I've just been reflecting on the craziness and absurdity of recent events ... imagine being the traffic warden who towed away the car packed with explosives because it was illegally parked. Poor guy - I wouldn't like to be having his nightmares - but if this incident had happened in a Tom Sharpe novel it would have been hilarious. To me, it has the same absurd quality as the condemnation of the shooting of Juan Carlos di Menezes on the grounds of Health and Safety legislation.
I see that 'The Satanic Verses' has recently hit the headlines again. I'm not qualified to judge whether Rushdie should have been knighted on literary grounds. I will say, though, that I am the only person I know who has read 'The Satanic Verses' from cover to cover. When it was first published I was so effronted by the demands made by (a few) Muslims that I wrote to the then Home Secretary about the issue of free speech. Then I read the book. I have to say, it isn't an easy read, and it took some doing. Never one to quit, I ploughed on regardless.
The supreme, supreme irony in all this is that the main themes are the problems faced by migrant communities, and I ended up feeling very compassionate towards well, not only Muslims, but all immigrant communities to hit these shores. I certainly hadn't anticipated this!!!
The point is that any controversy is not about the book - very few people seem to have read it, and many of the people involved in the riots of the 1980's were illiterate anyway -but more about the clash of two value systems. And while both sides are
convinced that they are
right while the other is wrong - the clash will continue.
And look - Blugger was obviously starting to get bored with this post and has decided to do its
own thing with the layout - just for fun!
