Salman Rushdie, a literary superstar and one of the most controversial figures in the world of arts during the end of the 20th century came to Brussels for an interview and book reading a few weeks ago on the occasion of the publication of his latest book "Joseph Anton". A memoir giving the world a glimpse of what his 10 years in hiding, after the publication of "Satanic Verses" and the various death threats that were made against him, including a fatwā issued by the Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14 February 1989, were like. A small rather unattractive and arrogant yet brilliant man with an enormous personality, a hilarious sense of humor and an ample dose of wit! Needless to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours! I felt like a bit of a fraud being there as I have not read a single book by Mr Rushdie but I already have 2 on my reading list. Enjoy a slight paraphrase of some of the things he said that stayed with me after that night...
"There are two kinds of people in this world, those with a sense of humor and those without. It's kind of sad cause the second kind just never gets the joke. "
A lot of things that happened during those 10 years, though quite sad also had an element of hilarity to them. For example the leader of the protests against the "Satanic Verses" in London, when the whole controversy and book burning started, was asked whether he had actually read the "Satanic Verses" and he said well no, then when asked whether he had ready any of the other books Mr Rushdie had written (5 were published by then if I am not mistaken) he actually said no as books were not really his thing(!).
"There are three traps and dangers in life, fear, anger and the need to be loved."
He received a letter from Julian Barnes saying "don't let this define who you are." And that is exactly what he tried to do, he continued to write the books he had always wanted to write instead of short angry books or fearful apologetic ones. An author embarks on a journey and has a story to tell, an absolute truth if you have it, and that is the freedom that comes with literature, if an audience follows, well all the better. Rushdie had to wait 10 years after that turbulent period of his life and though he took detailed notes during that time a certain amount of distance was necessary before he could start writing "Joseph Anton".
As expected he touched a lot upon the right of freedom of speech. "There are a lot of books I don't like either, I just choose not to read them" He mentioned 50 Shades of Grey as an example of one of those books ;) "I don't understand how people could be turned on by this book, didn't the grammar and terrible writing get in the way? Its cool to offer sadomasochism but you should at least be able to spell it!"
Also related to freedom of speech: "If Woody Allen were a Muslim, he would be dead by now".
When in hiding with MI6 a lot of people criticized him of exaggerating the extent of the threat and costing tones of money to the Brits in order to ensure his security in luxuriously comfortable hideouts. Well, not quite. He had to come up with and pay for all his places of hiding, that in fact had to meet certain criteria, such as the capacity to host 4 secret agents and the ability to enter and exit the building undetected, which made them particularly expensive. Lucky thing he already was a literary superstar! He also let us know that a Judy Dench look-a-like lady was indeed the head of MI6, though she was referred to as C. not M.
I must admit that after looking Mr Rushdie up I was rather put off by all the photos of him and gorgeous, significantly younger and taller women. Couldn't help but wonder what this supposed man of spirit and thought is doing with these bombshell models/tv presenters. Oh well each to their own and expect more comments to come as I discover more of his world of fantasy....
"There are two kinds of people in this world, those with a sense of humor and those without. It's kind of sad cause the second kind just never gets the joke. "
A lot of things that happened during those 10 years, though quite sad also had an element of hilarity to them. For example the leader of the protests against the "Satanic Verses" in London, when the whole controversy and book burning started, was asked whether he had actually read the "Satanic Verses" and he said well no, then when asked whether he had ready any of the other books Mr Rushdie had written (5 were published by then if I am not mistaken) he actually said no as books were not really his thing(!).
"There are three traps and dangers in life, fear, anger and the need to be loved."
He received a letter from Julian Barnes saying "don't let this define who you are." And that is exactly what he tried to do, he continued to write the books he had always wanted to write instead of short angry books or fearful apologetic ones. An author embarks on a journey and has a story to tell, an absolute truth if you have it, and that is the freedom that comes with literature, if an audience follows, well all the better. Rushdie had to wait 10 years after that turbulent period of his life and though he took detailed notes during that time a certain amount of distance was necessary before he could start writing "Joseph Anton".
As expected he touched a lot upon the right of freedom of speech. "There are a lot of books I don't like either, I just choose not to read them" He mentioned 50 Shades of Grey as an example of one of those books ;) "I don't understand how people could be turned on by this book, didn't the grammar and terrible writing get in the way? Its cool to offer sadomasochism but you should at least be able to spell it!"
Also related to freedom of speech: "If Woody Allen were a Muslim, he would be dead by now".
When in hiding with MI6 a lot of people criticized him of exaggerating the extent of the threat and costing tones of money to the Brits in order to ensure his security in luxuriously comfortable hideouts. Well, not quite. He had to come up with and pay for all his places of hiding, that in fact had to meet certain criteria, such as the capacity to host 4 secret agents and the ability to enter and exit the building undetected, which made them particularly expensive. Lucky thing he already was a literary superstar! He also let us know that a Judy Dench look-a-like lady was indeed the head of MI6, though she was referred to as C. not M.
I must admit that after looking Mr Rushdie up I was rather put off by all the photos of him and gorgeous, significantly younger and taller women. Couldn't help but wonder what this supposed man of spirit and thought is doing with these bombshell models/tv presenters. Oh well each to their own and expect more comments to come as I discover more of his world of fantasy....
Really nice !!!
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