a whimsical journey to what amounts to imagination land. Here, stories flow, processes too complicated to explain control all, and the populace is under attack by shadows attempting to reverse the stories and render everything, well normal. 

Within these constraints, Haroun experiences a classic hero’s journey. Full of joy, full of classical archetypes, Rushdie’s 1991 novel flows rapidly and is worth the time for any fan of the talented author.