Salman Rushdie

Los Angeles, 1991. Maximilian Ophuls is knifed to death on the doorstep of his illegitimate daughter India, slaughtered by his Kashmiri driver, a mysterious figure who calls himself Shalimar the Clown. The dead man is a World War II Resistance hero, a man of formidable intellectual ability and much erotic appeal, a former United States ambassador to India, and subsequently America’s counter-terrorism chief. The murder looks at first like a political assassination but turns out to be passionately personal. This is the story of Max, his killer, and his daughter – and of a fourth character, the woman who links them all. The story of a deep love gone fatally wrong, destroyed by a shallow affair, it is an epic narrative that moves from California to France, England, and above all, Kashmir: a ruined paradise, not so much lost as smashed.

No book in modern times has matched the uproar sparked by Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses", which earned its author a death sentence. Furor aside, it is a marvelously erudite study of good and evil, a feast of language served up by a writer at the height of his powers, and a rollicking comic fable. The book begins with two Indians, Gibreel Farishta ("for fifteen years the biggest star in the history of the Indian movies") and Saladin Chamcha, a Bombay expatriate returning from his first visit to his homeland in 15 years, plummeting from the sky after the explosion of their jetliner, and proceeds through a series of metamorphoses, dreams and revelations. Rushdie's powers of invention are astonishing in this Whitbread Prize winner."

Když je na prahu losangeleského domu své dcery zavražděn někdejší hrdina protinacistického odboje a velvyslanec USA v Indii Maximilian Ophuls, vše nasvědčuje politickému pozadí činu, jehož pachatelem je Ophulsův osobní řidič „klaun Šalimar“, muslimský rodák z Kašmíru. Navzdory Ophulsově významné roli v protiteroristických aktivitách americké vlády se však ukáže, že motivy vraždy jsou výhradně osobního rázu: jejich ztělesněním je čtvrtá z klíčových postav, jejíž osud, úzce spojující oba muže, je spolu s nedávnou tragickou historií Kašmíru klíčem k celému příběhu. Tak jako ve svých předchozích knihách, i v Klaunu Šalimarovi vede Rushdie široce rozklenutý románový děj s charakteristickou suverenitou a jazykovou invencí až k samému závěru své „písně smutku i naděje“, reagující na neklidnou tvář dnešního světa.

On a beautiful starry night in the city of Kahani in the land of Alifbay a terrible thing happened: twelve-year-old Luka's storyteller father, Rashid, fell suddenly and inexplicably into a sleep so deep that nothing and no one could rouse him. To sav e him from slipping away entirely, Luka must embark on a journey through the Magic World, encountering a slew of phantasmagorical obstacles along the way, to steal the Fire of Life, a seemingly impossible and exceedingly dangerous task. With "Haroun and the Sea of Stories", Salman Rushdie proved that he is one of the best contemporary writers of fables, and it proved to be one of his most popular books with readers of all ages. While Haroun was written as a gift for his first son, "Luka and the Fire of Life", the story of Haroun's younger brother, is a gift for his second son on his twelfth birthday. Lyrical, rich with word-play, and with the narrative tension of the classic quest stories, this is Salman Rushdie at his very best.

On 14 February 1989, Valentine's Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a BBC journalist and told that he had been 'sentenced to death' by the Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word fatwa. His crime? To have written a novel called The Satanic Verses, which was accused of being 'against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran'. So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team. He was asked to choose an alias that the police could call him by. He thought of writers he loved and combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov - "Joseph Anton". How do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for over nine years? How does he go on working? How does he fall in and out of love? How does despair shape his thoughts and actions, how and why does he stumble, how does he learn to fight back? In this remarkable memoir Rushdie tells that story for the first time; the story of one of the crucial battles, in our time, for freedom of speech. He talks about the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed policemen, and of the close bonds he formed with his protectors; of his struggle for support and understanding from governments, intelligence chiefs, publishers, journalists, and fellow writers; and of how he regained his freedom. It is a book of exceptional frankness and honesty, compelling, provocative, moving, and of vital importance. Because what happened to Salman Rushdie was the first act of a drama that is still unfolding somewhere in the world every day.

On a beautiful starry night in the city of Kahani in the land of Alifbay a terrible thing happened: twelve-year-old Luka’s storyteller father, Rashid, fell suddenly and inexplicably into a sleep so deep that nothing and no one could rouse him. To save him from slipping away entirely, Luka must embark on a journey through the Magic World, encountering a slew of phantasmagorical obstacles along the way, to steal the Fire of Life, a seemingly impossible and exceedingly dangerous task. With Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie proved that he is one of the best contemporary writers of fables, and it proved to be one of his most popular books with readers of all ages. While Haroun was written as a gift for his first son, Luka and the Fire of Life, the story of Haroun’s younger brother, is a gift for his second son on his twelfth birthday. Lyrical, rich with word-play, and with the narrative tension of the classic quest stories, this is Salman Rushdie at his very best.

Haroun: What's the use of stories that aren't even true? I asked that question and the Unthinkable Thing happened: my father can't tell stories anymore. That means no more laughter in the city of Alifbay and now the place stinks of sadness. So it's up to me to put things right. If the water genie Iff can take me on the Hoopoe bird Butt all the way to Gup City then maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to persuade the Grand Comptroller to give my father his Story Water supply back. Trouble is, that is strictly forbidden, one hundred percent banned, no way Jose territory... Luka: What do sea monsters eat? The Old Man of the River of Time: Fish and Ships. Why was six afraid of seven? Luka: Because seven eight nine. Luckily, my father is the Riddle King and taught me everything I know. But the stakes are high in this riddle battle, couldn't be higher in fact! To save my father from Un-Life, I've got to beat the Old Man and steal the Fire of Life that burns at the top of the Mountain of Knowledge. Only problem is that nobody in the entire recorded history of the World of Magic has ever successfully stolen the Fire of Life... Includes exclusive material: In the Backstory you can read an interview with the author and solve some fiendish riddles! Vintage Children's Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

In the near future, after a storm strikes New York City, the strangenesses begin. A down-to-earth gardener finds that his feet no longer touch the ground. A graphic novelist awakens in his bedroom to a mysterious entity that resembles his own sub-Stan Lee creation. Abandoned at the mayor's office, a baby identifies corruption with her mere presence, marking the guilty with blemishes and boils. A seductive gold digger is soon tapped to combat forces beyond imagining. Unbeknownst to them, they are all descended from the whimsical, capricious, wanton creatures known as the jinn. Centuries ago, Dunia, a princess of the jinn, fell in love with a mortal man of reason. Together they produced an astonishing number of children, unaware of their fantastical powers, who spread across generations in the human world. Once the line between worlds is breached on a grand scale, Dunia's children and others will play a role in an epic war between light and dark spanning a thousand and one nights - or two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. It is a time of enormous upheaval, in which beliefs are challenged, words act like poison, silence is a disease, and a noise may contain a hidden curse.

Salman Rushdie, a self-described 'emigrant from one place and a newcomer in two', explores the true meaning of home. Writing with insight, passion and humour, he looks at what it means to belong, whether roots are real and homelands imaginary, what it is like to reconfigure your past from fragments of memory and what happens when East meets West. Selected from the books Shame, Imaginary Homelands and East, West by Salman Rushdie. VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. A series of short books by the world's greatest writers on the experiences that make us human. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Love by Jeanette Winterson; Liberty by Virginia Woolf; Race by Toni Morrison; and, Sisters by Louisa May Alcott.

When powerful real-estate tycoon Nero Golden immigrates to the States under mysterious circumstances, he and his three adult children assume new identities and reinvent themselves as Roman emperors living in a lavish house in downtown Manhattan. Arriving shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama, he and his sons, each extraordinary in his own right, quickly establish themselves at the apex of New York society. The story of the powerful Golden family is told from the point of view of their Manhattanite neighbour and confidant, René, an aspiring filmmaker who finds in the Goldens the perfect subject. René chronicles the undoing of the house of Golden: the high life of money, of art and fashion, a sibling quarrel, an unexpected metamorphosis, the arrival of a beautiful woman, betrayal and murder, and far away, in their abandoned homeland, some decent intelligence work. Invoking literature, pop culture, and the cinema, Rushdie spins the story of the American zeitgeist over the last eight years, hitting every beat: the rise of the birther movement, the Tea Party, gamergate and identity politics; the backlash against political correctness; the ascendency of the superhero movie, and, of course, the insurgence of a ruthlessly ambitious, narcissistic, media-savvy villain wearing make-up and with coloured hair. In The Golden House, as entertaining as it is poignant, Rushdie has written a revelatory panorama of our time

**New York Times bestseller** A Guardian / Observer Book of the Year When powerful real-estate tycoon Nero Golden immigrates to the States under mysterious circumstances, he and his three adult children assume new identities, taking 'Roman' names, and move into a grand mansion in downtown Manhattan. Arriving shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama, he and his sons, each extraordinary in his own right, quickly establish themselves at the apex of New York society. The story of the Golden family is told from the point of view of their Manhattanite neighbour and confidant, Rene, an aspiring filmmaker who finds in the Goldens the perfect subject. Rene chronicles the undoing of the house of Golden: the high life of money, of art and fashion, a sibling quarrel, an unexpected metamorphosis, the arrival of a beautiful woman, betrayal and murder, and far away, in their abandoned homeland, some decent intelligence work. Invoking literature, pop culture, and the cinema, Rushdie spins the story of the American zeitgeist over the last eight years, hitting every beat: the rise of the birther movement, the Tea Party, Gamergate and identity politics; the backlash against political correctness; the ascendency of the superhero movie, and, of course, the insurgence of a ruthlessly ambitious, narcissistic, media-savvy villain wearing make-up and with coloured hair. In a new world order of alternative truths, Salman Rushdie has written the ultimate novel about identity, truth, terror and lies. A brilliant, heartbreaking realist novel that is not only uncannily prescient but shows one of the world's greatest storytellers working at the height of his powers.

Rushdieho najnovší román v mnohom pôsobí ako alúzia na súčasnú politickú situáciu v Spojených štátoch. Do New Yorku sa z utajovanej krajiny prisťahuje záhadný miliardár Nero Golden so svojimi tromi synmi: s geniálnym, no autistickým Peťom, s umelecky založeným Apuom a s najmladším, dvadsaťdvaročným D., ktorý v sebe skrýva nebezpečné tajomstvo, hoci spočiatku o ňom ani sám nevie. Chlapci žijú bez matky, no čoskoro im do života vstúpi ruská imigrantka Vasilisa a usiluje sa získať vyše sedemdesiatročného Nera. Rodina si postupne vybuduje solídne postavenie v newyorskej spoločnosti. Ich príbeh rozpráva ich sused oproti, začínajúci filmový tvorca, ktorý sa tiež časom zapletie do tragédie goldenovskej rodiny.

Světoznámý prozaik, jehož každé nové dílo se očekává v předtuše planetární senzace, napsal první velký román trumpovské éry. Mnohovrstevnatý příběh, který rámuje vláda Baracka Obamy a volba prezidenta nového, vypráví o záhadném magnátovi Neru Goldenovi a jeho třech synech. Mocný muž, jenž je bývalým společníkem bombajské stavební a filmové mafie, a právě proto žárlivě střeží tajemství své minulosti, se stěhuje do luxusního domovního bloku v newyorském SoHo. Ve svém okolí vyvolává řadu dohadů a fám, nejen kvůli výstřednímu chování či sňatku s krásnou a vypočítavou ruskou emigrantkou. Jedním z těch, kdo se touží o Nerovi dozvědět víc, je i vypravěč románu, mladý filmař René, kterého láká myšlenka natočit o rodině a jejích osudech polodokumentární film. Již brzy však má přijít apokalypsa... Filmová stylizace, noirová atmosféra, popkulturní narážky, hutný děj se spoustou odboček, to vše vytváří velkolepý ohňostroj marnosti současné zblázněné Ameriky.

Mladý európsky cestovateľ so žltými vlasmi, ktorý si hovorí Mogor dell´Amore, mogul lásky, prichádza na dvor skutočného veľkého mogula, cisára Akbara, aby vyrozprával príbeh, ktorý uchváti celé cisárske hlavné mesto. Cudzinec tvrdí, že je synom stratenej mogulskej princeznej Kary Köz, pani Čiernookej, sestry Akbarovho deda Bábura, krásavice s čarodejníckymi schopnosťami, ktorú najprv zajme uzbecký bojovník, potom perzský šach a napokon sa stane milenkou istého Argaliu, florentského žoldniera a veliteľa vojsk osmanského sultána. Keď sa Argalia vráti so svojou mogulskou princeznou domov, očarí ňou celé mesto a začínajú sa veľké problémy.

Rushdieho Hanba má spletitý děj: V honosném sídle spojeném se světem pouze nákladním výtahem se třem zhanobeným sestrám narodí syn Omar Chajjám Šakíl. Když se konečně odpoutá od jejich vlivu, vydá se z domu na pouť jakéhosi dychtivého voyeura všech metamorfóz hanby, před níž ho jeho tři matky chtěly ochránit. Venkovní svět je Pákistán a pro lidi v něm je hanba synonymem smrti. Román je pak složitou a fiktivní rodinnou ságou dvou národních hrdinů, Razy Hajdara a Iskandara Harappy, postav, které obě mají skutečný předobraz v pákistánských dějinách. Většinu historických postav přitom autor groteskně degraduje a paroduje. Démonická zuřivost Sofi e Zenobie, jedné z hlavních postav, symbolizuje projevy totalitních režimů: hanba a násilí jsou rubem a lícem téže mince. Kniha je zároveň jakousi moderní orientální pohádkou, ornamentální fantasmagorií, politickým pamfl etem i osobní výpovědí poangličtělého Inda, jemuž odstup exilu umožňuje vypořádat se s vlastními kořeny. Střídají se styly i vypravěčské polohy, dějiny se stávají pohádkou a pohádka dějinami, skutečnost je obalována legendou, která jí prorůstá. Složitě komponované dílo nabité příběhy a nečekanými zvraty představuje jeden z vrcholů světové prózy 20. století.

A tall, yellow-haired young European traveller calling himself 'Mogor dell'Amore', the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the whole imperial capital. The stranger claims to be the child of a lost Mughal princess: Qara Koz, 'Lady Black Eyes', a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery, who becomes the lover of a certain Argalia, a Florentine soldier of fortune. When Argalia returns home with his Mughal mistress the city is mesmerized by her presence, as two worlds are brought together by one woman attempting to command her own destiny...But is Mogor's story true? And if so, then what happened to the lost princess?