Demand spikes for Salman Rushdie's books in wake of NY attack

People are calling up Bengaluru bookstores to ask for ‘The Satanic Verses,’ the book that angered many Islamists around the world

Enquiries for Salman Rushdie’s books have gone up in Bengaluru since the India-born British author was stabbed multiple times at a literary event in New York on Friday. He is recovering now.

Mayi Gowda of Blossom Book House on Church Street says, “Many are calling us for ‘The Satanic Verses’ without realising that it is banned in India.”

The Bookworm and The Bookhive on the same street, and Sapna Book House, which has multiple branches in the city, have been fielding similar calls.

Rushdie’s 1988 novel is regarded as blasphemous, reportedly for mocking some verses of the Quran. India became the first country to ban it over law and order concerns less than a fortnight after it came out.

Also Read | Salman Rushdie: Voice of reason & conscience of our turbulent times

A year later, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (a religious edict) calling for Rushdie’s assassination. Rushdie then spent nearly a decade in hiding in the United Kingdom. The book’s Japanese translator was found dead in 1991 under mysterious circumstances. Its Italian translator and Norwegian publisher survived assaults.

Ramachandran V, senior buyer, Sapna Book House, says most of these enquiries are over the phone. “The callers want to know why some people are after Salman Rushdie’s life. What did he write so wrong?” he says.

In absence of ‘The Satanic Verses’, people are buying his Booker Prize-winning ‘Midnight’s Children’ (1981, about India’s independence from the British colonial rule), and ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’ (a 1990 children’s novel about two worlds that are different yet connected). Rushdie is known for depicting harsh realities of the world through a narrative technique called magic realism.

Ramachandran says, “We have sold 35 copies of ‘Midnight’s Children’ since last week.” Krishna Gowda of The Bookworm is selling three-four copies of the book every day. Mayi has sold 15 so far and an equal number of ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’.

Keshav Gowda of The Bookhive puts things in perspective: “Rushdie’s books have always been in demand. But from where we would sell one copy of ‘Midnight’s Children’ or two in four days, we have sold 20 copies in five days. Additionally, people have bought his ‘The Enchantress of Florence’ (2008), ‘The Moor’s Last Sigh’ (1995), ‘Luka and the Fire of Life’ (2010), and The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999).”

However, stores like Goobe’s Book Republic, Champaca, Bahuroopi, and online rental library JustBooks haven’t received these enquiries.

Incidentally, reports from across the world suggest the attack has revived interest in Rushdie’s books. ‘The Satanic Verses’ climbed Amazon’s bestseller rankings in countries like the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. ‘Joseph Anton’, a memoir on his life in hiding, has also gone up in demand across formats (audiobook, ebook, hardcover and paperback).

Another report suggests that Google India saw a surge in the search for ‘Satanic Verses downloaded’ between Friday and Monday.

Twenty-one-year-old Shloka Karthik from Bengaluru also looked up the book online. “I got to know about it after the recent attack on Rushdie. I wasn’t even born when it was published, you know. I was hoping to find extracts that people found problematic. I did find them and I left it there.”

A 65-year-old journalist and novelist from Bengaluru read ‘The Satanic Verses’ the year after it came out in 1988. “I was in the US, where I was doing a press fellowship when I read about the ban. I laid my hands on a copy when I returned, got it from a relative and I don’t know how she managed to procure it. Since I admire Rushdie’s writing immensely I was keen to read it. I don’t remember finding it offensive. I just liked the magical realism in it. My professor, however, would say that it really is a book about faith.”

What happened

Rushdie (inset) was stabbed at a book event in New York on Friday. The attacker, a 24-year-old Lebanese-descent man from New Jersey, has been arrested. He has pleaded not guilty.

Some books by Karnataka authors that faced a ban

‘Dharmakaarana’ in 1995. A public outcry broke over P V Narayana’s Kannada novel as it allegedly makes derogatory references to 12th-century poet-philosopher Basavanna.

’Basava Vachana Deepthi’ in 1998. Mate Mahadevi changed Basavanna’s pen name from ‘Kudalasangamadeva’ to ‘Lingadeva’, which the government thought could hurt religious sentiments.

‘Anudeva Horaganavanu’ in 2007. Banjagere Jayaprakash’s book argued that Basavanna was not a Brahmin by birth. A review committee ruled against the ban but the government did not relent.

‘Valmiki Yaaru?’ in 2014. K S Narayanacharya’s book suggested that Valmiki was a Brahmin unlike the traditional belief that he was a beda (hunter).