Fascinating but very name drop-y

Great reader (although he kept forgetting how to pronounce Zafar and Milan, Rushdie's sons names. But otherwise the voices, accents (slightly annoying US female accent but perhaps that was on purpose) the tone was perfect.
The story is compelling and tragic. The first person was told in the third person in a very effective way.
His last affair left a bad taste. I'm trying not to let that colour the whole thing.

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A Tedious Listen

This is an important book that not only relates Rushdie's experience during the initial years of the fatwa but also documents the shameful behaviour of those who not only failed to rally to the free speech standard but who forever damned themselves by (effecively) taking the side of the Islamist fanatics.

I read and listened to Joseph Anton in the wake of the murderous attempt on Rushdie's life in August 2022. The optimistic Rushdie always thought that there would be a happy ending to the story. In the light of the atrocity in Chautauqua those hopes were shown to be cruel delusions.

The memoir is meant to be a story of hope; a story of how a man thrust onto the world's stage regains his ordinary, everyday invisibility. But that's not at all how it reads now. The irony at times is heartbreakingly painful. When at the conclusion Rushdie steps out of the Halcyon Hotel we now know that the murderous blackbirds never went away. I was left wondering if he was wilfully blind?

It is perhaps an odd compliment but this is a tedious listen. By that I mean that for most of the time nothing much happens. But that, in its own way, is the point, and the book convincingly conveys the claustrophobia and frustration of Rushdie's oppressive confinement. It is to its credit that despite the tediousness of Rushdie's circumstances, the story never fails to grip the listener/reader's attention.

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Where to start...

Like many of Rushdie's books I'm not sure I'm supposed to get it. Personally I feel that this is an important case for the human right of free speech. But parts did have me scratching my head.



I have heard critics attack this book for it's thinly veiled anger towards the media, politicians and Iran which I think they exaggerate. But honestly I can't blame him, I'm sure being vilified and threatened aren't key ingredients to a happy biography. However, some parts of the book came across rushed while others plodded at a glacial pace. It's bizarre how hours are spent explaining sitting in houses with police men wondering how he wished people would consider him a writer again yet the post 2001 period of the book, where he essentially became a writer again, is perhaps only 40 minuets long.



Rushdie is at least very honest and open about a great number of topics be it cancer, love, fear, anger and politics all of which appear to have had a deep effect on him. I have only just finished this book and I'm still struggling to sum it up. Rushdie is not to everybody's taste and my feeling is that if you don't like him before you read this he is unlikely to convert you. He addresses the attacks the media made on him during the early fatwa years but never really seems to dispel them all in my opinion. Perhaps I am biased but either way this book is an important one if you value free speech as we all should.

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Didn't want this to end!

I remember the announcement of the fatwa many years ago (when I was about 15 years old) and I really felt for Mr Rushdie at that time. Although I have never managed to read any of his other books, I was very interested in this one (having come across a few reviews). It gripped me from the start and so I decided to go for the audiobook (as I spend nearly >1 hour plus a day driving to and from work.) It's a real insight into Mr Rushdie's life during this time as a lot of his words are also from memoirs he written at that time. So many emotions throughout from heartbreaks to misery and laughing and joy. I was kind of dreading approaching the end as i didn't want it to finish...The narration and the accents are superb.

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Candid and Remarkable

I had read Midnight’s Children and Verses so was familiar with Rushdie’s ability to evoke wonderful images of complex characters, but listening to the author’s account of isolation, loss of personal freedom, genuine fear for the lives of his loved ones and refusal to give in or back down is inspiring and admirable. A wonderful reflection. All in the name of protecting our right to free speech. Thank you for what you have done for all of us. Laurie

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moaning

a very lucky individual, constantly moans about losing his freedom, while receiving awards and meeting famous writers and politicians

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