AN AUTUMN OUTFIT AND A BOOK REVIEW (EAST WEST BY SALMAN RUSHDIE)

Hello darlings! It's suddenly gotten a lot colder here, but I still have one warm autumn styling proposal to share with you. I wore this cute neutral outfit while the sun was still shining bright. On that lovely sunny day, I decided to pair my white (authentic) folklore shirt with a striped mini, dark leggings and a dark green vest. I finished this look with my brown boots and a tartan belt. Besides this outfit, I will share another book review on my blog today. East West by Salman Rushdie also happens to falls into category of magic realism. I'm no stranger to Salman Rushdie,  I read Midnight's children a while back and I started but never finished Satanic Verses. This is the first time I read his short stories, though.  I really liked this collection and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

THE STORY OF MY OUTFIT- HOW I WORE IT BEFORE

First, a few more words about my comfy but feminine styling. When you're looking for comfort, shoes are a good place to start. I wore this outfit for a stroll with a colleague after work and she was also kind enough to snap some photographs for me. I ended up really liking this outfit. I even got stopped by random people who asked me about my shirt and whether it was an authentic folklore shirt. That made me smile because I love this shirt and yes it is actually an authentic hand made linen Croatian folklore shirt.  What else to say about this styling? It proves my point that you can dress sustainable and still have fun. You know I'm a big believer in shopping one's closet. I'm the type that can live out of one's suitcase and still come up with fun things to wear. I move around a lot, so knowing how to re-wear and combine a limited amount of clothing items is a really important skill for me. Like with every skill, it is something developed with time! Everything in today's outfit is old and you already had the chance of seeing of all these items before. I'll link up my older posts featuring these items bellow. 

You can see how I styled this authentic Croatian folklore shirt before here, here , here and here.

You can see how I styled this green vest here, here, here and here. 

You can see how I wore these boots before here, here , here and here. 

You can see 10 WAYS HOW I WORE THIS STRIPED SKIRT HERE. 

EAST, WEST, A SHORT STORY COLLECTION BY SALMAN RUSHDIE 4/5

 I'm really looking forward to chatting about this book. This is a lovely collection of short stories, it really is. I think it can serve as a great introduction to Salman Rushdie's writing. If you are not sure you will like this writer, why not try his short stories first and then invest your time into his novels. I'm saying this mostly because his novels are lengthily so it might be a good idea to pick his short stories, especially if you're short on time. 

 Divided into three parts (East, West, East West), this book is written in a variety of styles. By that I mean that the stories themselves vary in style. Some are more realistic in style, while others are surreal. I read this collection of short stories in one sitting. On overall, I found it quite an endearing read. Salman Rushdie writes really well in the short form. I'm really glad I picked this one in the library today. I'm going to share  a short review of each story bellow. 

 

EAST
This book is divided into 3 parts. The first part of the book is East and it features three stories. The first two are realistic in style, while the last one is surreal. I quite liked all of them.

GOOD ADVICE IS RARER THAN RUBIES 4/5

An elderly con artist offers good advice to a young Indian lady. Charmed by her beauty, he actually means what he says and instead of tricking her, wants to help. However, will the young lady accept his advice? It seems she has a mind of her own. What is good advice anyway? Can any of us know what is good for another person? Surprisingly optimist and heart-warming ending was not what I expected, but it felt appropriate enough. I quite liked this one. In addition, this story features probably the only real heroine in this book.

THE FREE RADIO 4/5

This story is told by an elderly professor. I suppose this kind of framed narrative is supposed to give more credibility to the story. The protagonist of this story is a young man who falls in love with the wrong woman (a widow with five kids). At any rate, the narrator of the story (the old professor) wants us to think so for he paints the fatal woman in a very bad light. Besides the love story, this story also shows the disappointment of the young man represented by an imaginary radio he carries around. This story speaks about naivety of youth and perhaps in the wider sense of the naivety of the still young Indian nation. All in all, this is a successful short story, quite depressive and gloom in tone but it feels all the more authentic for it.

THE PROPHET'S HAIR 5/5

The Prophet's Hair might be a bit controversial to some. As the title indicates, it has something to do with prophet's hair. In this story, a money lander finds the prophet's hair and decided to keep it. What follows is a series of strange and bewildering events. It is written in what I would call Rushdie's own style of magic realism and thus quite delightful in its mix of subtle irony, dark humor and sincere tragedy. I found it very interesting and well written. 

WEST

The second part of this collection is as its name would indicate devoted to western characters and set in west. I quite liked this one as well, but I did find the first story to be a bit confusing. 

YORICK 3/5

This story that puts words into mouth of fictional characters like Hamlet and Ophelia is interestingly written. The experimental style of writing is a nice change, but quite frankly I found it a bit hard to follow. Still, this experimental style of writing was interesting to read.

AT THE AUCTION OF THE RUBY SLIPPERS 4/5

Set in a future world, this story talks of a man who attends an auction for legendary ruby slippers in hope of winning a lost love. I quite liked its clever commentary on consumerism and its fantastical elements. Could it be called a dystopian short story? Perhaps it could. Whatever it was, I liked it.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN CONSUMMATE THEIR RELATIONSHIP 4/5

One more story belonging to magic realism, this wonderfully imaginative tale will be hard to forget. It tells the tale of Columbus' relationship with queen Isabella who first mocks him and then suddenly decides to pay more attention to his plans. Great writing for sure!

EAST, WEST

The three stories that are to be found in the last part of the book are a mix of east and west. Mostly they feature eastern characters living in the western world and interacting with westerners. 

THE HARMONY OF THE SPHERES 4/5

Excellent portraying of characters and a fantastic ending make it stand out. This story tells a tale of a man who researches his friend's notes. His friend committed suicide so sorting his writing and notes is not the easiest task. However, our narrator will soon realize that what he is about to find out might be just as sinister as his friend's suicide. 

CHEKHOV AND ZULU 4/5

At times a bit hard to follow, maybe because the Star Trek references and metaphors took a life of their own. I was having a hard time figuring who among the Star Trek is supposed to represent who in the modern India (are Klingons supposed to be a metaphor for Sikhs?) Still, it is a wonderfully written story that speaks of two friends and their relationship. The ending was quite dramatic in a good way.

THE COURTIER 5/5

A touching tale that touches on many aspects of life of one Indian immigrant family. Moreover, the people they come in contact with have tales of their own to tell. Especially sweet was the unexpected romance between an elderly Indian Aya (nanny) and a Slavic porter who suffered a stroke that left him nearly incapable for speech, but he could still play chess as a master he used to be and teach it to Aya. That romance was definitely interesting. The relationship between the nanny and the boy was also touching to read. If I remember well, the nanny (aya) is often an important figure in Rushdie's writing. 

So, how has life been treating you? I'm alright. I moved again but to another apartment in Jelsa, so I'm still living in this small port settlement. I thank God every day for being able to live in such a beautiful place. I don't plan to stay here forever, though. I will probably go back to working/living in Mostar next year. We'll see. It all depends on my job, but I'm always trying to get the most out of every place I find myself in. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with my roots and learning more about island Hvar. You can expect more posts about island Hvar in the future. 

I've just realized that I haven't shared my review of Midnight's children on my blog before, so I'm going to share it as well. That's another work by this author that I would definitely recommend.

MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, A NOVEL  BY SALMAN RUSHDIE  4/5

 Midnight's Children is a brilliant and complex novel. Told by an unreliable, at times annoying, but endlessly fascinating narrator Saleem Sinai, it is a story in which reality meets myth, in which dreams turn into facts, in which countries live tormented and tragic lives, resembling closely those of human beings that inhabit them. This chaotic narrative of a child (and later on teenager/adult) born at midnight (and not any midnight but midnight in which India was born as an independent state) is immensely powerful- and in a want of a better world- magical.

“I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I'm gone which would not have happened if I had not come.”

“Who what am I? My answer: I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I’ve gone which would not have happened if I had not come. Nor am I particularly exceptional in this matter; each ‘I’, every one of the now-six-hundred-million-plus of us, contains a similar multitude. I repeat for the last time: to understand me, you’ll have to swallow the world.”

There are so many splendid reviews of Midnight's Children here on goodreads that I'm not entirely sure that I can add anything substantial to them. What hasn't been said about this novel? I could cry: 'What imagination and writing talent!' but what would that really tell you? Instead of a very analytic review, perhaps better to share a few paragraphs about my personal experience of reading this book. So, I'll just say- Reading this one was an emotional roller-coaster. I went from forcing myself to continue reading this novel to reading it while I was preparing caramel (literally holding this novel in one arm and the pot in another). So, it is safe to say that this novel captured both my imagination and heart. Those of you who have prepared caramel know how complex this task is, how the difference between a good caramel and a burned one can depend on a fraction of a second- so you can imagine how interesting the novel must have been at that point.

“Memory's truth, because memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, its heterogeneous but usually coherent version of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else's version more than his own.”

Perhaps caramel is a good allegory for this novel. Midnight's Children reminds me of making caramel. It is burning something to a point that it is almost hideous, then saving it at a last minute so it turns into something delicious. In other words, while reading this novel, I had a feeling that Rushdie was deliberately trying to make things hard for the reader. He is burning history, myth, religion- until one can't tell them apart. He is turning language upside down- so that he could transform it into something new. He blends sacred with everyday, depth with vulgarity- and somehow it all makes sense. Somehow it all blends together perfectly, like a well prepared dished. In the end, Rushdie present its readers with something delicious.

“Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.”

Rushie's style of writing took some adjusting to. I'm no stranger to magic realism, but his magic realism is truly one of a kind. Still, it would be a shame to label a novel of this complexity simply as a 'magic realism', for it is a truly unique and beautiful book. The way it takes history on is nothing short of courageous. Rushdie is a bold writer, cutting into the tissue of history with a earnestness of a surgeon. Unlike a surgeon, he doesn't heal by cutting- but rather by examining. He cuts not to remove or add something, but to see- to learn more. Midnight's Children is a novel that deserves to be examined on its own and not just like a representative work in a genre. With its fascinating cast of character, with its unique humour that is at times so dark it is borderline sickening---this is a family saga like no other.

“Unless, of course, there's no such thing as chance;...in which case, we should either-optimistically-get up and cheer, because if everything is planned in advance, then we all have a meaning and are spared the terror of knowing ourselves to be random, without a why; or else, of course, we might-as pessimists-give up right here and now, understanding the futility of thought decision action, since nothing we think makes any difference anyway, things will be as they will. Where, then, is optimism? In fate or in chaos?”

That all being said, for me, this was not an easy read. It took me a lot of hours to read this one- but also a lot of concentration. I felt like I had to really make an effort to read each line, like the book was written in a language I'm only partly fluent in. That's probably quite close to truth. English might be the language I think in (most of the time anyway), but Rushdie's (or better to say Midnight's Children) English is a special kind of English, English of India- in the sense that it tries to capture India's spirit, tradition and its distinct flavour.

Have you read or seen anything interesting lately. Thank you for reading and visiting. Have a lovely weekend!