For the next read we have selected the latest book from Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence. If you have not heard of the author (until recently, none of us had either), he has definitely had an "exciting" life...to say the least. Here are a few good nuggets:
- He was born in Bombay, India and speaks english with a superb british accent
- A book he wrote in the late 80's ticked off a lot of muslims and led to several protests, some of which were violent. The protesters felt that he made an "irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad."
- On February 14, 1989 Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa requiring Rushdie's execution (that's not something you want). Apparently he still receives a "valentine's day" card from Iran every February 14th letting him know the country has not forgotten their vow to kill him. (just in case he started sleeping too soundly)
- August 3 1989 - an assassin was priming a bomb meant for Rushdie. The bomb went off prematurely taking out two floors of a hotel and killing the assassin (whoops). Salman Rushdie survived and spent the next decade largely underground.
- In 2007 he received knighthood for "services to literature." (I guess he is now Sir Rushdie) Protests in some muslim countries resurfaced with Al-qaeda chiming in this time against Rushdie.
Thus, it would appear that we are continuing with an unintended theme of controversial and/or banned books and authors. And speaking of themes, one idea brought up at the meeting was to begin a political theme as the presidential election approaches...perhaps reading the biography/autobiography of each candidate. Please weigh in if you have any thoughts or suggestions as to which biographies are the best and most insightful about the candidates.
That's all for now. Please feel free to post at the blog (http://scribblesbookclub.blogspot.com/) Happy reading.
Tyler
No comments:
Post a Comment