Comments from Salman Rushdie on freedom, religion, growing up in Bombay and England, and the theme of fear and happiness in the modern world and how it is anticipated in earlier imperial moments, such as the mid 1400s which saw the discovery of America, the flowering of Venice and Florence and, far to the east, the Mughal court in what is now northern India and Pakistan. This is the topic of his most recent book, The Enchantress of Florence.
In person, Rushdie is relaxed, wittier and far better read than one would expect. He is funny, almost like a comic who can’t help himself but make jokes that push the limits just past the conventional mores of his audience by saying publicly what might be thought privately. His ability to sustain conversations on history and ethics is also a surprise. I have just time to put up some of his comments on mobilities, frontiers, movement, cities, space and culture, based on my brief notes.
. An ironic magazine from 2020 is even bound into the closing sections of book to explain the culture that the authors expect to emerge. 17 chapters consider changing urban design and architecture in China, including the imported idea of ‘creative neighbourhoods’, green suburbs, and new retail and consumer environments.