See, I don't in principle have a problem with respecting one or two 'red lines', such as Qatarilady's original point. Not insulting the Prophet, a la Danish cartoon style, I can accept that.
But I start fuming when I see unqualified people censoring art and literature on the basis of hearsay. I find it unbearable. Particularly when the people concerned haven't EVEN READ the things they are saying are 'silly writings that are taken as fact'.
The book you condemn is actually about an Anglo-Indian marketing manager named Gibreel who falls out of an airplane like 'seeds out of a pod' and washes up on an English beach in some dazzling unspecified future era. It is a work of fantasy, magical realism and history, at the same time. It is so complex that you would simply need to read it to experience it. Some of Rushdie's art is so dazzling that Shakespeare is the only comparable thing I can think of. The reference to Islam is vague, and limited to a couple of passages where the main character drifts off in a dream like sequence.
See, I don't in principle have a problem with respecting one or two 'red lines', such as Qatarilady's original point. Not insulting the Prophet, a la Danish cartoon style, I can accept that.
But I start fuming when I see unqualified people censoring art and literature on the basis of hearsay. I find it unbearable. Particularly when the people concerned haven't EVEN READ the things they are saying are 'silly writings that are taken as fact'.
The book you condemn is actually about an Anglo-Indian marketing manager named Gibreel who falls out of an airplane like 'seeds out of a pod' and washes up on an English beach in some dazzling unspecified future era. It is a work of fantasy, magical realism and history, at the same time. It is so complex that you would simply need to read it to experience it. Some of Rushdie's art is so dazzling that Shakespeare is the only comparable thing I can think of. The reference to Islam is vague, and limited to a couple of passages where the main character drifts off in a dream like sequence.
Not that you would probably care, though.