Banned Books Week

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Orangeberry Book Tours has a new home on the web http://orangeberrypromo.com/

Stand a chance to win  

1 Amazon.com voucher ($5)

from 28th September till 6th October 2012
(Scroll down for details)

How would you feel if you published a book that had you receiving death threats two decades after it was published? The Satanic Verses was published in September 1988 and to date is still banned in at least 11 countries with predominant Muslim communities such as India, Bangladesh, Sudan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Thailand, Tanzania, Indonesia, Singapore,Venezuela and Pakistan. The book is said to be "blasphemous against Islam" in its detailed and fictional depiction of Islam's Satanic verses.

The title refers to a disputed Muslim tradition that is related in the book. According to this tradition, Muhammad (Mahound in the book) added verses (sura) to the Qur'an accepting three goddesses who used to be worshipped in Mecca as divine beings. According to the legend, Muhammad later revoked the verses, saying the devil tempted him to utter these lines to appease the Meccans (hence the "Satanic" verses).

Immediately after publication, the book caused such fury in the Muslim world to the point that bookstores were firebombed and Muslim communities in several nations in the West held public rallies burning copies of the book. Several people associated with translating or publishing the book were attacked, seriously injured, and even killed. Author Salman Rushdie was forced to live under police protection for many years. On 14 February 1989, a fatwā requiring Rushdie's execution was proclaimed on Radio Tehran by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran at the time.

Rushdie has reported that he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on 14 February letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him. He said, "It's reached the point where it's a piece of rhetoric rather than a real threat." Iran has rejected requests to withdraw the fatwā on the basis that only the person who issued it may withdraw it, and the person who issued it – Ayatollah Khomeini – has been dead since 1989. (Sourced from Wikipedia)

Have I read this book? Yes. And I loved it as with all of other Salman Rushdie's books. Another Salman Rushdie book I found especially captivating was Shalimar The Clown. And now, for another juicy bit, the giveaway.

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