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What: Salman Rushdie
When: Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Alix Goolden Hall, 900 Johnson St.
Tickets: $44 each or $54 for two. Both options include a copy of Rushdie鈥檚 new novel, The Golden House. Available at Bolen Books.
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While Salman Rushdie was writing his latest novel, The Golden House, he was wrapped up in American politics 鈥� hoping for Hillary Clinton to become president and mute Donald Trump once and for all.
鈥淚 was trying to persuade myself that it would be OK and the worst would not happen 鈥� that the result would be a Democrat president and not a Republican demagogue,鈥� Rushdie, 70, said from New York, where he lives. 鈥淢eanwhile, the book I was writing had a different opinion. It鈥檚 strange that in the novel, the logic of the novel went inexorably toward the result of what really happened.鈥�
The author of The Satanic Verses, which garnered him death threats from Islamic extremists, will visit Victoria next week for the first time in 15 years to speak and promote his new book.
The Golden House tells the story of a billionaire family of mysterious foreigners who attempt to redefine themselves in New York City. It鈥檚 set amid the backdrop of the Obama administration and an election in which a Joker-type villain is inexplicably more popular than his qualified female opponent.
鈥淭he fools! I could shoot someone dead in Times Square and I wouldn鈥檛 lose any votes!鈥� the unnamed Joker says in the book. It鈥檚 clear who he is a caricature of.
Rushdie said the experience of writing the book was an acute reminder 鈥渙f a thing that people say, which is very true, that sometimes the art can be wiser than the artist. That the work you do can understand things which you, as a private person, are trying not to.鈥�
The Golden House is a frenetic dash at American realism, dense with current global issues, from politics and corruption to gender fluidity and nationhood.
Its first reviews were divided. The New York Times called it 鈥渂ombastic and close to unreadable,鈥� while others praised it as 鈥減owerfully cinematic鈥� and 鈥渓aced with resonant contemporary echoes.鈥�
The novel is a departure from the magical realism of 1981鈥檚 Midnight鈥檚 Children and the fairytale-esque Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, which came out in 2015.
鈥淚 thought maybe next time no genies, no flying carpets. Maybe try and write a very different kind of novel about New York and America 鈥� which is like a social-realist novel. I attempt to pick up on what鈥檚 going on in this crazy time,鈥� said Rushdie. Spoiler alert: Rushdie, the writer and the man, has no idea what comes after the Joker becomes president.
He said he鈥檚 had the central character of the novel, Nero Golden, in his head for more than 10 years, namely his backstory as a shady member of the Mumbai elite.
鈥淚 wanted to write about this strange interaction between very wealthy people in Bombay and the organized-crime mafias,鈥� said Rushdie, adding the subject is common among the upper class in India. 鈥淭his is something [that] if you鈥檙e there, many people will say to you, but I had not seen it very much written about.鈥�
When it鈥檚 suggested that might be because there is little press freedom in India, with journalists routinely subjected to death threats, Rushdie quipped: 鈥淲ell, I鈥檝e had that before.鈥�
Known best for more provocative works such as The Satanic Verses, Rushdie is hardly savage on the Indian elite in The Golden House, offering more of an exploration of identity and good and evil than an expos茅.
His research for The Golden House included spending time with the usually guarded transgender hijra community in Mumbai, courtesy of an introduction from the Gates Foundation. In addition to more formal research, he drew from his own social circle to write about raising a child with autism and gender transitioning.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to be stupid about it and get it wrong,鈥� said Rushdie, who aimed to go beyond his personal experience and 鈥渄ive into these worlds.鈥�
The setting for the novel is directly from his world. He was introduced to the Macdougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District in Greenwich Village by his friends Alba and Francesco Clemente, whose home opens onto the gardens and to whom he dedicated his novel.
鈥淭hey鈥檇 throw great parties and I thought it was the perfect setting for a novel. So theatrical, like an amphitheatre,鈥� said Rushdie, who thrives on socializing. It鈥檚 what he鈥檚 looking forward to most about touring and promoting his book.
Meeting his readers is the 鈥渧ery gratifying and pleasurable part,鈥� he said. He couldn鈥檛 recall his last visit to Victoria and said he has no ties or friends here. 鈥淏ut I鈥檇 very much like to,鈥� Rushdie said.
