Islamic Personalities
The best yet again: Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children wins yet another Booker—one chosen by readersAt 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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9:25 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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