No luggage larger than a DIN A4 sheet and write your personal details, including your home address, in an email. The security measures to enter the conference hall of the Frankfurt Book Fair yesterday, the largest in the world, were more exhaustive than usual. And not because of the political tensions that have existed since the director, Juergen Boos, took a position saying that this literary quote is “completely in solidarity with Israel”, but because Salman Rushdie (Bombay, 1947) wanted to honor it with his presence
The writer will receive the Peace Prize of the German Booksellers on Sunday, in a ceremony that will take place in the church of Sant Pau, one of the most celebrated scenes of German democracy. Yesterday he offered a press conference to some journalists who had to show up an hour earlier to pass a thorough check. “We want to make sure that in this room we all feel safe”, justified the security agents guarding the room. A barrier of tables that separated the platform from the public reminded that no one could approach less than four meters.
“I’m sorry for the mess,” greeted Rushdie. “I feel very honored to be here. All of us who belong to the world of books know the importance of this award”, he thanked before beginning his speech, in which he inevitably ended up talking about the conflict between Hamas and Israel. “What is happening in the world is that innocent people are dying. I am horrified by the attacks by Hamas and the response that Netanyahu has given.”
The author of the recently published Ciudad Victoria admitted that it is “difficult for him to understand what is happening right now” and that “I do not have an original position regarding the war”, although “I can feel the horror” of the attacks that happen on both sides. However, the British-American writer of Indian origin said that he is an “unreasonable optimist. Writing books is a kind of optimism, even if the reality is dark. And that’s because for years we writers have focused almost exclusively on writing a book, always trusting that someone will want to read it when we finish it.”
For this and “for other obvious reasons”, he assured that he is “against the burning of books, even if this may come as a surprise to many people”, he said jokingly. “It is not clear to me, however, that it should be legislated.” His answer referred to the more than 150 copies of the Koran that were burned in public on Danish streets, mostly in Copenhagen, and near mosques, embassies or consulates at the end of August. “As the poet Heinrich Heine said, where books are burned, people are also burned. Precisely in Germany, this is well known”.
As for artificial intelligence, one of the most debated and commented topics in this 75th edition of the fair, it seems that it is not a concern for the writer. “I did an experiment and asked ChatGPT to write something in the style of Salman Rushdie. What came out was to throw it in the trash. But, maybe, if someone asks me ten minutes from now, I will have changed my mind. This is progressing very quickly.” What he did admit that he is worried about is the ability of this technology to develop “fake news. It’s a brutal source because you can imitate voices and put them in someone’s mouth. That does seem dangerous to me.”
It is the third time Rushdie has gone to a public event after the attack he suffered in August last year during a conference he was giving in the United States. The author lost his right eye and suffers from mobility problems in his left hand ever since, but this has not made him lose his sense of humor at all.
C uchillo has written a memoir about the tragic experience. Meditaciones después de un attempto asesinato, which will be released in April. “I didn’t see myself as capable of writing anything that wasn’t about this topic. I finished it ten days ago, so it’s very fresh in my mind. Now I can devote myself to other subjects”, he said relieved.
Rushdie rose to fame with Midnight’s Children, which won him the Booker Prize in 1981. However, it was The Satanic Verses, his fourth book, that gave him headaches and forced into hiding for nine years after Iran’s late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death. Years later, an Iranian religious foundation offered $3.3 million to whoever would remove it. “I’m grateful to be alive and very happy to be back,” he concluded.