MEANWHILE, ANOTHER stalwart bites the dust. I always wondered how long it would take to happen… After all, be honest, how many people do you know have admitted over a quiet drink in a noisy bar (where they cannot possibly be overheard) that they have picked up a Salman Rushdie book and been unable to complete it? However, they always add, rolling their eyes and with gritted teeth, “But he writes so well… one day I must finish it”. And so the years fly by. And many Rushdie books pile up unread.
However, now finally the real reason may have been revealed. Sir Salman Rushdie has been named, among other literary leading lights, by the former Weidenfield professor of comparative literature at Oxford University, Gabriel Josipovici, as “profoundly disappointing”.
He adds that “You feel Rushdie’s just showing off rather than giving a sense of genuine exploration”. Sacrilege! will be the united scream which goes up around the world of Rushdie worshippers. But wait, Professor Josipovici has not spared Ian McEwan or Martin Amis either in an interview to the Guardian newspaper. About those writers, such as Ian McEwan who have graduated from the University of East Anglia’s creative writing course, he says, “They all tell stories in a way that is well crafted , but that is the most depressing aspect of it — a careful craft which seems to me to be hollow”.
And, shock and horror, he has included hamara Noble Prize-wallah V.S. Naipaul in the list. He says that while Guerillas, the 1975 story written by Naipaul is “exquisitely crafted” it was one “to which we certainly would not want to return”. So those of you who were trying to complete reading it for the 66th time, put it away, there is absolutely no point. Prof Josipovici has spoken.
Full report here Asian Age
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