This man was considered an apostate, sentenced to death in absentia and assigned a reward for his head. Salman Rushdie went down in the history of world literature as the author of a scandalous essay directed against the foundations of the Islamic religion. In fact, he is a philosopher who, in the form of vivid metaphors, tries to convey to the reader his ideas about the world.
Salman Rushdie: facts from the biography
Ahmed Salman Rushdie gained fame as a prose writer, literary critic and publicist. He was born in Bombay, India on June 19, 1947. He began to receive education in a private school. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to England, where he entered the prestigious Rugby School.
His father insisted that Salman go to King's College Cambridge after school. Here the future writer studied English literature and history.
Then it was time for the Rushdie family to be tested. During the conflict between Pakistan and India, many Muslims were forced to move to Pakistan. Salman's family moves to Karachi.
After becoming a graduate, Rushdie returned to his family. His first place of work was television. He later returned to the UK, where he worked as a copywriter for a metropolitan advertising agency. In 1964, Rushdie became a British citizen.
Rushdie was looking for his family happiness for a long time. He has been married four times. Salman's first wife, Clarissa Louard, was a literary agent; in this marriage, Salman's son Zafar was born. The second wife is a writer from the United States, Marianne Wiggins. Rushdie's third marriage was with Elizabeth Weiss, a British publisher. She gave birth to a son to Salman, who received the name Milan. In his fourth marriage, Rushdie was married to Padma Lakshmi.
The creative path of Salman Rushdie
Salman began his career in literature with the publication of the novel "Grimus" (1975). The book was written in a genre bordering on science fiction. However, the novel was not successful and did not impress critics. But already the next work of Rushdie, "Children of Midnight" (1981) brought Salman to the list of the most widely read authors. This novel is still considered his best work.
Two years later, Rushdie writes Shame, which mockingly criticizes Pakistan's political system. The book is written in the style of the so-called magical realism.
Satanic Verses
Scandalous fame came to Salman Rushdie after the release of his "Satanic Poems" (1988). This novel immediately made the author famous and caused a storm of indignation in the Islamic world. Muslims saw the book as a direct challenge to the faith of their fathers. In many countries, the novel was banned, including in India.
In February 1989, Iranian leader Khomeini sentenced the writer to death in absentia. His "Satanic Verses" were angrily condemned for apostasy and blasphemy. Every Muslim in the world could count on a reward for carrying out a death sentence. A real threat of assassination looms over Rushdie. The writer was forced to hide for a long time and was even under the care of the police.
When the scandal subsided a little, Rushdie turned to the fairy tale genre. In 1990, one of his brightest works, "Harun and the Sea of Stories", was published. Subsequently, Salman once again turned to this genre.
Rushdie's merits in the field of literature were noted in Foggy Albion: in 2007 he was awarded the title of Knight of the British Empire. He is also the recipient of several literary awards.
