Thank you for this tribute to a great man and a great writer. Midnight’s Children is important, not least for perspective of Indian Muslims who opposed partition and trusted in secular democracy of Congress party which Modi is now betraying. I was appalled by cowardice of Nobel Committee who chose to honor an unremarkable French feminist the year following attempted assassination of Rushdie
Is it sufficient tho? Julian himself is an eloquent advocate for the reasonable approach but he notes above how the more 'extreme' white person can and does argue that the compromise position between woke fundamentalism and reason is simply a slightly less extreme version of woke fundamentalism. We have been reasonable, and the woke have won, that's the bottom line. Will continuing to be reasonable work? I'd like to hope so, but maybe not.
I'm seduced by the more robust counterattack: Whiteness is not the problem, whiteness (as the woke use the term, and we should concede the term since they invented it) ... whiteness is not the problem, whiteness is the very foundation of western civilization. We need more, not less whiteness. Going further, into more dangerous territory: White people created western civilization and perhaps they are best entrusted with preserving it? Put another way, 'inclusion' sounds wonderful, and that's how every liberal white person thinks, OTOH given that so many POC are explicit that they want to tear down our civilization, perhaps we should be less 'inclusive'? These are difficult thoughts, to say the least. Can they be folded into western liberalism? I'm not sure. Adolf smiles at us from his throne in hell.
I had not really heard of Rushdie before the fatwa and just assumed the Satanic Verses was some dry religious screed. Then I happened to stumble upon Rusdie's wonderful essay in the New Yorker about the Wizard of Oz (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1992/05/11/out-of-kansas a piece which actually helped me woo my eventual wife, though that is a story for another day), which opened my eyes to just how full of life and profundity and cattiness and sheer fun Rushdie can be, and all at the same time.
And that led me to read Midnight's Children which is every bit the bubbling, messy, and electrifying masterpiece that Toro describes. It's one of my favorite books ever, and I will add that the last section of the first half of the book is perhaps the only passage I have read in all of literature that comes close to the Grand Inquisitor section of the Brothers Karamazov in terms of literally causing my heart to race because of its spiraling dramatic intensity. It's not a book for everyone (I know some people who have read it and found it uncompelling); but if you're one of the folks it works for, you will find it to be amazing.
Thank you for this tribute to a great man and a great writer. Midnight’s Children is important, not least for perspective of Indian Muslims who opposed partition and trusted in secular democracy of Congress party which Modi is now betraying. I was appalled by cowardice of Nobel Committee who chose to honor an unremarkable French feminist the year following attempted assassination of Rushdie
> Rushdie, perhaps calculating he’s given as many eyes as it’s reasonable to give in defense of freedom of speech, withdrew his offer to speak.
Yes. Heroism has it's limits. But how do we cancel the cancelers without resorting to their tactics?
Just write pieces like the one above!
Is it sufficient tho? Julian himself is an eloquent advocate for the reasonable approach but he notes above how the more 'extreme' white person can and does argue that the compromise position between woke fundamentalism and reason is simply a slightly less extreme version of woke fundamentalism. We have been reasonable, and the woke have won, that's the bottom line. Will continuing to be reasonable work? I'd like to hope so, but maybe not.
I'm seduced by the more robust counterattack: Whiteness is not the problem, whiteness (as the woke use the term, and we should concede the term since they invented it) ... whiteness is not the problem, whiteness is the very foundation of western civilization. We need more, not less whiteness. Going further, into more dangerous territory: White people created western civilization and perhaps they are best entrusted with preserving it? Put another way, 'inclusion' sounds wonderful, and that's how every liberal white person thinks, OTOH given that so many POC are explicit that they want to tear down our civilization, perhaps we should be less 'inclusive'? These are difficult thoughts, to say the least. Can they be folded into western liberalism? I'm not sure. Adolf smiles at us from his throne in hell.
I had not really heard of Rushdie before the fatwa and just assumed the Satanic Verses was some dry religious screed. Then I happened to stumble upon Rusdie's wonderful essay in the New Yorker about the Wizard of Oz (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1992/05/11/out-of-kansas a piece which actually helped me woo my eventual wife, though that is a story for another day), which opened my eyes to just how full of life and profundity and cattiness and sheer fun Rushdie can be, and all at the same time.
And that led me to read Midnight's Children which is every bit the bubbling, messy, and electrifying masterpiece that Toro describes. It's one of my favorite books ever, and I will add that the last section of the first half of the book is perhaps the only passage I have read in all of literature that comes close to the Grand Inquisitor section of the Brothers Karamazov in terms of literally causing my heart to race because of its spiraling dramatic intensity. It's not a book for everyone (I know some people who have read it and found it uncompelling); but if you're one of the folks it works for, you will find it to be amazing.
You mean the birth scene? It's friggin' wild!
Yes. Though I confess I read it so long ago, I can’t really remember anything beyond how it made me feel.
Sounds like might even be better than satanic verses. I’m halfway through that mind blowing book so I guess it will have company on my library shelf 😎