While talking about literature in New York, Salman Rushdie chases after the betrayal that is about to kill him. They could have killed him many times over, for example, in Spain, in El Escorial, in the Community of Madrid, in Granada…, wherever he came after the publication of his most threatened book, here, in other foreign countries, because all the sites were abroad the author’s devil verses, The starting point of the fatwa that seized the hand of another madman in one of the capitals of the world.
Vulnerable, so to speak, without a weapon and not defended by as many bodyguards as he had in his even more dangerous past, he succumbed to the canvas of a public place. On the ground, a symbol of the active threat to freedom of expression, cursed by Khomeini, as in 1988, this book was written as a fiction according to the dictates of freedom that made him a writer, that is, a creator. , a poet placed it in front of a sad and universal wall. Same as in New York now, at the feet of gravity and death. I hope these last two words are deleted as they are written.
That book in 1988 (I repeat: cursed, not cursed) untouchable pronunciation, Freedom of print at the tip of a formidable knife: will it be reissued, will it come off the plates as Khomeini turned out to be when he decided it should? licence of authorization what about the saints? Publisher, whose original language is English, devil verses, Peter Mayer, then-president of Penguin, the predecessor of Penguin Random House, decided to bring publishers from all over to a deal, creating an unusual global solidarity (that of Spanish Alfaguara, among others).
He entered the publishing world and fell in love while driving a taxi in New York. call it sleep, Telling the story of Henry Roth, Mayer reached the pinnacle of publishing thanks to the enthusiasm that carried him from taxi to license plates, and when faced with the challenge of facing Rushdie’s first betrayal, he devoted all his energies to the interests of the author. Freedom of expression for those of Hindu origin who come to their door with the same problem, on the street or in a place devoted to the distribution of books as it is now.
The event, which shocked the publishing world and the whole world, has already become visible in the meantime. Peter MayerStill an editor, an active friend of the man who could have died multiple times from Khomeini’s curse at the head of the Overlook Press, which his father founded, he recalled the reason why his struggle was started not only personally but also as an editor. in favor of an author whose freedom of trade is threatened.
This is one of the statements he made about this event in November 2011, but in Spain, for example, where he was friends with major publishers until his death, he did not stop talking about it. Manuel Arroyo Stephensand others who remember him today for his fight against a fatwa that found its way in New York, meanwhile, lived until his death in New York in 2018. what the publisher said satanic verses.
Peter Mayer said: “In the example of the famous book whose publication I had to see, satanic verses Many people told me about Salman Rushdie that I should stop posting him. danger of losing human life based on this post and there could be more, including our own staff at Penguin.
“You had to try to balance that out, combining the possibility of people losing their lives with advocating for a principle that was honored until it was not in line with a country’s interests. very noisy minority undoubtedly a minority existing in western countries.
“For me, we live in the West, and these principles are just French Revolution, only then must all the freedoms that arise and which are part of our heritage be preserved. If any minority could ban any book, our freedoms would be curtailed. For example, a book about Catholics offend the churchand then the Church could show that one could end another’s life if this book continued to be published. Or a Jewish group may be offended by something and prevent a book about Jews from being published…
“I believe that everything should be published and what is published should be discussed… But at least 70 people died as a result. devil verses, There have been attacks, some of them in India, I think Japan, Italy, Norway, Belgium, I don’t know where else… These are terrible decisions I never thought I would have to make. I wasn’t personally involved in Rushdie’s life – of course I didn’t want him to lose him, nor could I predict what would happen when we published the book. Also, I never fully understood how Muslims would be affected by the article. I didn’t know about islamismand actually when Ayatollah gave the fatwa, I knew he had not read the book because he had not read it in English and the book was not translated.
“So the attack had a fraudulent aspect. devil verses, but it was the book and its concept that I believed needed to be defended, because once you surrender to the terrorists, you’re done. This is the concept behind not paying ransom when terrorists pay ransom. kidnapping.
“Everybody wants free the hostagesbut there will be more kidnappings and hostages if we pay. Well, when you say, “I’m not going to publish a book like this because someone who didn’t like it threatened me,” you’re done. Others will do. I also made the decision I made for the social, civil, political, intellectual principles that Penguin supports… for the freedom of thought.
“Obviously, knowing Salman, I had all kinds of positive feelings towards him and his suffering. But the subject was older than him and he was a great writer”.
Peter Mayer said in front of some microphones in November 1999; He told us where they asked, he told us. Now once again it was his faith that was in favor of all publishers in the world. freedom to publish and also freedom of belief not in these or these gods. “When you surrender to the terrorists, you’re done.” kept alive Satanic Verses. Now once again, they tried to kill the writer, a near-unfree man who was persecuted for treason in New York and living wrapped in a fatwa.