The Eleventh Hour

Salman Rushdie is perhaps most famous for having written "Satanic Verses" in 1988 that provoked a death threat.

Before that, after graduating with an English education (Cambridge) Salman was an advertising copy writer.  While doing that he was writing a science fiction book that failed to impress either potential readers or critics.  Still working in ad agency he wrote "Midnight's Children" that came out in 1981.  It won the Booker Prize that allowed him to become a full time writer.  Years later he was involved in writing the script for the film version co-operating with Deepa Mehta and one of the stars, Shriya Saran is a favorite..

"Satanic Verses" offended Muslim fundamentalist governments and was banned in 20 countries.  More critically it raised the ire of Ayatollah Khomeni who issued a fatwa demanding Salman's death in 1989.  He went into hiding, making a few high security public appearances and continued writing.

By 2022 it seemed safe, however there were still those who took the fatwa seriously and Salmon was attacked at a public author's event.  Before anyone could restrain the attacker, Salmon suffered being stabbed that ended up losing one eye and damage to his hands and liver.

Being an outspoken author was dangerous and he decided he had to deal with this violation of trust.  One of the results was the non fiction book "Knife." 

Now he was ready to get back to what he normally does.  Write fiction.  I have been stuck by a quote from Picasso who said "Art is the lie that shows us the truth."  To me it suggests that fiction can be a tool to give us greater human insight.  

The title, "The Eleventh Hour" is meant to convey the concern that we all face; death and how to deal with it in our quest to give meaning to our life.  Salman decided on 5 short stories to give different perspectives in an engaging manner.  

He draws on his background in India, England and United States.  Some of his references hit me as I didn't expect any to Indian films, but I should have known better.  Others will pick up on things he experienced in England where he went to school or America where he took up residence.

He is credited with using a magic realism style.  As a youngster, Salman was first impressed by "The Wizard of Oz" that sets a fantasy frame to tell us a little bit about three real men.  In his five stories he combines fantasy in a historical context.

We are grateful that Salman survived and if you get a chance to read "The Eleventh Hour" you will be grateful too.