Ms. Hen reviews East, West

 

East, West

Salman Rushdie

Vintage Books

1994

Ms. Hen picked up this book because she was in a used bookstore in Portland, Maine, and was looking for a book that spoke to her. She had never read anything by Salman Rushdie, even though he is well known. He was in the news recently for getting stabbed, and Ms. Hen thinks it's horrible for a writer to live in fear because of what they write. She decided to buy this book because she was curious.

This collection of short stories contains stories about the East and the West. Ms. Hen liked some of the stories, but not all of them. She found the story, "Yurik," which is about HAMLET irritating, and she felt the same way about the story about Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella. These stories are in the "West," section.

She especially enjoyed the stories in the "East, West" section of the book, which are about the intersection of the East and the West. The story, "Harmony of the Spheres," is about an author who is unstable, and his friend from India. Ms. Hen always loves stories about people who are mentally ill. She also enjoyed, "Chekov and Zulu," because she adores anything to do with STAR TREK.

The stories in the "East," section are about people living in poverty in India. The characters in these stories have to deal with people trying to scam them, and horrible things happen. Ms. Hen felt sorry for these characters.

This book isn't like other collections of short stories. Most of the sections are shockingly different from others. Ms. Hen didn't like this. She doesn't enjoy a collection of short stories that feels like she's jumping from one universe to another. She wants to exist in the same world, where she is able to understand the view.

Some of the writing in this collection of stories is stunning, but it made Ms. Hen tired. She might like a novel from this author better, but it might be a while before one falls in her path.

Ms. Hen at the Green Hand Bookshop