East, West

by Salman Rushdie
by J. Hoben

A few years back, the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini was so infuriated by Salman Rushdie that he put a contract on him, promising riches to the man who brought the head of this blasphemer to Iran. Salman’s offense: He wrote a work of fiction entitled The Satanic Verses that painted a less than perfect picture of the Ayatollah’s God. I wanted to read a book by a man who had an entire religion after his ass (and, in fact, still does), so I picked up his latest: A collection of stories called East, West.

The stories in East, West vary in subject and theme as greatly as the title of this collection suggests, giving excellent illustrations of the differences between Eastern and Western culture, thought and ideals. The book is broken up into three sections. (“East”, “West” and “East, West”), each composed of a few stories. In “East,” we see a rickshaw driver obsessed with the thought of owning a radio become slowly overcome by his desire, and an old Eastern con-man who would betray even himself for the beautiful girl who captures his heart. In “West” we see Christopher Columbus trying to convince Queen Isabella of Spain to fund his discovery of a new route to India, losing both will and sanity as she toys with him. Also in “West” is a satirical look at American culture and entrepreneurship in a story called “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers.”

It’s hard to say exactly what Rushdie was trying to accomplish in the final section, “East, West.” It’s possible he was simply trying to show the difficulties encountered when two foreign cultures are crossed. On the other hand, he could be attempting to build a bridge over the chasm of cultural difference. I don’t know. But at any rate, the stories are excellently written and entertaining.

East, West is still only available in hardcover, and since $21 is a lot to pay for any book, you’ll probably want to wait for it in paperback.