The past two weeks I have been focusing on reading banned American books written by American authors, with this post I begin my journey with authors and banned books written from around the world. The first book matching this criteria I read was “Shame” by Salman Rushdie.
Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay, India, in 1947 to a middle-class Moslem family. As a young teenager Rushdie was sent to school in England, and his family moved into Pakistan, a move which would end up dividing the Rushdie family due to the war between Pakistan and India. After writing “Grimus” and “Midnight's Children,” Rushdie wrote his novel “Shame.” It is a modern fairy tale, where Salman Rushdie uses the family as a symbol for the country. At some points in the book I was confused, and had to read several passages over again. I find that when reading Rushdie, you have to keep a fluid mind, and be open to connections you never thought existed between two separate ideas. The novel is about a country that is “not quite Pakistan” and tells the tale of a boy born of three mothers, and of two waring families of men; one of a noted wager of war, the other of a debauched lover of pleasure. Even within that, Salman Rushdie portrays a country torn between honor, and humiliation- two things which are viewed opposites, but after reading “Shame,” the two become closely associated by the reader. I am a huge fan of Salman Rushdie, and have read several of his other books. Rushdie is able to take the reader into his novels, which in many ways reflect the inner working of his mind, and expose us to the madness and sanity of his writing. I should hope everyone reads at least one of Salman Rushdie's novels at some point in their lives, as his writings are not merely books, but journeys.
A Little More on Salman Rushdie:
Salman Rushdie has the distinct honor of being a banned author. And it all started with his novel for the ages “The Satanic Verses.” Shortly after publication, the book was banned by the Indian ministry of finance, Ayatollah Khomeini called on all zealous Muslims to execute the writer and the publishers of the book, Rushdie was forced into hiding. Soon after that, Khomeini issues a price on Rushdie's head, a tidy sum of one million dollars. In 1997, the price was doubled after Rushdie's publicist was wounded in an attack outside of his home in Pakistan. The highest Iranian state prosecutor Morteza Moqtadale renewed the death sentence, and issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Iranian clerics did not retract their death threat after Rushdie wrote and published “In Good Faith,” and issued an apology as well as restating his respect for Islam. As of now, Rushdie is unable to return to his home country because there is still a price on his head in 2011.
A thought for the morning:
A tree is best known by it's fruit, but books are not edible.
- BookBender
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