Rushdie deserves knighthood?

June 21, 2007

For what? His writing skills or that he’s been made a cause celebre because of the fatwa against him proclaimed by fervent ulamas?

Unspun is aware that conventional wisdom holds Rushdie to be a great writer but Unspun’s always found him too clever by half and not all that readable.

Have you wondered what’s wrong with yourself in the times you pick up a book by an award-winning author and found that the work was unreadable and, in your secret opinion, pretty bad. Yet the world seems to think otherwise. Unspun’s been in such situations before and Rushdie’s books definitely invoke that category. Does Emperor Rushdie have clothes on?

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Reid defends Rushdie knighthood

Sir Salman has been accused of insulting Islam

Britain stands by its decision to honour author Salman Rushdie, despite protests by Pakistan and Iran, Home Secretary John Reid has said.

While agreeing it was “sensitive”, the right to express opinions was “of over-riding value” to society, he said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the knighthood was “untimely”, but a matter for the British government.

Mr Rushdie went into hiding after an Iranian fatwa ordered his execution, over his 1988 book The Satanic Verses.

Mr Reid told an audience in New York that many Christians had been offended by Monty Python’s Life of Brian, while some Jewish people were offended by Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ.

unspun

Indonesia

7 responses to “Rushdie deserves knighthood?”

Oigal

June 21, 2007 at 3:52 am

Hi Unspun,

He proves the old chestnut, that any publicity is good publicity. Twice now I had been suckered into buying his books just to see what the fuss is about, both times never finished..it wasn’t reading but rather wading..

Which raises the point, I wonder how many people, nashing their teeth, beating their chest in protest have actually read the source of so called evil intent?

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Achmad Sudarsono

June 21, 2007 at 4:19 am

Unspun,

Yours truly found Midnight’s Children to be a decent read, but deteriorated by the time of the Satanic Verses. His non-fiction writings, including the travel writing in South America, in the British essay-writing tradition. But perhaps that’s really what his Knighthood is for: honouring the British tradition of 1) courage and 2) by displaying it getting drunk at London book launches.

(Oigal, in your case – I think you didn’t finish because the font was lower than 20 pnt and that there weren’t any pictures to go with the text. You don’t seem to understand courage if it’s not grunting on the Rugby field or if it’s displayed by a Muslim. That’s the unwritten implication.)

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Oigal

June 23, 2007 at 3:20 am

Laugh..Ass Mad.. you really are a serial boofhead and credit to the Kingdom of Fools..

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Oigal

June 23, 2007 at 3:21 am

Oh.. Rugby..nagh

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riccardo

June 23, 2007 at 5:04 am

From what I’ve read, the knighthood has more to do with him being an icon of all that is presumed to be good and proper with regard to Brit multiculturalism, and less to do with the quality of his writing.

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Jango Ang

June 24, 2007 at 3:37 am

Had a chat with Rushidie. I told him to continue the fight against racism, lies, treachery, bigotry, extremism, stupidity.

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Achmad Sudarsono

June 24, 2007 at 5:01 am

Good point Riccardo. Similar vein perhaps to V.S. Naipaul winning the Nobel prize when he did. I think Naipaul’s a better writer than Rushdie and may well have deserved the prize. It’s the timing — immediately after the 9/11 attacks — that’s sus, along with his Islam books. Just wasn’t up to the same standard as the India trilogy or the early fiction. It read like a piece of travel journalism commissioned for the Sunday Times and according to Paul Theroux’s bitchy sketch of Naipaul in ‘Sir Vidia’s Shadow,’ may have been just that. But still, Rushdie’s book of essays, children’s book, ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories,’ and ‘Jaguar travel book,’ still all first class.
But just a thought — how many inbred, sycophantic neo-imperialist twats have been given knighthoods for nothing more than having inherited a stake in an old British bank or land in Scotland ? Surely even Mr. Rushdie for all his shortcomings is more deserving ?
Oigal — I’d like to gently remind you to try to steer away from personal jibes, even though ‘boofhead’ is one of the most most pathetic attempts at repartee or an insult I’ve seen in a while. As your ‘boofhead’ prime minister Paul Keating once said, debating with you is like ‘being flayed with a soft piece of lettuce.’

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