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Incredibly Disturbing...

The book's title is The Jewel of the Medina.

Once again abc is quicker on the keyboard than I am.
 
I suppose it would be too much to expect a straightforward explanation by those unknown advisers of just what some small radical sects might find offensive about the life of Muhammed and his young wife -- an explanation that could be repeated over and over again in the light of day for open and free discussion, so their ideas could be understood by everyone, instead of just remaining shadowy and ominous scare-mongering threats. I find it exceedingly hard to bellieve that the life of Muhammed is viewed as embarrasing by any Muslims.
 
I read an excerpt from the book from a link on NPR (I will try to find it and post it). The book is actually about a wife of Muhammad and tells her story in a very human way. Apparantly one is aware of her flaws as well as possibly flaws of Muhammad. (NOT saying Muhammad had flaws... just telling why folks had problems with the book). It reminds me of a book written by Jose Sarramago about the life of Christ. It portrayed him as a real human who smelled of goats and had human problems. What a concept. Here is a review about it from Library Journal: The Gospel According To Jesus Christ

From Library Journal

This thoughtful, provocative study of Jesus' self-understanding as both son of God and an all-too-human family member caused debate in the Portuguese parliament and is likely to generate discussion here. Saramago reveals a deep knowledge of scripture, theology, and Christian history, but his true gift may lie in evoking the physical world. Christian writers have often downplayed the earthier aspects of the Incarnation, but here Jesus is "identified as a shepherd by the smell of goat." God says that it is "dissatisfaction, one of the qualities which make man in My image and likeness," which led him to desire a son on Earth. "There will be a church," God tells Jesus, giving a lengthy martyrology as evidence. Jesus dies as do many of us, lamenting "a life planned for death from the very beginning." For serious religious collections.
- Kathleen Norris, Lemmon P.L., S.D.

I read it from a purely literary point of view (like any good story) and really enjoyed it. Quite good though I have not heard much about the book. For such a good book, it doesn't get a lot of press nowadays... though it has been out for some years.

Anyhoo.. The excerpt I read from the censured book about Mohammad was very well written and seemed like it could have been a good book. Wonder if we will ever know? :confused:
 
Here is the link from NPR about the book in question. I almost posted the entire excerpt but worried about copywrite so here is the link:

Random House Pulls Book About Muhammad's Wife
Listen Now [16 min 41 sec] add to playlist


Did Random House do the right thing? Why or why not?

Talk of the Nation, August 11, 2008 · The Jewel of Medina, a historical novel about Muhammad's wife, was set to be published Aug. 12. But in May, Random House halted publication, citing concerns that the racy book by author Sherry Jones would "be offensive to some in the Muslim community" and "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."

Journalist Asra Nomani details the story in her Wall Street Journal op-ed, "You Still Can't Write About Muhammad."

Random House Pulls Book About Muhammad's Wife : NPR

You can also listen to a radio broadcast about the story on that link from NPR. They have a very good newsletter about their book section that I just signed up for. It might interest some of you, as well.
 
GWTW,
Many thanks for the excerpts from Saramago's book about Jesus Christ. I have started it and look forward to getting back to it, and I find nothing offensive in it. I guess I should also add, although many here already know it, that I am also a Christian. Therefore, notice the therefore, I find nothing surprising in the fact that Jesus lived his life here on earth as a man, a person physically and emotionally like the rest of us, because that is exactly the Christian teaching as I know it. To elaborate more would sound like preaching, so I'll forebear.
So, I have difficulty imagining a different reaction for serious Muslims reading undistorted accounts consistent with Muhammed's own life and teachings.
I remain interested in the objections.
 
Rushdie criticizes publisher for pulling novel

art2.salman.rushdie.jpg


"I am very disappointed to hear that my publishers, Random House, have canceled another author's novel, apparently because of their concerns about possible Islamic reprisals," Rushdie said Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
"This is censorship by fear, and it sets a very bad precedent indeed."
Click to expand...

Read the rest of the article here:

Rushdie criticizes publisher for pulling novel - CNN.com
 
On that note, perhaps the words of one of our greatest Presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, long ago, when speaking about The Four Freedoms in the United States said:

We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Click to expand...
 
I've read that the larger purpose of acts of terrorism is to instill fear.

It sounds like this episode would appropriately be called 'literary terrorism.'
 
You'd think these people would figure out that the more they rant and rave over any given work, the more intelligent folks will want to investigate to see what the flap is about. If the work is tripe, that will become evident very quickly.
 
Ah, so it will be published after all. Thanks for the info, Stewart!

The book is said to be rather trite, but I also think it should be left to readers to decide about the work's quality.
 
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