Haroun and the Sea of Stories

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. I finished it the day I started it (perhaps that fact speaks to its power over me) so it's been a few days.

For the most part, each of us in this class is an English major. We are constantly discussing the limits of language in expression while also pondering the power of language in its definition of things through naming. On page 63, Rushdie writes, "To give a thing a name, a label, a handle; to rescue it from anonymity, to pluck it out of the Place of Namelessness, in short to identify it- well, that's a way of bringing the said thing into being." Now, this idea that an object or idea cannot exist fully without a name is something that we college lit majors struggle to get our heads around in ENGL300. I find it interesting that Rushdie has included it in his tale. It certainly gives the storyteller a kind of magical power when his words become reality. Even though the concept is deep, the way Rushdie writes it in makes it accessible to the children who will read this book or have it read to them. On a similar note, some of us have been commenting on the question of whether or not we should give kids all levels and kinds of literature to read. Is sugar-coating okay? Or is it better to teach them that familiar phrase "Life's a bitch...and then you die" early on so they have no time to become disillusioned? (I'm not really that cynical...drama makes these more interesting.) I say sugar-coat things as long as they want them sugar-coated. Example: I didn't WANT to know that Santa wasn't real...I found out. OUCH! I would have much preferred to outgrow my belief in Santa rather than have the lady down the street tell me. That said, kids are tough and certainly the anti-Disney versions of fairy tales are interesting. But, if told in the right way, I think that even stories with more adult themes and situations can be appropriate and even quite valuable for kids.

That took a long time...

Did "The Dark Ship" at the end of Haroun remind anyone else of "Super Mario Brothers"...you know the ship that they battle King Koopa (was that his name????) on? Maybe it's just me, but that's the first thing I thought of. Peter Pan, too.

One of the more obvious parallels I saw between Haroun and other literatures that we all know intimately was with Homer's Iliad. Both tales contain a battle for a woman who has been taken from a ruler without his permission. (This princess, unlike Helen, is less than perfect to all but her love. I find her entertaining.) One could argue that despite Haroun's classification as a kid's story, the conflict at its center is even more complex than the Iliad's. Homer's epic is focused on the tug-of-war over Helen, sure other people get involved. In fact, it gets downright messy, but the goal is to get the girl back and destroy Troy. In Haroun the girl needs rescuing, there are shadow people to be rid of, and, most importantly, the Ocean of Stories is at risk and needs to be saved for future generations. What would the world be without new stories? BORING, that's what. Haroun's quest is essential to the entertainment of our world.

Like Michelle, I enjoy the paragraph on page 90 where Rushdie writes, " 'We are the Eggheads,' they nodded...they pointed at the shiny fellow on the grand balcony and said, 'He is the Walrus.'" Long live The Beatles. :O)

I enjoyed the continual references to the "Process 2 Complicated 2 Explain" because the water genie, Haroun's dad, and others kept using it as a cop out for not explaining the truth. I think that often times adult use this excuse with their children. "You wouldn't understand"...."It's complicated"..."You're too young." We should really give kids a chance to understand. They have great ideas; perhaps they could help us out.

This extremely LONG entry is going to take 1,001 years to publish...so I'll end it here.

Until Later...Cheers!