[.ca] East, West (ISBN 0394281500)

The Lay Reader's Rebuttal:
As a person who has had no formal training in literature, and could not begin to intone what could possibly be meant by the term "literary theory", I do possess a certain elementary knowledge of sentence construction. Such as, while attempting to pass one's self off as a literary expert, it would probably aid your cause not to use such poorly constructed terms as "a lot" or "get". Maybe I am being toyed with by a great intellect in a brilliant wordplay, and should, in fact, research the etymology of these terms as is the implied responsibility of the interactive reader. So this is what our colleges and universities produce? Sympathetic readers, not writers, so enlightened as to be able to understand our blindness, and pardon our inability to become enchanted by the pedantic ramblings of a writer whose career has been built on a singular display courage. Yes, great schools, forge not shapers and executers of thought, but sycophants to laud the brilliance of men of singular courage. Did your professors of literary theory instill in you, beyond an unearned sense of superiority, any useful knowledge? Perhaps the fundamental difference between perception and meaning? That perception is, in fact, the fluid precedent to the absolute, meaning. Once I have inferred a meaning from something, it has become absolute to my point of reference. It would require a shift in my perception to alter my meaning. Perception- fluid, meaning- absolute. And nothing could certainly make me feel more alive than to have to painstakingly research tedious reference after reference, leaving the characters and their developing story arc time and time again, as this brilliant post-modern writer fails ridiculously in the core syllogism of literature: Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation. If you would like to read the works of a true post-modernist, I would suggest the works of Amy Hempel. But, alas, she has not courted the limelight, and so brashly convinced everyone of her genius so as to be a name you can drop to us lowly, uneducated readers. Simply a brilliant writer who found the clearest and most concise method to take us to the heart of her characters, and the message for which they are the vehicle. No pride to be taken from understanding her, from slogging away in study of a writer whose brilliance escapes those of us not of the Literati. Simply the joy of witnessing the pure execution of an artistic craft, free of self-aggrandizing, superflous display. I am glad you have found in Rushdie an Ellsworth Toohey to validate your Peter Keating, and would hope, that by including an obscure reference that you will no doubt be researching studiously, to meet your feeble measurement of brilliance.

Postmodern delight:
As a student of literature and literary theory, I know I have a lot more speacialized knowledge of technique than the average reader so I can sympathize with how someone may not "get" Salman Rushdie. He is a post modern writer and as such delights in playing games with words, experimenting with the fluidity of meaning and putting great responsiblity on the reader to figure out what he's talking about. I've read him for class and for pleasure and both times had to keep my laptop next to me to use google or Wikipedia to research. His stories come alive when you embrace your intended interactive role as a reader and delight at how he plays with you. He's brilliant.

Not all he's cracked up to be.:
I'm afraid that the stories in East, West, though occasionally interesting, really didn't do that much for me. It seems to me that the main reason for Rushdie being hailed as a great Eastern writer is that he is one of the very few currently well known ones, due to the publicity he got when clashing with Khomeini. I know he tried to write about life, to record on paper the lives of modern Indians in a modern age, except it doesn't feel very real. The dialogues are often bulky, sometimes clumsy. Maybe that's because of Indian conventions of speech translated into English. But it doesn't really seem like any of his characters could be real, breathing people, which is sort of the purpose of writing "about life". Maybe that's because these are short stories and the characters don't have enough space to be fleshed out. But then again, many famous writers of short stories managed to record whole lives very accurately in a few pages (Chekhov, anyone?). That's not to say these are necessarily terrible. They're interesting enough, and most come with twists at the end that will genuinely surprise you. "The Prophet's Hair" is a nice Arabian Nights-like diversion, "The Courter" is kinda poignant, "At the Auction..." is kinda reflective and philosophical. But it's really not a book that I would _buy_, to keep on my shelf and come back to over and over. After reading it, I have utterly no desire to return to it. High point of the book: "The Prophet's Hair" or "The Courter." They come the closest to making an impression. Low point of the book: Definitely "Yorick," yet another bad modern bastardization of Hamlet which tries to be "witty" and "literate." That story alone cost the book's rating a star.

Marvelous variety of stories - well written, well plotted:
East, West contains a wide variety of short story forms - from the classic story telling of Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies to the post-modern Yorick. All are well written with plots that have interesting twists and reflect a deep understanding of human relationships. Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies is of a charleton giving free advice to a woman seeking a visa to England to join her fiance. His advice turns out to be valuable. The Free Radio depicts both a cultural clash (old/new) on birth control as a way to view dreams - of a free radio, of being a movie star. The Prophet's Hair tells of the theft/loss/theft/loss of the relic of the Prophet ... and the misfortunes accompanying the relic. Yorick is an exploration of Hamlet's motivations based on his childhood relationship with Yorick and his wife. At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers is a fascinating look at society and dreams. Kansas will never be the same. Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship depicts Christopher gaining the financial backing for his voyage and Isabella's unquechable thirst. The Harmony of the Spheres follows a friendship through the occult, madness, suicide, and truth - the last being, perhaps, the most difficult. Chekov and Zulu - names based on Star Trek - follows two childhood friends through the Indian diplomatic corp, the assasination of Indira Gandhi, and their choices of separate directions. The Courter shows the family and servant relationships of "outsiders" - voluntarily or otherwise - living in London. The Courter is the most poignant of the stories; The Prophet's Hair the most traditional; Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship the most original. This is an excellent collection of short stories. Enjoy.

A standalone or a great companion piece:
I read this book of stories after having read 4 of Rushdie's novels (and enjoying them all!). I wish I had read this first, because the stories helped me understand some of the references to daily life that I had missed in his novels. I've never been to India or Pakistan, to my chagrin, and these stories fleshed out Rushdie's view of that experience. When I read the first story, "Good Advice is Rarer Than Rubies" (a story about a young woman's attempt to follow her husband to England) I understood some of the references in Satanic Verses that had blown by me. "The Prophet's Hair" illuminated a bit of Midnight's Children, and "Free Radio" was a great accompaniment to Midnight's Children as well as Rohinton Mistry's A FINE BALANCE. These stories stand beautifully well on their own. Each one has a flavor of its own, and each leaves you satiated and slightly hesitant to enter the next because it can't be as good (but of course it is!). If you've already read other books by Indian writers, it's a great accompaniment. If you are interested in beginning to read books by Indian writers (and you should), it's a great starting point.