Haroun and The Sea Of Stories

It's been over a week since I finished Haroun and The Sea Of Stories which is one of my new favorite books. The influences of Wonderland, Oz, and the Arabian Nights are clear but, for me at least, this does not detract from the story. I liked how Rushdie made fun of the genre with the "nightmare" Rapunzel cycle story. The Walrus and the Eggmen show how newer influences can be integrated into fairy tales without diminishing them, or even dating them. Rushdie accomplished the most important task of the fairy tale: creating something intriguingly exotic and at the same time reassuringly commonplace. Haroun is a pretty average kid, with average concerns: a broken home and the loss of his dad's job. The fact that he solves these problems with the help of a giant mechanical bird, a water genie, and assorted mystical characters blends seamlessly into the story. That's the mark of a truly excellent fairy tale!