That man has syphilis. Thanks to her enemies, Nasrin has become a cause celebre in a West almost totally ignorant of her writings. About the only place to experience her firsthand is in her novel Shame, published in India and translated into English. Even though they have lived there for generations, the Duttas seem to have dropped into Bangladesh from Mars, so alien does the specter of sectarian violence from neighboring Muslims strike them. Suranjan wonders, lolling in bed.
Shame is stuffed with such slack reasoning and prose.
But bad writers deserve the same freedoms as good ones. If, as is to be hoped, Nasrin gets out of her troubles, she may even prove that persecution is a smart career move. Time Inc. All rights reserved.