Sunday, March 6, 2016

Salman Rushdie In St. Louis

Salman Rushdie 1

The first of Salman Rushdie's novels to get attention, Midnight's Children, didn't catch me. When it was published in 1981 to enormous acclaim, I had one and five year old children and a growing law practice. When The Satanic Verses was published seven years later, everyone heard about the fatwā calling for Rushdie's death issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran. I bought a copy of the book and was completely sucked in.

By that time I had only a passing acquaintance with magical realism through the work of Gabriel García Márquez. As I started reading The Satanic Verses I was astonished by the victim of a high-altitude airliner bombing floating safely to earth, arriving without a bruise in Ellowen Deeowen. It  took me the longest time to understand that. Sound it out, slowly.

I became a Rushdie fan for life and have read almost all his books. On June 11, our glorious Opera Theatre of St. Louis will present the world premier of a work based on Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown, a tale of love, betrayal and revenge. We've been subscribers for at least 35 years. As an out-of-town newspaper review said a couple of years ago, if you want to see the future of opera, go to St. Louis. Rushdie, the composer Jack Pirla and Opera Theatre's general director Timothy O'Leary discussed the work yesterday at The Sheldon Concert Hall. What an afternoon. Rushdie has gotten older, balder and broader of beam but you couldn't miss the discussion about whether 50 shades of something could be turned into an opera.  

Mrs. C and I will be at opening night.

Salman Rushdie and Jack Perla

Adrienne Davis Salman Rushdie Jack Perla Timothy O'Leary

7 comments:

PerthDailyPhoto said...

50 Shades of Grey the opera.. oh la the mind boggles :)

Sharon said...

Wow, what an opportunity. Fantastic photos.

cieldequimper said...

I'm ashamed to say I've never read him. It must have been extremely interesting.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Fantastic story and photos. Glad you'll get to see this.

Regarding my photo of a biker in Marseilles, f you follow Michel Benoit's link you'll understand : at the farthest end of the Vieux Port is a newish structure (inaugurated March 2013), a huge sheltered area designed by Norman Foster which is as useful in the hot sun as in the rain. The metro exit is there too. The underside of the s's roof is made of mirrors (1,000 sq. meters of mirrors!) which offer a vast choice of fun picture opportunities. The structure is just by the water's edge and the guy with his bike was sitting just meters from me, but taking his photo via his reflection in the ceiling mirror gave this very distorted image.
Check out this link for more :
http://www.tuxboard.com/miroir-geant-sur-le-vieux-port-de-marseille/
The photos show what the structure looks like and the effects it creates.

William Kendall said...

Terrific shots of the man!

Luis Gomez said...

I am a fan of him as well. Great shots Bob!

Stefan Jansson said...

I still remember reading The Midnight Children, a great novel.