The Satanic Verses controversy John le Carré thought the death sentence to be outrageous, but he also criticised Rushdie's action: "I don't think it is given to any of us to be impertinent to great religions with impunity", although he later expressed regret over his dispute with Rushdie. Rushdie, however, was supported by major bodies in the literary world such as PEN and Association of American Publishers, and prominent figures such as Günter Grass, Martin Amis, Saul Bellow, Nadine Gordimer and Derek Walcott. Another major supporter of Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens, said that the fatwa persuaded him that Islamic fundamentalism was an urgent menace, and
Haroun and the Sea of Stories Haroun and the Sea of Stories Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1990 children's book by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's fifth novel after "The Satanic Verses". It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name. "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" is an allegory for several problems existing in society today, especially in the Indian subcontinent. It looks at these problems from the viewpoint of the young protagonist Haroun. Rushdie dedicated this book to his son, from whom he was separated for some time. Many elements