Nathalie
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
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rushdie
Apr 26, 2007 12:38:29 GMT -5
Post by Nathalie on Apr 26, 2007 12:38:29 GMT -5
i went to a bookstore the other day and it was overflowing with books by salman rushdie. i never heard that name so i was surprised to see so many books, and i figured he has to have written important/good stuff... i'm currently not very up to date when it comes to literature, so i was wondering if anyone ever read anything by him so i can catch up
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Isa
Administrator
Posts: 6,995
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rushdie
Apr 26, 2007 13:05:41 GMT -5
Post by Isa on Apr 26, 2007 13:05:41 GMT -5
I've actually never read anything by Salman Rushdie, although he's quite a famous author. He really became famous back in 1988 when he published "The Satanic Verses" - there was a big commotion about that book in Iran and Khomeini told his people they should kill Rushdie. One of his books (Midnight's Children) won the Booker Prize. He appeared in the first Bridget Jones's Diary movie. That's about all I know!
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sagedautumn
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
You Might Need This!
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rushdie
Apr 26, 2007 13:48:03 GMT -5
Post by sagedautumn on Apr 26, 2007 13:48:03 GMT -5
Salman Rushdie is famous for stirring up controversy. Although his writing has been heralded for quite a while now. Satanic Verses basically makes fun of the Islamic Religon and put into a very bad light. Especially its depictions of Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w) who is like the Jesus or Moses of other religons. It offended a lot of religous leaders and is still one of the most banned books around the world. Rushdie himself is banished from many Islamic Countries and he has a bounty on his head for more than a million. It's pretty intense. As a person who enjoys books i feel that writers who explore new schemes is really, really interesting but i don't think that it should be at the expense of other people's beliefs especially religon, because that can be a touchy subject. I'm not saying don't write about it a la Dan Brown but don't ridicule it. That is when you step over the line. What do u guys think???
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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rushdie
Apr 26, 2007 15:36:09 GMT -5
Post by Kristie on Apr 26, 2007 15:36:09 GMT -5
All I know of him has been mentioned so far. My younger sister became interested in him and is actually reading his Satanic Verses, just to see what all of the fuss was. He was in hiding for fear of his life for a while because of the controversy around it. And she also informed me he was in the Bridget Jones' movie too. Too bad I don't have anything new to add to your question.
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Isa
Administrator
Posts: 6,995
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rushdie
Apr 26, 2007 19:55:48 GMT -5
Post by Isa on Apr 26, 2007 19:55:48 GMT -5
I've heard that Midnight's Children and some of his other books are actually much better than The Satanic Verses, but the latter became very popular for obvious reasons. As for its contents, I haven't read it so it's hard to comment, but I'm strongly against censorship so I don't see why people shouldn't write about religion - the way I see it, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. It kind of reminds me in that passage in Fahrenheit 451 when the man explains that books have disappeared not because of the government, but because writers were afraid of offending other people so they gradually dropped all topics until there was nothing left to write about...
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Michelle
First novel published
Posts: 2,563
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rushdie
Apr 27, 2007 8:47:07 GMT -5
Post by Michelle on Apr 27, 2007 8:47:07 GMT -5
Ben read The Satanic Verses and he didn't like it that much. I've been thinking about reading it to see what the fuss is about, too, but I haven't gotten around to it.
He has a cameo in Bridget Jones Diary. When she is introducing the author at the book release she points him out in the crowd.
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kinabolina
First poem written for Mother’s Day
Clever Pudding, Pudding's Clever
Posts: 11
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rushdie
Apr 28, 2007 17:18:43 GMT -5
Post by kinabolina on Apr 28, 2007 17:18:43 GMT -5
Midnight's Children is third in my "to read" queue. I'm really looking forward to it, his style of writing is scarring to me...phrases and turns on words just get stuck in my head.
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rushdie
Jun 20, 2007 1:17:33 GMT -5
Post by Dominique on Jun 20, 2007 1:17:33 GMT -5
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Isa
Administrator
Posts: 6,995
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rushdie
Jun 20, 2007 8:03:25 GMT -5
Post by Isa on Jun 20, 2007 8:03:25 GMT -5
No, I hadn't seen that! I'm not entirely sure how the whole knighting business works, but I certainly don't think it's any of the other countries' business.
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rushdie
Jun 21, 2007 5:40:07 GMT -5
Post by Carma on Jun 21, 2007 5:40:07 GMT -5
Yeah I've heard about it, I haven't read his books.. but I'm thinking about taking this as a subject for my essay... cos it has to be about freedom of speech, (and stuff like that) so I think this fits in there nicely! but I never know how to write essays, cos the other one I wrote wasn't good enough... I've heard he has to fear for his live again, I think they may be overreacting, but I haven't read his books, so i don't know if what he writes really is offending... but you can just not read it, like someone has said before..
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rushdie
Jun 21, 2007 8:01:15 GMT -5
Post by Dominique on Jun 21, 2007 8:01:15 GMT -5
Yeah I agree, I missed out on this thread somehow but I don't believe in most forms of censorship either. However, I have heard that insults about religion are particularly offensive to Muslim people because of their traditional culture where people don't really criticise such sensitive topics as much. I'm not sure if that's true or not, it doesn't ring true due to the crusades and their relationship with the jews in a lot of regions, but it could be a valid point. I wouldn't really know. I remember hearing one of the members say they were a Muslim, but I don't remember who it was. Do you think you could comment on that statement? I don't know how correct it is.
I can see how knighting him is a bad idea though, there's a difference between censorship and the monarchy openly identifying and acknowledging something so controversial publicly. I think it is a bit ill advised for them to do it, it doesn't seem necessary and it will cause more conflict and more anti-western sentiment.
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Juliet
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.?Victor Hugo
Posts: 576
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rushdie
Jun 22, 2007 7:33:17 GMT -5
Post by Juliet on Jun 22, 2007 7:33:17 GMT -5
now that i think about it a few years ago rushdie wrote the lyrics of a u2 song "the ground beneath her feet. the song was part of the soundtrack for a movie (the million dollar hotel i think) and rushdie appeared in the video!
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rushdie
Jun 25, 2007 6:18:16 GMT -5
Post by Carma on Jun 25, 2007 6:18:16 GMT -5
His books are fictional aren't they? I read this post on Amazon from a muslim about the satanic verses and he (or she) says
"As a fairly well-versed Moslem, I can impartially state that Rushdie repeatedly criticizes, and even ridicules, the Islamic faith, in ways both subtle and overt, throughout this entire book.
Did Rushie's criticism bother me? Not at all. Did it justify a Fatwa by the Ayatollah? Of course not. But can the book be reasonably interpreted as being offensive to some Moslems? Those who know the Islamic faith would be hard-pressed to argue otherwise.
Nevertheless, realizing that this is just a work of fiction by a gifted novelist, I enjoyed reading the book and recommend it to all my friends. "
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sagedautumn
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
You Might Need This!
Posts: 1,509
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rushdie
Jun 25, 2007 13:03:42 GMT -5
Post by sagedautumn on Jun 25, 2007 13:03:42 GMT -5
Hey Jef. you mentioned that u wanted me to shed some light on the topic (i.e I'm tHE muslim girl!!) I posted a while before and although i cannot clearly express my opinion because i haven't read the book i'll say what i said before. I feel that as a reader it is important that we read a broad scope of things and the only way we can do this is if readers are given creative license BUT I feel that certain issues are sacred and touchy and they should be treated such. I don't think that you should write a book just so you can insult another person's religon and as that reviewer wrote there is no arguing against it, he wrote the book poking fun of Our Prophet, Our Book, and my beliefs and values... Laughing about traditional values or even criticizing beliefs i can deal with because at least you get something out of it, it is logical and understandable but to laugh about something that means so much to so many individuals is hard to digest. What makes it worse and what someone mentioned was that Rushdie was a Muslim and he was from Pakistan which is probably why they are so pissed off. Personally, i feel that the English Monarchy just wanted a little spotlight so they brought back an overused and still heated topic. I don't agree with it but i'll give in to the fact that i don't believe in knighting people because of their celebrity status. I would rather it be someone who made a valuable contribution to the community rather than wrote a book that stirred the masses and caused people to throw around death threats. That's just me. Sorry if i offended anyone
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rushdie
Jun 26, 2007 4:51:06 GMT -5
Post by Carma on Jun 26, 2007 4:51:06 GMT -5
I have to disagree on some point, I don't think he should've gotten the knighthood, but they gave it to him for all the books that he has written, not just for the satanic verses.. (well, thats what I've read.. )
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