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Salman Rushdie Looks to Video Games for Literary Inspiration

by Warren Riddle on October 11, 2010 at 05:50 PM

salman rushdieAuthor Salman Rushdie has accumulated an impressive array of awards during his illustrious career, but the writer is likely most well known for his novel 'The Satanic Verses,' due to the fiery response it provoked. After the book prompted Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwah, or death decree, against the author, Rushdie lived under police protection for a decade.

Rushdie's latest work, 'Luka and the Fire of Life,' apparently focuses on "the value of life," and the writer relied on a seemingly unlikely source for inspiration. According to the Associated Press, Rushdie -- who wrote the novel as a gift to his 13-year-old son -- turned to gaming, because "in video games you can have a thousand lives." Rushdie told the AP, "Video games are often based on a classical quest format. That fits well with a fable." The book is intended for teenagers, and reportedly details a young boy's quest to save his father's life.

Creative and astute parents know video games can be used to impart valuable and educational life lessons. But, even though Rushdie wisely consulted a medium wholly familiar to many teens, the book needs to go further by demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of gaming. While the backlash to 'The Satanic Verses' was obviously extreme, die-hard gamers and surly teens might just be the most sensitive, vitriolic and vengeful entities on the planet.

Tags: author, books, gaming, kids, literature, SalmanRushdie, teens, top, VideoGames, VideoGamesAndKids, videogamesasart

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