I also think some of his praise is misplaced awe at his fame. Were it not for the fatwa, who knows where his books would be now. Over the past 20 years, he has only written a couple of books that have really stood out, and even they are not read that often. I do think he will go down in history as the author of Midnight’s Children, which I thought to be quite fantastic even if it was a bit boring at times. I suspect even the fatwa will be just an interesting biographical note. Makes me wonder where a lot of the current “in” authors of the literary establishment will be in a few generations. Will McEwan turn out to be as remembered as he seems to imagine he will be? Will Rushdie? Hope I am around to see a bit of this!

My comments may sound harsh but please let me get off my chest because I really wish to say a few things about Salman Rushdie in the light of his great writer status.

I cannot stand Rushdie or his writing: repetitive, ostentatious, limited in scope. He has lived in UK and now USA for such a long time and all he can do is go back to India (or Islamic civilization) over and over again for his setting and write novels. He is gaudy and cheap imitation of some classic Persian or Arabic writer, writing novels in English language.

Magic realism? That’s another big bore. Critics have heaped praises on him but honestly it has more to do with his being ”Fatwaed” (to coin a word) by Persian mullahs. Western world loves to make hero out of anyone who is hated by Muslims for whatever reasons.

I have dislike not only for his writing but also his ideas. I watched his interview on C-Span he actually spoke at some huge event in New York City. People asked him questions about Islamic terrorism and extremism and his answers were imbecile and ignorant at best. Thank God he does not write much non fiction. He would be worse.

When I saw the movie 300 with them, I had to explain the warrior class of the Spartans versus the Athenias, and how the boys started training at birth, how the Greek city states didn’t work with each other, and why the battle to the death was so important, etc etc

Despite attending Catholic schools, I have a good grounding in Greek mythology.

Also I know a little bit about Middle Eastern history.

However, a Pakistani friend, who is about my age, told me that he never learned about the Greeks or Christian stories, was surprised that I knew about the Persians and Babylonians. But I did tell him that I learned about the conflicts and myths of his part of the world after I left school, through my readings.

I read your review today, I noted that John wasn’t persuaded it was a post-911 novel (save in the literal sense), whereas you thought it was. That did make me wonder if your perspective allowed you to pick up elements perhaps less obvious to a British reader. I’ll be sure to read your review again before I eventually start it, with that perspective in mind.

It’s now on my personal longlist, ie it’s not currently on the reading pile but I’ve been persuaded that it probably merits a place there some time in future.

Max, I definitely recommend Netherland, which I review here. Not just my favorite book on the longlist (so far) but one of the best I’ve read in a while. Though I must disclaim that my office window looks down across the street to the WTC site, and though I wasn’t there in 2001, some of my colleagues are still dealing with the demons of that day, so I’m sure my experience with the post-9/11 book could have been influenced by that proximity.

This might be a book for the Fall for me.