March 10, 2009

RUSHDIE


An excellent chronological documentary of The Rushdie affair is on the iPlayer. History is a great teacher and in the case of this doco, and the recent stuff the BBC have gathered about Iran facts arranged in order are enlightening in themselves.

I somehow got round to reading The Satanic verses in India, where the book is banned. I can't remember if someone lent it to me or if I bought it under the counter in Pushkar. In my long tradition now of refusing to take a standpoint, I wont take a standpoint on the Rushdie affair either. Yes I agree with freedom of speech, yet if I was a politician in India where riots are spontaneous, dangerous and regular occurances it would be very hard to think the publishing of a book to be worth some random strangers life.

As a work of fiction, the Satanic verses is one of the best stories I have read. It is rooted in the imagination. A truly psychedelic tale. I totally missed the prostitutes dressing as the prophets wives until I was involved in a discussion about all this on Pickled Politics somewhere and someone said

"Muslims take the prophets wives to be their own mothers. How would you feel if someone called your mother a whore?"

Hmmm.. You're mother's a whore is a common playground insult isn't it. In a squat I lived in around 94 a friend of mine launched himself at another random squatter who kept saying "You're mothers a whore". I thought this hilarious. I had absolutely no sympathy for either of them. I didn't have that good a time in the playground growing up either. I am not going back there for anyone.

When I see Rushdie speak I don't warm to him, in a way that I do to Hanif Kureshi talking about smoking dope in front of Rushdie's secret service protectors at their dinner parties for instance. More irksome is the jealousy I probably feel to Rushdie for the type of dolly birds he attracts. He's an ugly fucker what the story? Is he in league with Satan or something?

..

2 comments:

Gorilla Bananas said...

But he's now divorced from the one in the picture, isn't he? Rushdie probably has the same appeal as that butt ugly Frenchman, Serge Gainsbourg. An artist with money and the gift of the gab.

DAVE BONES said...

Yeah. Motherfuker. Women with dollar signs in their eyes.. They are all bitches!!!