Note

All stories posted in this blog have been published previously in The Star, Malaysia.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Rushdie wows 'em with wild tales

HERE’S a tabloid moment with writer Salman Rushdie. The Booker Prize winner says he wished he had written the Kama Sutra.

He went on to talk about the use of fingernails to enhance sexual desire as taught in chapter four of the classic love guide.

Then there are other tips, drinks and potions, such as the boiling of the internal organs of a she-goat, “which requires a certain amount of work, unless you can persuade someone to do it for you.”

Author of nine novels, Rushdie was at a book reading of his latest work The Enchantress of Florence in Manhattan last week.

“He has beady eyes,” one guy remarked, upon the arrival of the bearded author that evening.

The writer of such works as Midnight’s Children sure has a strong following.

There were no empty seats at the bookstore and most of those who turned up wanted him to autograph their copy of his book.

No longer shadowed by the fatwa, which called for his head, Rushdie, who recently appeared in a Scarlett Johansson music video Falling Down, certainly captivated his audience at the Barnes & Noble store.

Someone asked him for reading recommendations as a prelude to understanding his newest book. The author of The Satanic Verses was quick in his reply, tickling everybody with his remarks.

“It all depends on your interest. If you are interested in sex, there is a good book which can tell you a lot of things you don’t know,” he said.

According to him, there are three large works on the heightening of sexual desires. He also mentioned a trick men could employ to score countless ejaculations in one night.

But the 61-year-old writer hastened to add that he had not tried any of the sex tips which he shared with the audience that evening; “but let’s just say that I have offered you a piece of ancient wisdom.”

There were serious moments, of course, from the writer whom one columnist commented as “more widely known than read.”

It was, in Rushdie’s view, that human nature had remained constant. “If people were brutal then, they are brutal now,” he said. “If they were bigoted then, they are bigoted now. It is surprising how little has changed.”

Machievelli, he said, had not been wrong, and it was sad to see him being misunderstood. “He opposed tyranny. His tragedy was that he saw it too clearly. He saw what was going on, he wrote it down,” Rushdie said. “He got blamed for what he saw. It was a classic case of shooting the messenger.”

Authors are usually queried about the books they have read and it was no different that evening.

Rushdie said he often reads about 15 books at any one time. “The books are always in some stage of being finished.

So whenever I am asked ‘what are you reading now’ I don’t know how to answer that,” he said.

He named, among others, Junot Diaz, as writers he respected. “There are so many other books that I’ve been promising myself to read.”

Born in India, educated in Britain and now living in New York, Rushdie reads poetry as well.

“I do it to remind myself about good writing. There is no reason why prose should not be as intense as poetry,” said Rushdie, described as one of the world’s most important living writers (at least according to the book jacket of his newest novel.)

Poetry, he said, “keeps me in my mark. It shows the level of care, attention and intensity that you can give to words.”

A digression here. A 15-year practice by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of placing selected poems inside subway cars in New York City will come to an end soon.

Poetry in Motion will be replaced by Train of Thought, which will highlight quotations from great thinkers.

So, it is goodbye to the poems, which have made their mark on subway passengers. According to The New York Times, one poem that had touched people out there was “Always” by Irving Berlin:

Days may not be fair always,

That’s when I’ll be there always.

Not for just an hour,

Not for just a day,

Not for just a year,

But always.