Featured Author: Salman Rushdie (original) (raw)
Featured Author: Salman Rushdie With News and Reviews From the Archives of The New York Times
In This Feature * Reviews of Salman Rushdie's Earlier Books * The Rushdie Affair: The Fatwa * The Rushdie Affair: Life in Hiding * The Rushdie Affair: A Partial Reprieve * Comments on the Rushdie Affair
Related Links * Michiko Kakutani Reviews 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' (April 13, 1999) * Michael Wood Reviews 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' (April 18, 1999) * Rushdie Unplugged: An Interview With Charles McGrath
Nick Vaccaro/ Henry Holt and Company
Salman Rushdie REVIEWS OF SALMAN RUSHDIE'S EARLIER BOOKS:
- 'Midnight's Children'(1981)
"The literary map of India is about to be redrawn. . . . What [English-language fiction about India] has been missing is . . . something just a little coarse, a hunger to swallow India whole and spit it out. . . . Now, in 'Midnight's Children,' Salman Rushdie has realized that ambition."- 'Shame'(1983)
". . . a lively, amusing and exasperating work . . . The false starts, loose ends and general extravagance of the tale can become irritating. . . . And yet the book in its own peculiar fashion works."- 'The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey'(1987)
"Rushdie winds up writing a great deal of admiring drivel at the knees of various Sandinista commanders who have been more interestingly interviewed elsewhere . . . [But] Rushdie's effort is worth a second look because it is also an account of the confusion any one of us might feel if we visited Nicaragua and gave it a chance to affect us . . ."- 'The Satanic Verses,' reviewed by A. J. Mojtabai(1989)
"Talent? Not in question. Big talent. Ambition? Boundless ambition. Salman Rushdie is a storyteller of prodigious powers, able to conjure up whole geographies, causalities, climates, creatures, customs, out of thin air. Yet, in the end, what have we? As a display of narrative energy and wealth of invention, 'The Satanic Verses' is impressive. As a sustained exploration of the human condition, it flies apart into delirium . . ."- 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories,' reviewed by Alison Lurie(1990)
". . . [a] remarkable new children's book . . . [T]he experiences that lie behind 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories' are nearly as fantastic as anything in the tale. . . . full of comic energy and lively verbal invention."- 'Imaginary Homelands -- Essays and Criticism 1981-1991'(1991)
"Would it have been published . . . were it not for the high and terrible drama of the author's recent life? Probably not, given the scrappy and occasional nature of a considerable part of its content. Still, enough strong pieces are included to make the book welcome . . ."- 'East, West: Stories,' reviewed by Robert Coover(1995)
". . . [a] sometimes poignant and intimate, sometimes boisterously inventive, sometimes gently provocative collection of short stories . . ."- 'The Moor's Last Sigh,' reviewed by Norman Rush(1996)
". . . another brave and dazzling fable from Salman Rushdie, one that meets the test of civic usefulness -- broadly conceived -- as certainly as it fulfills the requirements of true art. No retort to tyranny could be more eloquent."
THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR: THE FATWA- Author From 3 Countries (November 13, 1983)
In this interview, Rushdie says, "I think it's very difficult for a writer in the 20th century to look at the world and avoid a tragic view."
Agence-Presse France
A crowd of 2,000 demonstrators gather outside UN headquarters in Qom, on July 6, 1997. Ahmad Khatami, a Shiite Moslem cleric, told the crowd that Salman Rushdie would be executed soon. - Rushdie Novel Brings Bomb Threats (January 14, 1989)
One month before publication of "The Satanic Verses," the book's publisher, Viking Penguin, received several anonymous bomb threats by telephone.- Salman Rushdie: Fiction's Embattled Infidel (January 29, 1989)
Appearing in The Times Magazine two weeks before Khomeini issued the death threat against Rushdie, Gerlad Marzorati's article recounts the early reactions to "The Satanic Verses."- Khomeini Urges Muslims to Kill Author of Novel (February 15, 1989)
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran declared that the author and publishers of "The Satanic Verses," deemed offensive to Islam, had been "sentenced to death."- Threats to Author Lead to Canceling of Book Tour (February 16, 1989)
Because of the threats to his life, Rushdie canceled a planned book tour of the United States to promote "The Satanic Verses."- Teheran Qualifies Threat to Author (February 18, 1989)
Iran's President, Hojatolislam Ali Khamenei, indicated that a death threat against Rushdie might be withdrawn if he apologized for insulting Islam and Muslims.- Clerics Challenge Rushdie 'Sentence' (February 18, 1989)
Theological scholars from Al Azhar Mosque, the Sunni Muslim world's leading center of Islamic teaching, said the ayatollah contravened Islamic law by calling for the death of Rushdie.- Furor Over 'Satanic Verses' Rises as 2 More Book Chains Halt Sales (February 18, 1989)
Citing the safety of their workers, B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble chains said they would no longer sell "The Satanic Verses."- Rushdie Expresses Regret to Muslims for Book's Effect (February 19, 1989)
One day after Iran's President said the death sentence might be withdrawn if he publicly apologized, Rushdie released a statement that said "I profoundly regret the distress that publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam."- Literary World Lashes Out After a Week of Hesitation (February 22, 1989)
After an initial period of sputter and stall, the public indignation of writers, librarians and civil libertarians grew in response to the death threats against Rushdie and the removal of his novel from many bookstores.- Bush Finds Threat to Murder Author 'Deeply Offensive' (February 22, 1989)
President Bush criticized Teheran's death decree against Rushdie as "deeply offensive to the norms of civilized behavior" and warned that Iran would be "held accountable" for any violence against American interests.- 12 Die in Bombay in Anti-Rushdie Riot (February 25, 1989)
At least 12 people were killed and 40 wounded when the police fired at Muslims rioting in Bombay against "The Satanic Verses."- Cat Stevens Gives Support To Call for Death of Rushdie (May 23, 1989)
The musician Cat Stevens, who adopted the name Yusuf Islam when he converted to Islam, said in a British television program that rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of Rushdie, "I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing."
THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR: LIFE IN HIDING- Publishers Put Off Decision on Rushdie's Next Work (June 1, 1990)
Officials at Viking Penguin, which originally published "Satanic Verses," said no decision would be made on publishing Rushdie's next work until the full manuscript had been seen.- 2 Books By Rushdie Are Sold (July 13, 1990)
Penguin U.S.A. and Granta Books of Britain announced that they had purchased Rushdie's next two books. The books, which had already been written, were not political, and therefore were not expected to cause controversy.- Rushdie in Hiding (November 4, 1990)
In this article for The Times Magazine, Gerald Mazorati talks with Rushdie about the extraordinary events since Mazorati's earlier article about "The Satanic Verses," written before the death threat was issued.- Rushdie Seeks to Mend His Rift With Islam (December 25, 1990)
Rushdie announced that he opposed the publication "The Satanic Verses" in paperback and disavowed statements in his book that questioned the authority of the Koran.- Japanese Translator of Rushdie Book Found Slain (July 13, 1991)
The Japanese translator of "The Satanic Verses" was found slain at a university northeast of Tokyo.- Rushdie, Defying Death Threats, Suddenly Appears in New York (December 12, 1991)
Suddenly and with no public warning, Salman Rushdie emerged from his life in hiding and implored an electrified assembly at Columbia University not to forget that he remains hostage to an Iranian sentence of death.- 'Satanic Verses' Coming Out in Paperback (March 14, 1992)
An anonymous group calling itself the Consortium published a paperback edition "The Satanic Verses."- 'Midnight's Children' Wins Special Booker Prize (September 21, 1993)
"Midnight's Children" was judged the best British novel of the past quarter-century, and Rusdhie came out of forced seclusion to accept the honor.- Muslim Thinkers Rally for Rushdie (November 4, 1993)
An important group of over 100 Arab and Muslim writers and intellectuals spoke out in defense of Rushdie's right to publish "The Satanic Verses."
THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR: A PARTIAL REPRIEVE- Iran Drops Rushdie Death Threat, and Britain Renews Teheran Ties (September 25, 1998)
The Iranian Foreign Minister publicly divorced his Government today from the death threat imposed on Rushdie in 1989 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Britain responded by restoring full diplomatic relations.- Rushdie, Free of Threat, Revels in 'Spontaneity' (September 26, 1998)
Speaking in the offices of Article 19, an anti-censorship group, a relaxed, ebullient and often very funny Rushdie said he was completely confident that the long campaign against his life was finally over.- New Moves On Rushdie Exposing Iranian Rifts (October 21, 1998)
A month after Iran's Government dissociated itself from death threats to Rushdie, a majority in Iran's conservative-dominated Parliament signed a letter insisting that the religious decree calling for his death was still valid.- India Gives Rushdie a Visa to Return, and Muslims Quickly Warn of Protests (February 5, 1999)
Rushdie was granted a visa to return to India, his native land, whose banning of "The Satanic Verses" began a chain of events that led to death threats.
COMMENTS ON THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR:- Salman Rushdie, Blame Yourself by S. Nomanul Haq(February 23, 1989)
"Most of your Western audience are unable to gauge the acuteness of your blow to the very core of the Indian subcontinental culture. . . . You do know it and therefore one feels that you foresaw, at least to some extent, the consequences."
The Associated Press
Salman Rushdie holds up a copy of "The Satanic Verses" during a 1992 news conference in Arlington, Va. - Telling Truth Through Fantasy: Rushdie's Magic Realism by Michiko Kakutani(February 24, 1989)
"It is no coincidence that magic realism -- which combines heightened language with elements of the surreal -- has tended to flourish in troubled areas of the world, or that many of its practitioners have sought to describe calamitous events that exceed the grasp of normal description."- Words for Salman Rushdie (March 12, 1989)
Among the authors offering brief essays here in support of Rushdie are: Mario Vargas Llosa, Elie Wiesel, Amos Oz, Nadine Gordimer, Czeslaw Milosz, Ralph Ellison, Derek Walcott, Susan Sontag, Norman Mailer, Octavio Paz, Thomas Pynchon and Margaret Atwood.- Excerpts From Rushdie's Address: 1,000 Days 'Trapped Inside a Metaphor' by Salman Rushdie(December 12, 1991)
In these excerpts from a speech based on an essay he wrote, Rushdie says "For many people, I've ceased to be a human being. I've become an issue, a bother, an 'affair.'"- What About Rushdie? by Paul Theroux(February 13, 1992)
"There is very little that Salman Rushdie can do himself. The task is for the rest of us to resist the notion that beheadings and ritual destruction of toys are rational and humane, and that a religious leader in one country has the power to condemn a citizen of another country to death for writing a book."- Thinking of Rushdie by Paul Auster(July 1, 1993)
"I pray for this man, but deep down I know I am also praying for myself. His life is in danger because he wrote a book, and I know that if not for the quirks of history and pure blind luck I could be in his shoes."- Simple Truths and Apostles of Death by Salman Rushdie(July 14, 1994)
In this open letter to Taslima Nasrin, an author also living under death threats from Muslim clerics, Rushdie writes of their critics, "How sad it must be to believe in a God of blood! What an Islam they have made, these apostles of death, and how important it is to have the courage to dissent from it!"- All Is Not Lost: Art of Insult Survives 'New Britain' (November 27, 1997)
In a week of correspondence of growing vituperativeness, Salman Rushdie called John le Carre "an illiterate pompous ass," and le Carre replied that Rushdie was "self-canonizing" and "arrogant," blinded by the pursuit of increased royalties for himself from the physical danger that sales of his book posed to others.
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