Salman Rushdie: My Favorite Novelist

If you had asked me when I was a child to name my favorite novelist, I probably would have told you I had several, including E.B. White (Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web), Willa Cather (My Antonia), Louisa May Alcott (Little Women), and Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie). I also adored the Nancy Drew Mystery Series and Hardy Boys Mystery Series, whose characters were actually created by Edward Stratemeyer, a book packager of all things. Of course, Stratemeyer hired the ghostwriters who put these gems on the map and the rest, as they say, is history. These children's mystery books really captured my imagination. How so? The main characters seemed like they could be your next door neighbor, yet they were doing things we could only imagine doing, like tracking clues, courting danger and solving crimes, something we knew was reserved for adults not kids like us.

If you had asked me the same question in high school? I couldn't tell you. As before, I had several favorite novelists, including J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit and middle earth trilogy), Charles Dickens (Tale of Two Cities), Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth), Edith Wharton (The Age of Innocence), Chaim Potok (The Chosen and The Promise), and James A. Michener (Chesapeake), and Alex Haley (Roots). I never warmed to Kurt Vonnegut (Breakfast of Champions) or Stephen King (Carrie). Yet, I begged my mother to buy me The Exorcist by author William P. Blatty, but I have to admit: the hype around this book in 1971 was far greater than my enthusiasm for it by novel's end. It was too dark even for a Philadelphia girl like me who was raised on camp classics like Dark Shadows, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.

In high school, sure, I read everything that Phyllis A. Whitney (Mystery on the Isle of Skye and The Quicksilver Pool) wrote as well as several books by British author Mary Stewart (The Moon-Spinners). Both writers captured my imagination with their suspense and exotic locales. They took me to parts unknown and back again. Like other teenagers, I also read JD Salinger (Catcher in the Rye), understood about half of it, and only found out quite later how controversial the book was when it was published. I'll have to re-read it sometime. Hopefully, I'll "get it."

In college and beyond, I got a little more serious and selective with my reading and my favorite novelists emerged from the likes of Russia, despite being firmly committed to and entrenched in the Cold War just like everyone else. Yes, indeed, I read the likes of Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment), Eugenia Semyonovna Ginsburg (Journey into the Whirlwind, Ivan Sergeyevich), Turgenev (Fathers and Sons), Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina and War and Peace), among others. I also devoured Joy Luck Club and everything else written by Amy Tan. American Authors Gore Vidal (Burr), Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) and Norman Mailer (The Naked and the Dead and Oswald's Tale) never failed to please. And, Tom Wolfe's best-selling Bonfire of the Vanities was delightfully shocking so I placed his name high atop my list of must-read contemporary writers, along with Michael Chabon (The Mysteries of Pittsburgh) whom I discovered quite by accident in the late 1980s.

Favorite Novelist Today?

Nowadays, who's my favorite novelist? Hands down, it's Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children, Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Luke and the Fire of Life.) Why Rushdie? Simply put, this India-born, British author tells a story like no one else, and the story is the human condition itself. It's no wonder that his books have been translated into over forty languages, and he has several films in production (Midnight's Children and Haroun and the Sea of Stories.) One of his novels (Midnight's Children) was adapted for the stage and another (Haroun and the Sea of Stories) for the opera. For me, Rushdie offers a chance to visit an exotic locale, solve a puzzle, and dig deep into the human experience, qualities that captured my heart from the time I was a young girl. In addition, Rushdie's books appeal to my intellect and curiosity like none other, before or since, and his wordplay is second to none. Finally, Rushdie's writing is unique, unlike anything else I've read and that, in itself, scores big points with me.

Biography in Brief of Salman Rushdie

The author's life tracks so many others of the so-called Indian Diaspora. Salman Rushdie was born June 19, 1947 in Bombay (renamed Mumbai), India into a Muslim Kashmiri family. Educated in India, Salman Rushdie later made his way to King's College, Cambridge where he obtained his masters degree in history in 1968.

Before finding his voice as a full-time novelist, Salmon Rushdie worked as a copywriter in the advertising industry. As such, I've always wondered if this writing gig helped him later produce novels jam-packed with colorful images and memorable dialogue. Or, did it help him push product, as it were? In any event, Salmon Rushdie wrote throughout and soon made a name for himself in literary circles and beyond.

While Grimus was his first novel, it was Midnight's Children that put Salmon Rushdie on the map. Like any labor of love and angst, it took Rushdie five years to write this brilliant novel. Tracing the history of India from Independence on, this iconic novel went on to win the Booker Prize for Fiction, among other awards, prizes and accolades the world over.

Of course, besides writing talent, Salman Rushdie became known for incurring the wrath of Muslims the world over with his publication of The Satanic Verses which was deemed to be blasphemous to the Prophet. In the face of threats on his life, he went into hiding. Years later, the fatwa on his life was lifted and he reemerged into public life and continued his writing without losing a step.

In recent years, he's wowed his reading public with two books written for his own sons, namely Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Luka and the Fire of Life. Haroun and the Sea of Stories, in particular, is a personal favorite for its handy play on words and life lessons. For many years, I gave the book as a gift to special friends who shared my sense of humor and delight in the world. Maybe I'll do the same with Luka, who knows?

The Controversy Continues

In 2007, Salman Rushdie was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Unfortunately, this development stirred up even more controversy for this provocative and talented writer. Hopefully, things calm down so that readers can discover his literary charms. In any event, his books are descriptive and insightful beyond words. Never read Rushdie? That's gotta change. Check out a couple of his books from the library, if you dare, and see what the buzz is all about. I think you'll agree he's got something important to say about human nature and so much more.

Novels and Books of Stories by Sir Salman Rushdie

The Enchantress of Florence
The Best American Short Stories 2008
Shalimar the Clown
Step Across this Line
Fury
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Mirrorwork The Moor's Last Sigh
East, West
Imaginary Homelands
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
The Satanic Verses
The Jaguar Smile
Shame
Midnight's Children
Grimus

Resources on Life and Writings of Salman Rushdie

Official Website - Salman Rushdie
www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/salmanrushdie

Cundy, Catherine. Salman Rushdie. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1996.

Rushdie, Salman. Conversations with Salman Rushdie. Edited by Michael Reder. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2000.

Rushdie, Salman. Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism, 1981-1991. London: Granta Books, 1991.