salman rushdie and his knighthood

I'm not a great supporter of the honours system but it seems quite good that he's got it. He's a good writer. I imagine it hasn't gone down well in Iran but he never had a strong following there.

As a general rule I take a dim view of other countries telling us who we should reward or how we should reward them. Surely that's our business and no one else's. In the case of Salman Rushtie though I can at least understand why some countries in the Middle East might be less than impressed with the award of a knighthood to him. I am myself, frankly I am puzzled. I acknowledge his excellence as a writer but surely he is no better than many others? What has he actually done to deserve a knighthood? Does anyone really know?

And that qualifies him for a knighthood....?

I don’t know about the merits of it, he wouldn’t have immediately sprung to mind though. I’d say the timing was a tad undiplomatic at the very least, surely it could have waited – it’s not as if anybody wants to pick a fight with Iran at the moment now is it. Oh, hang on… (Sorry, way past jaded and heading for paranoia.) ~ www.fabulousmother.com

Yeah, it does seem almost deliberately antagonistic.

Well, Midnight's Children has apparently been voted the best book ever, ever, ever by lots of literary types. That seems good enough for me. It's none of Iran's business. I can't imagine they're big supporters of the Queen anyway, so it's not really a major concern for them which writers she likes.

"Booker of Bookers" was the actual poll. And if that doesn't deserve a Knighthood then no writer should ever get one.

Why has Alan Sugar got a knighthood? pe ps oid ... What is "The Art of Tea"? ... (www.pepsoid.wordpress.com)

The question should be: Alan Sugar - why?

;) pe ps oid ... What is "The Art of Tea"? ... (www.pepsoid.wordpress.com)