≫ Libro Joseph Anton A Memoir Salman Rushdie 9780812992786 Books

Joseph Anton A Memoir Salman Rushdie 9780812992786 Books

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Joseph Anton A Memoir Salman Rushdie 9780812992786 Books

. I have always admired Rushdie for the brilliance of his writing, and I confess, for his occasional appearances on TV talk shows where his smoothly sardonic interjections often stir the latent intellects of other participants. But never so much as in reading his third person memoir which treats his life with a primary focus on the Satanic Verses controversy. His dedication to reason and fierce rejection of fundamentalism is a tribute to the philosophers whose ideas advanced civilization. After the success of his first book Midnight’s Children, Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses which contained the thoughts he shared with his irreligious father about Islam. His interest in religion was cultural and historic, something that didn’t fit with the zealots and passages of the book were hotly denounced by Imams throughout the Muslim world and ended up with a fatwa by the Ayatollah against Rushdie. A fatwa is a religious edict authorizing Muslims to kill the heretic. With threats on his life, Rushdie was put under the protection of the Special Branch of the Municipal Police and the next eleven years of his life were constrained by moving him from house to house (it was incumbent upon Rushdie to locate residences that he could rent or borrow from friends), his name was changed to Joseph Anton after two of his cherished writers Conrad and Chekhov, his marriage disintegrated, he could rarely see his son, the literary community was divided among those who strongly supported his stance for freedom of the press and those who felt he had brought trouble upon them. Some translators and publishers of his books were murdered or wounded by Islamic assassins. Rushdie was prevented from attending conferences and award ceremonies, though he finally rebelled against those strictures. He found a new love and fathered another child. He also discovered who his true friends were and who was craven in the face of threat. One criticism leveled against the memoir is the number of names he drops, yet I believe that may be to give credit to those who stood up against repression. In spite of the travails of hiding accompanied by the protection teams who became his saviors and personal friends, he managed to continue writing, producing the books Haroum and the Sea of Stories, written for his son, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and others, as well as a wealth of criticism, essays and responses to the Islamic threat.
Ultimately, the pressure on him was reduced and he was able to resume a somewhat more normal life—and has continued to produce remarkable books. His is a story of resistance despite many of his supposed supporters urging him to compromise. He found that to do so, even to a small degree, was seen as a sign of weakness and simply invigorated his foes. While all of this certainly took a personal toll on Rushdie, he stands as an icon of refusal to bend to the fascist tactics of those who seek to repress free thought.


Tags : Joseph Anton: A Memoir [Salman Rushdie] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On 14 February 1989, Salman Rushdie was sentenced to death by the Ayatollah Khomeini, guilty of having written The Satanic Verses,Salman Rushdie,Joseph Anton: A Memoir,Random House,0812992784,Authors, English;20th century;Biography.,Authors, Indic;Great Britain;Biography.,Fatwas.,20th century,Authors, English,Authors, Indic,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Literary Figures,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs,Biography Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Fatwas,Fiction-Classics,GENERAL,General Adult,Great Britain,Great BritainBritish Isles,Literary,Non-Fiction,Personal Memoirs,Political Science Censorship,Religion Religious Intolerance, Persecution & Conflict,United States

Joseph Anton A Memoir Salman Rushdie 9780812992786 Books Reviews

When Rushdie was sentenced to death by Khomeini for his crime of writing THE SATANIC VERSES, I argued with a Unitarian clergyman about the case. He thought Rushdie was wrong to write a book that offended some Muslims. I asked if he should stop preaching Unitarianism because it offended some Christian fundamentalists. Or would silence be in order only if he were threatened with death. A form of this argument took place all over the world for many years as Rushdie struggled to live under threat of religiously motivated murder. This is one of the most powerful case studies in a century in the question of freedom of speech. It compelled the attention of governments, religious leaders, writers and publishers. The reluctance of many leaders to boldly defend Rushdie's life and liberty is shameful. Despite some failures of will, the British government did protect Rushdie for 13 stressful years, and gradually mobilized international condemnation of Iran. Iran backed down to some extent, but the fatwa is still in effect for some Muslims.

The memoir is a full account of this struggle. The spokesmen for the religious duty to kill are named. Government officials, Christian church leaders, newspaper editors, and writers who blamed Rushdie for causing trouble are named and answered. During this ordeal Rushdie made friends, and strengthened friendships, with dozens of writers and intellectuals and police protectors. These experiences are gratefully narrated -- they helped keep him alive and able to continue his work. Rushdie says he was "given a lesson, in these years, in the worst of human nature, but also in the best of it" and honors a group of people determined "not to allow the darkness to prevail." (453)

Does an individual have a right to expect government to preserve his life and liberty when officials tell him the nation has higher priorities, like protecting oil supplies? Did western timidity embolden fanatics to think death threats and hostage-taking were effective?
. I have always admired Rushdie for the brilliance of his writing, and I confess, for his occasional appearances on TV talk shows where his smoothly sardonic interjections often stir the latent intellects of other participants. But never so much as in reading his third person memoir which treats his life with a primary focus on the Satanic Verses controversy. His dedication to reason and fierce rejection of fundamentalism is a tribute to the philosophers whose ideas advanced civilization. After the success of his first book Midnight’s Children, Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses which contained the thoughts he shared with his irreligious father about Islam. His interest in religion was cultural and historic, something that didn’t fit with the zealots and passages of the book were hotly denounced by Imams throughout the Muslim world and ended up with a fatwa by the Ayatollah against Rushdie. A fatwa is a religious edict authorizing Muslims to kill the heretic. With threats on his life, Rushdie was put under the protection of the Special Branch of the Municipal Police and the next eleven years of his life were constrained by moving him from house to house (it was incumbent upon Rushdie to locate residences that he could rent or borrow from friends), his name was changed to Joseph Anton after two of his cherished writers Conrad and Chekhov, his marriage disintegrated, he could rarely see his son, the literary community was divided among those who strongly supported his stance for freedom of the press and those who felt he had brought trouble upon them. Some translators and publishers of his books were murdered or wounded by Islamic assassins. Rushdie was prevented from attending conferences and award ceremonies, though he finally rebelled against those strictures. He found a new love and fathered another child. He also discovered who his true friends were and who was craven in the face of threat. One criticism leveled against the memoir is the number of names he drops, yet I believe that may be to give credit to those who stood up against repression. In spite of the travails of hiding accompanied by the protection teams who became his saviors and personal friends, he managed to continue writing, producing the books Haroum and the Sea of Stories, written for his son, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and others, as well as a wealth of criticism, essays and responses to the Islamic threat.
Ultimately, the pressure on him was reduced and he was able to resume a somewhat more normal life—and has continued to produce remarkable books. His is a story of resistance despite many of his supposed supporters urging him to compromise. He found that to do so, even to a small degree, was seen as a sign of weakness and simply invigorated his foes. While all of this certainly took a personal toll on Rushdie, he stands as an icon of refusal to bend to the fascist tactics of those who seek to repress free thought.