1) Amitava Kumar v Salman Rushdie : A literary spat - via
It seems that Rushdie was due to visit Vassar College, where Amitava teaches, and, offended by pieces such as this (Is Salman Rushdie God?), "made it clear to the organizers that he would cancel if [Amitava] was involved in his visit.". The sixth comment at the post is by Salman Rushdie himself, who writes that he did not threaten to cancel his visit to Vassar, and merely refused to be on the same stage as him.
2) Salman Rushdie: His life, his work and his religion
In the 17 years since Ayatollah Khomeini passed a death sentence on Salman Rushdie, the writer's unflinching criticism of the religion into which he was born has never been stifled. Now, as the force of Islamist fury reverberates around the world, the acclaimed Anglo-Asian novelist tells Johann Hari why we're all living under a fatwa now.
3) Since his move to the US and especially since 9-11, Rushdie has taken up the role of being a social commentator* rather than being a novelist (and a sucky one at that for the past decade, me thinks**, despite what he himself thinks (first link is a PTI copy of second link, which is an AP article. Shame!!) --
"Salman Rushdie said Tuesday that he has to struggle more to find the energy to write as he gets older, but he has developed greater control over his writing."
Just last week, he got into trouble by saying this..
In defense of a comment made by the British Leader of the Commons, Jack Straw, who suggested that Muslim women should be forced to remove their veils in his presence, Rushdie said: “[Straw] was expressing an important opinion, which is that veils suck, which they do. I think the veil is a way of taking power away from women.”
Also read more on the veil debate:So what is your problem, then, Rushdie?
Freedom dressed up
I can see why Blair backs Straw's comments but why did Rushdie have to offer any opinion? I suppose with his writing going down the tube, he still wants to continue to be in the limelight and so wants to continue to create sparks on both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks to the fatwa, people keep asking him for his opinion in today's day and age of intolerance & fight-back against the fundamentalist Islamists.
Little mercies - good to know he still supports Indian Muslims 'because they are not as radicalized'. (Sarcasm)
* some examples:
Rushdie urges Muslim engagement with West
Rushdie says terror is glamour
Rushdie 'feels sorry' for Pope
Intimidating the West, From Rushdie to Benedict
**I had written this elsewhere ..
Rushdie has failed to capture his magic from the 80s in the 90s! Padmalaxmi as his Muse, seems to have only made it worse - I found 'The Fury' to be unreadable! 'Ground beneath her feet' was enjoyable initially but I didn't finish it - probably should give it a second try! This year, Rushdie will come out with his latest novel, Shalimar the Clown4) For the time being, it looks like he has taken up the position of professor at Emory University in Atlanta and has sold his personal archive, including two unpublished novels, to the University.
The sum involved is likely to match or exceed similar deals. In 2003 Emory bought the archive of Ted Hughes, the previous poet laureate, for a reported 600,000 dollars. Julian Barnes, the author of Flaubert's Parrot, is said to have sold his papers to the University of Texas at Austin for 200,000 dollars. The two unpublished novels - The Antagonist, influenced by Thomas Pynchon, the American writer, and The Book of Peer - were written by Rushdie in the 1970s. 59-year-old Rushdie said his priority had been to "find a good home" for his papers, but admitted that money had also been a factor. "I don't see why I should give them away," he said. "It seemed to me quite reasonable that one should be paid."
Apparently, the Brits have got their panties in a bunch about losing their heritage to foreign universities...since when did Salman become British heritage! ;)
Not Rushdie-related but kinda related links
Faith, riots and (un)reason
Fatwa on freedom
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