Reviews for Studies in the Chinese Drama

The average rating for Studies in the Chinese Drama based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-08-09 00:00:00 Nancy Smith THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR is Daniel Pipes' analysis of the uproar by Muslims over Salman Rushdie's novel THE SATANIC VERSES from mid-1988 to March 1989, with especial attention on Ayatollah Khomeini's death fatwa and the resulting diplomatic fallout. Though the book was published in early 1990 and so lacks a long-term view of the matter, it is still a valuable and informative historical document. Pipes explains how the novel is offensive to Muslims, explicating its references to the founding of Islam which the average Western reader wouldn't grasp, as well as Khomeini's edict and voices of support and dissent with it. The second part of the book is an examination of larger issues evoked by the novel's reception, namely the relationship between Iran and the West, the efficacy or lack thereof of censorship and, quite pertinent to our times sixteen years later, the matter of Muslim communities living in the West. Pipes asks if perhaps the greatest danger against speech isn't far-off pariah states like Iran, but rather Muslim communities in Europe which refuse to integrate and wish to eradicate all opposition to Islam and its sharia law in the society around them. It is clear right away that Pipes has little sympathy for Rushdie. In the short biography of the author, Rushdie is described as a haughty intellectual, an elitist, an a nihilistic Leftist. I thought this was unfair, and showed the author to have little understanding or appreciation of the literary art. However, Pipes' low view of Rushdie allows him to consider in greater depth the question of whether Rushdie deserved the criticism and fatwa. Ultimately, what Pipes feels about the matter is simple bafflement, because the Muslim world during the 20th century tolerated writers and intellectuals who said far worse things about Islam than Rushdie, and there's no real reason why Rushdie should have been singled out for such a great outcry. The book is informative, but more on its coverage of international relations than any insights on the literary world. If you haven't read THE SATANIC VERSES yet, don't try Pipes' book, because you've been missing out on an entertaining and truly marvelous novel, and it will be baffling to read about a controversy over a book you know nothing about yet. The book may be worth flipping through if you're curious about why Rushdie's novel sparked such a reaction.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-11-30 00:00:00 Stephanie Reichel The introduction states that this book was written in three months, and it shows. It reads like a first draft -- albeit a heavily footnoted and annotated first draft. The prose is drier than the Sahara. At first I thought, "Okay. So, it's a journalist on Quaaludes. I can deal with that." But then on page 49, out of nowhere, the author starts to personally attack Rushdie, calling him a spoiled intellectual and a hypocrite. That's when I could see where this was going. I wasn't going along with it, so I gave up. No stars for this crap.