Orhan Pamuk & Salman Rushdie

Here is Orhan Pamuk’s speech while accepting the Nobel Prize for literature.

Salman Rushdie was on Charlie Rose last night. His book, Shalimar the clown is out in paperback, so he was discussing it. He writes about Kashmir, because it is like a paradise that has been lost. When he visited their in 1987, he met folk theater people. His book was inspired by their lives. His book deals with universal themes, like a love triangle, death, and a murder. Kashmir was a place where different cultures and religions learnt to get along, similar to what Bosnia and the Middle East used to be like. India is a great success story for religious tolerance, but Kashmir has been caught in the crossfire between Indian Army, Pakistan Army and the jihadists.

He grew up with a secular upbringing, with not much need for religion in his life.

When asked if Islam needed to go through more debate.

He responded and said that it was already happening but not vocally enough. The modernizing movement is happening often outside Muslim majority countries. Women were leading the way, by challenging the interpretations of the mullahs.

He thought he was improving as a writer. He was hoping for clarity in his writing more and more. In the past he had tried to be clever with language, but was no realizing that simplicity is the hardest thing. To tell a gripping story, the writer needs to write about what they feel most connected with. He writes about India, and then, he brings in themes of love, violence and revenge. He said young writers measure themselves in comparison with other great writers, but the older he gets he feels writing is more about who he is.