East, West

Enjoyed the Indian "East" short stories tremendously. Somehow did not relate much (actually not at all) to the "West" stories - somehow in those, felt he was trying too hard to impress when simple is what he does best - although since I've not read Rushdie before have no clue what he does best but that was my impression - that he was trying to capture an audience not familiar with him... Maybe I failed to see the message of the collection?. "Yorrick" just didn't seem to fit in with the other themes but maybe I was expecting far too much East and disappointed there was less.. Of the "West" stories only the auction of the "Ruby Red Shoes" pulled any chords with me. This does not put me off Rushdie - am glad I got a taste of him, though I will be more selective in choosing the next one of his. ( )

A fascinating curate's egg of a collection.

The first three "East" stories are disarmingly charming. My favourite story in the book is the first story "Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies", which is brilliantly simple, beautiful, romantic and unsurprisingly surprising; the very image of the principal character, on whom I think I have a bit of a crush. The following two stories are distinctly, charmingly, but very differently eastern - first "The Free radio" a modern parable with the bones of the dark side of India poking through and then "The Prophet’s Hair" which has that whole One Thousand and One Nights thing going on.

The second three "West" stories are, in sharp contrast, everything I dislike about smart-arsed english story telling in the knowing post magic realism world. They read like bad pastiches of Julian Barnes meets Tom Stoppard, ie "Yorick"; or of David Mitchell, ie " At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers" or Julian Barnes dumoing Stoppard for my mum ", ie "Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship". All three were to me as bad as the first three were good. Did Rushdie write them partcularly badly to make some point about western literature?

But the last three "East meets West" are really the whole point of the book for me. All three explore the interaction of modern Western culture with ancient Eastern culture. All happen within the UK and within a very British society which is far more than just the backdrop - it is almost a character in the stories. I agree with the other reviewer that these three stories really do show Rushdie’s mastery of the language and are filled with wonderful prose. All that and a there is a sexy Mauritian in the book too.

If it hadn't been for the disappointing middle section I would be saying this is the best book of short stories I have read for some years. ( )

East, West is the first collection of short stories by Salman Rushdie. There are nine stories, six of which have been published previously in magazines. In the East section: Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies, where a woman seeking a permit to London gets some good advice from an advice wallah, but uses it is a way he doesn’t expect; The Free Radio, where a rickshaw driver maintains his faith in a government reward from the sterilisation clinic; and The Prophet’s Hair, where we learn that crime, especially in the form of theft of a holy relic, definitely does not pay. These have a decidedly eastern flavour. In the West section: Yorick, an interesting prologue to Hamlet that Shakespeare scholars might well enjoy; At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, a speculation on what might be auctioned in an alternate world; Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, a speculation of what Columbus endured at the Spanish court. Finally, in the East, West section: The Harmony of Spheres, which explores a friend with schizophrenia, and has quite a twist in the tail; Chekov and Zulu, which looks at Indian diplomats in Britain during the time of Indira Ghandi’s assassination and has very much the flavour of the Satanic Verses; and The Courter, a delightful tale of romance, cartoons and chess in the elderly, which has a slightly sinister edge to it. Rushdie’s mastery of the language means these are filled with wonderful prose. His mock-Shakespearean and mimic-Indian are particularly entertaining. If there was not an autobiographical touch in The Harmony of Spheres and especially in The Courter, then these are certainly written from close experience, and are definitely my favourites. ( )

A collection of 9 short stories by Rushdie. Organised in three sections - East which contains stories set in India; West which was a rather mixed bag and East, West which covers the interactions of Indians with Britain. The stories in the first two sections had been published elsewhere but the last three were new to the collection.

After a strong start with "Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies" I must say that I didn't get on with them all and was tempted to skip "Yorick" which I found irritating. Apart from that one I found something to enjoy in all the stories and must admire Rushdie's versatility as a story teller. ( )