Guest dada_rocks Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090107&fname=kenan&sid=1&pn=5 In 1989 even a fatwa could not stop the continued publication of The Satanic Verses. Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding for almost a decade. Translators and publishers were assaulted and even murdered. In July 1991, Hitoshi Igarashi, a Japanese professor of literature and translator of The Satanic Verses, was knifed to death on the campus of Tsukuba University. That same month another translator of Rushdie's novel, the Italian Ettore Capriolo, was beaten up and stabbed in his Milan apartment. In October 1993 William Nygaard, the Norwegian publisher of The Satanic Verses, was shot three times and left for dead outside his home in Oslo. None of the assailants were ever caught. Bookshops in America and elsewhere were firebombed for stocking the novel. It was rumoured that staff at the Viking Penguin headquarters in New York were forced to wear bomb-proof vests. Yet Penguin never wavered in its commitment to Rushdie's novel. Today, all it takes is a letter from an outraged academic to make publishers run for cover. In July, Random House torpedoed the publication of a novel that it had bought for $100,000 for fear of setting off another Rushdie affair. Written by the American journalist Sherry Jones, The Jewel of Medina is a historical romance about Aisha, Muhammad's youngest wife. In April 2008 Random House sent galley proofs to writers and scholars, hoping for cover endorsements. One of those on the list was Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of Islamic History at University of Texas. Jones had used Spellberg's work as a source for her novel. Spellberg, however, condemned the book as 'offensive'. She phoned an editor at Random House, Jane Garrett, to tell her that the book was 'a declaration of war' and 'a national security issue'. Spellberg apparently claimed that The Jewel of Medina was 'far more controversial than The Satanic Verses or the Danish cartoons', that there was 'a very real possibility' of 'widespread violence' and that 'the book should be withdrawn ASAP'. On Friday 26 September, just weeks before Gibson Square was due to publish The Jewel of Medina in Britain, the publishers’ London headquarters were firebombed. By an eerie coincidence the attack took place 20 years to the day after The Satanic Verses had originally been published. Whether the perpetrators knew the significance of the date no one knows. Nor is it possible to know whether such an attack would have happened had Random House simply gone ahead with publication without any fuss. There will always be extremists who respond as the Gibson Square firebombers did. There is little we can do about them. The real problem is that their actions are given a spurious legitimacy by liberals who proclaim it morally unacceptable to give offence and are terrified at the thought of doing so.
graphic23 Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 So much for freedom of press. As a sidenote, has anyone read Rushdie's novel?
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 In our very own India the poor Supreme court lawyer named M R Bhasin is fighting the battle for his books. It has been banned just because he wrote what Aurganjeb did in his book. Maharahstra govt of congressi/NCp banned the book.. Book title is : "ISLAM - A Concept of Political World Invasion by Muslims".
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 So much for freedom of press. As a sidenote' date=' has anyone read Rushdie's novel?[/quote'] I have read it the book doesn't spare even hinduims ..it's a nice satire on illpogical things in religion for obviouos reason much of the brunt came islam's way..
triam Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 So much for freedom of press. As a sidenote' date=' has anyone read Rushdie's novel?[/quote'] YEs I have, IMHO it was frankly not inflammatory nor even very good considering all the hype.
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 YEs I have' date=' IMHO it was frankly not inflammatory nor even very good considering all the hype.[/quote'] To appreciate that book one first needs to go through quran and hadith
graphic23 Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 It seems like an ok novel. I should read it sometime.
triam Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 To appreciate that book one first needs to go through quran and hadith I kind of did DR (quran and hadith not extensively but to an extent). still didnt find it anything great enough to be shortlisted for booker etc. The fatwas and all the surrounding noise made the book greater than it actually was is what I think.
The Outsider Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 Agree with triam, it was a decent book made more popular by the controversy. I personally enjoyed Midnight's Children and Shame a lot more. I think the biggest "blasphemy" in the book was how the prophet goes to the mountains and listens to some delusional sounds, returns, and narrates them.....but that's not all the people writing it down write something which suits them rather than what the prophet is saying. And the prophet has no way of verifying since he cannot read.
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 Agree with triam, it was a decent book made more popular by the controversy. I personally enjoyed Midnight's Children and Shame a lot more. I think the biggest "blasphemy" in the book was how the prophet goes to the mountains and listens to some delusional sounds, returns, and narrates them.....but that's not all the people writing it down write something which suits them rather than what the prophet is saying. And the prophet has no way of verifying since he cannot read. Of course it's not masterpiece like Midnight's children.. yes Rrushdie narrates the alteration by author briliantly here.. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20VvP19kCI]YouTube - Salman Rushdie Reads from "The Satanic Verses"[/ame]
suraj Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090107&fname=kenan&sid=1&pn=5 In 1989 even a fatwa could not stop the continued publication of The Satanic Verses. Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding for almost a decade. Translators and publishers were assaulted and even murdered. In July 1991, Hitoshi Igarashi, a Japanese professor of literature and translator of The Satanic Verses, was knifed to death on the campus of Tsukuba University. That same month another translator of Rushdie's novel, the Italian Ettore Capriolo, was beaten up and stabbed in his Milan apartment. In October 1993 William Nygaard, the Norwegian publisher of The Satanic Verses, was shot three times and left for dead outside his home in Oslo. None of the assailants were ever caught. Bookshops in America and elsewhere were firebombed for stocking the novel. It was rumoured that staff at the Viking Penguin headquarters in New York were forced to wear bomb-proof vests. Yet Penguin never wavered in its commitment to Rushdie's novel. Today, all it takes is a letter from an outraged academic to make publishers run for cover. In July, Random House torpedoed the publication of a novel that it had bought for $100,000 for fear of setting off another Rushdie affair. Written by the American journalist Sherry Jones, The Jewel of Medina is a historical romance about Aisha, Muhammad's youngest wife. In April 2008 Random House sent galley proofs to writers and scholars, hoping for cover endorsements. One of those on the list was Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of Islamic History at University of Texas. Jones had used Spellberg's work as a source for her novel. Spellberg, however, condemned the book as 'offensive'. She phoned an editor at Random House, Jane Garrett, to tell her that the book was 'a declaration of war' and 'a national security issue'. Spellberg apparently claimed that The Jewel of Medina was 'far more controversial than The Satanic Verses or the Danish cartoons', that there was 'a very real possibility' of 'widespread violence' and that 'the book should be withdrawn ASAP'. On Friday 26 September, just weeks before Gibson Square was due to publish The Jewel of Medina in Britain, the publishers’ London headquarters were firebombed. By an eerie coincidence the attack took place 20 years to the day after The Satanic Verses had originally been published. Whether the perpetrators knew the significance of the date no one knows. Nor is it possible to know whether such an attack would have happened had Random House simply gone ahead with publication without any fuss. There will always be extremists who respond as the Gibson Square firebombers did. There is little we can do about them. The real problem is that their actions are given a spurious legitimacy by liberals who proclaim it morally unacceptable to give offence and are terrified at the thought of doing so. yaaron if Muhammad (PBUH) was so dil-chasp, why his followers are so uptight??
Recommended Posts