It's surreal, ironic, intense and brilliant. Trouble was, its depiction of the prophet Mohammad sparked outrage across part of the Muslim world, moving Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, to issue a fatwa against Rushdie, and a $6 million reward for his life. Rushdie spent the next decade in hiding, shadowed by round-the-clock bodyguards. The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst (1988) The Japanese translator of the novel was assassinated.Īs the author Hanif Kureishi wrote in 2012, “ is one of the most significant events in postwar literary history it reminded us that words can be dynamite and that in other parts of the world … writers who spoke freely could be in great danger.” Books were burned, and bookshops firebombed. In 1988, amid mounting hysteria about the spread of HIV, Thatcher’s Tory government passed a bill banning local councils and schools from “promoting homosexuality.” Meanwhile, councils were forbidden from stocking libraries with literature or films that contained gay or lesbian themes.
