Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 75
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 75 whom neither man nor Jinn will have touched before them-Which, then, of the favours of your Lord will you twain deny?’ (verses 36, 38, 47, 57, 58). In the same way that the Qur’an deals with the subject of pun- ishment and reward, so Rushdie uses his typically over-imaginative but insensitive style to amuse the reader. The punishment is in the form of: ‘Grimus: a baby with a bomb. Or a whole veiled arsenal of bombs. On pedestals. ’ (p. 294) The reward is explained thus: ‘The second part of the Dance, Grimus twittered , is a Dance of Veils. In Which Much That Is Wonderful Is Revealed. ’ (p. 294) Rushdie continues this subject in Midnight’s Children and Shame, as discussed later. Other occurrences and similarities can be dug out and there is certainly no denying that the seeds of ridicule and contempt against Islam and its Prophet had been sown in this, his first book. But up until the publication of this book Salman Rushdie was relatively unknown and had made no impact whatsoever in literary circles or otherwise. Nevertheless, those who saw in him the right ingredients and credentials, were prepared to wait until their prospective accom- plice had fully matured with intoxicating qualities. M I DN IGH T ’S C H I LDR E N Midnight’s Children was Rushdie’s second novel, written in 1981, and it brought him a host of literary awards, including the popular and much publicised Booker McConnell Prize for Fiction. It is little short of a miracle that in two easy steps, an author of no previous repute, can suddenly become a Booker Prize winner over- night, after having earlier written only one book.