Ridicule?
At the time when the islamic world roars in rage and vengefullness I read Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination. Olivia, the one who always has with her a hat pin, falls for a man who looks very much like Osama bin Laden and follows him around the globe. What could a takfiri have to offer her? A female thriller slash romance deluxe.
With all the threats voiced by the Muslims, with all the terror and threats and killing and building-burning, I feel compelled to read The Satanic Verses. I want to resist. In the unforgettable words of Elizabeth Bennet: "There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me."
Bring the full force on. Condemn me for planning to read The Satanic Verses. I am not afraid.
I am not being foolish, neither am I being childish. But I do not let myself be intimidated.
7 Comments:
Why would you want to resist? The current events naturally remind one of the book in question and it's perfectly normal that one wants to see what the controversy is about. Reading The Satanic Verses is hardly a reckless act of defiance as you seem to picture it. Unless you live in Iran of course.
Maybe I have an overactive imagination just as the above-mentioned Ms. Joules.
The curent stategy/policy is to avoid conflict... (Here was a rather lengthy part that was completely pointless.) ... and give in to the pressures of a group so that the violence can be stopped. I think this strategy is not giving the right results. Muslims (the violent ones, not every one) are acting as though their sense of what is ethical and moral (or offensive, for that matter) should guide the whole of Western world in what they read in the papers and se on TV.
My plan to read the book is just one, tiny (and meaningless in the large scope of things) rebellion. If our views of the matter differ, then they're just that - different. I'd rather read a book (however insignificant that is) than sit comfortaby on my backside and complain how this violence just isn't right.
If you could (and you can) do anything about it, what would you do?
I'd sacrifice myself by eating a big fat pork steak for lunch even though I generally greatly prefer turkey meat :)
As for The Satanic Verses, the thing that shocked me most about them was realizing what a sorry narrow-minded zealot one would have to be to find anything particularly objectionable about that book. I found it a pleasant enough novel (though reading it felt like a bit of hard work at times); it's clearly the work of a very lively imagination; but to think that this relatively harmless story caused such a great fuss and inspired such hatred and persecution is truly sad.
The Satanic Verses are a fun book to read. I had a good laugh in some cases, while some parts were boring. It is a big book.
OK, maybe muslims were insulted by the fight beetwen the prophet and the angel, I don't know. I didn't find anything really insulting in it, but then, some people are easily ofended.
Thanks for comments, both of you. I'll report once I've read the book. Taking into account that I currently have four other books at home it might actually take a couple of weeks before I start with The Satanic Verses.
Ignore the hype! I for one found Rushdie's Otroci polnoči* a much more profound experience.
* you present me with a dilemma, should the title be in English, keeping with this blog's protocol, or Slovenian, as that was the version I have
read?**
** I hate to be Captain Obvious, but as you can see I decided on Slovenian. It's only proper to recommend what I know to be good, not merely speculate.***
*** annotations to annotations are so cool! ;)
Rushdie has long been on my "to read" list. I will read more than just The Satanic Verses, however this book comes first.
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