Salman Rushdie: Joseph Anton

Joseph Anton: A Memoir is Salman Rushdie's autobiography during (what became known as) the Satanic verses controversy or the Rushdie affair. In short, Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses (1988) caused violent reactions in the Muslim world and Iran's leader issued a call (fatwa) on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to kill them (the author, his publishers, editors and translators) without delay, so that no one will dare insult the sacred beliefs of Muslims. What intrigued me to the book was not the political or religious controversy but the thriller aspect: How was Rushdie hidden effectively from his countless pursuers for thirteen years? Were there any near misses? Did he have family and social life during this period? Was he able to work?

Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay, India in 1947 and came from a well-to-do family that had made its fortune in the textile industry. Although a declared atheist, Rushdie studied history and religion at the University of Cambridge. His first novel, Grimus (1975) went by unnoticed, but his second, Midnight's Children (1981) won the Booker's prize in 1981. It was followed by Shame in 1983. Then came The Satanic Verses. Rushdie has said to an interviwer that I expected a few mullahs would be offended, call me names, and then I could defend myself in public... I honestly never expected anything like this. Although it was only a novel, Muslims' response went far beyond gatherings and into violent protests (where several people died), book-store bombings in US and Europe, the killing of the Japanese translator and the near fatal injuries of various others.

At the heart of the controversy was, on one hand, the Western belief that the fatwa violated the universal human rights of free speech, freedom of religion, and that Khomeini had no right to condemn to death a citizen of another country living in that country. And on the other, the Muslim belief that whoever abuses the Messenger of God ... is to be executed, and his repentance is not accepted. But Khomeini's fatwa is objectionable even on Muslim grounds and today it is accepted that although Khomeini and Iran used the religious aspect, their motivations were strictly personal and political. Even though for over ten years Rushdie's life was practically put on hold, undeniably, the fatwa also made him a household name and a multimillionaire. With his eleven novels and many literary articles he has received numerous literary awards and university doctorates, including a knighthood for his services to literature in 2007. His stories are mostly set in India and he is said to combine magical realism with historical fiction.

Joseph Anton: A Memoir is strictly an autobiography and in no point does it venture to become a thriller. The most annoying aspect of the book is that it is written in the third person (Rushdie refers to himself as “he”) which tends to confuse in several places. When the fatwa was issued against him, Britain considered him to be in more danger than anyone in the country except, perhaps, the queen. He was not taken to a safe house, as we see in spy movies, but given the choice to either live inside an army base or a house of his own choice at his expense. He was alocated two protection officers, two drivers and two cars. The Special Branch men who protected him were from the double-O elite—licensed to kill. His visitors, whether they were his wife and son or close friends were dry-cleaned, that is they were driven at various speeds in circuitous routes and followed to make sure they were not tailed. The same procedure was used when Rushdie wanted to visit someone except that he travelled in a heavily armoured car. Joseph Anton was a pseudonym chosen by Rushdie himself, made-up in honour of writers Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov, so that his protection group could refer to him without arousing suspicion. Much to his disdain however, everyone shortened it and simply referred to him as Joe. During the first few years, public opinion weighed heavily against Rushdie as people thought that he must have brought all this down on himself. This response was partly triggered by many writers or politicians who issued statements against him (without even bothering to read his novel) when they should have backed him up on the principle of freedom of expression. This was only a novel, after all.

During the Joseph Anton years, Rushdie's personal life took the largest blow of all. With all the restrictions placed on his movements and those of his friends and the denial of almost all airlines to fly him anywhere, things became difficult. Although it is obvious that he was scared for his life (else why accept all the limits the security people placed on him?) at no point does he say anything remotely like it. Yet in spite of the multi-million dollar bounties placed on his head by various Muslims, and even the 500 hard-liners who pledged to sell a kidney each (!) to raise the money for his killing, Rushdie was not even remotely threatened in the entire Joseph Anton period of 13 years. The book therefore is nowhere near thriller territory and reads strictly as a personal journal of his life. It is difficult to judge him as a character as we only have his point of view. He is however incredibly judgemental on all—his wives, his friends, anyone who made a comment for or against him as well as various people in his profession. He is certainly a controversial man, and in spite of all he suffered, I could not feel sorry for him. He claims that all he wanted was to be loved, and yet the only people he praises in his memoir are those who endangered their lives for him, his two sons and their mothers.

This is not a book I could recommend to everyone. At 669 pages, most people will find it overly long, and, unless one is interested in authors, books and publishing, perhaps even boring. Although I am not interested in his other novels, I must admit that I enjoyed this one. His special circumstances and his story telling gripped me from the first page where the threat forms until the very last, where as a free man, he leaves police custody and hails a passing cab.