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Friday, July 24, 2009

The best yet again: Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children wins yet another Booker—one chosen by readers

Islamic Personalities
12 Jul 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

The best yet again: Rushdie's Midnight's Children wins yet another Booker—one chosen by readers

  

BRITISH author Salman Rushdie won the Best of the Booker prize on Thursday to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the world's most prestigious literary awards. Midnight's Children won the Booker Prize in 1981, and the Indianborn writer was hot favourite to take the award decided by the public from ashortlist of six in an online poll. The 61- year- old, whose 1988 novel The Satanic Verses outraged many Muslims and prompted death threats against him, also won the 25th anniversary Booker prize in 1993. "Ithink it was an extraordinary shortlist and it was an honour to be on it," Rushdie said in arecorded message from the US, where he is on a book tour. His sons, Zafar and Milan, accepted a trophy in London on his behalf, and the author said it was apt that my real children (are) accepting aprize for my imaginary children. Milan, the youngest, said, "I'm really looking forward to reading it when I'm older. Well done Dad." Victoria Glendinning, chair of the panel who drew up ashortlist, said the entries were dominated by themes of the end of empire and two world wars. "These are the nettles we have been compelled to try and grasp," she told reporters. But there was some criticism of the award, partly because the choice was narrowed to just six nominees. "It's an artificial exercise, simply because the general public only got to pick from six of the previous winners," said Jonathan Ruppin, promotions manager at Foyles bookshop. "Readers have not been able to vote for some of their most enduring favourites," he added, mentioning, among others, Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things and Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. Around 8,000 people from around the world took part in the online poll, and Midnight's Children won 36 per cent of votes.

Around 8,000 people took part in the online poll

At least half the voters were under 35, and the largest age group was 25- 34, a reflection of the ongoing interest in quality fiction amongst readers of all ages, organisers said. Midnight's Children ,an example of Rushdie's magical realist style, follows Saleem Sinai who is born on the stroke of midnight on the day of India's independence in 1947 and whose life loosely parallels the fortunes of his nascent country. Some critics believe it is Rushdie's finest work, eclipsing subsequent novels including The Satanic Verses, for which he remains best known. What was perceived to be the questioning of the tenets of Islam in The Satanic Verses led to book burnings and riots across the Muslim world culminating in adeath edict against Rushdie by Iran's supreme religious leader. The author was forced into hiding for nine years. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II last year and received the honour at Buckingham Palace last month. The other nominees included Nobel Prize winners J. M. Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer, both born in South Africa. The full list comprised Rushdie, Pat Barker (The Ghost Road ), Peter Carey (Oscar and Lucinda ), Coetzee (Disgrace ), J. G. Farrell (The Siege of Krishnapur )and Gordimer (The Conservationist ). Both Coetzee and Carey have won the Booker Prize twice. The prize is formally known as the Man Booker after its sponsor, financial services conglomerate Man Group PLC. It was first handed out in 1969 and is open to writers from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth. There have been 41 winners because there were joint champions in 1974 and 1992. Winners receive $100,000 (Rs 43 lakh) and aburst of publicity that usually brings asurge in sales.

 

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