.jpeg) First edition cover | |
| Author | Boris Johnson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Political satire |
| Set in | London |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | September 2004 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print: Hardbackoctavo |
| Pages | 326 |
| ISBN | 9780007195909 |
| OCLC | 056649301 |
| 823.92 | |
Seventy-Two Virgins: A Comedy of Errors is a 2004 novel byBoris Johnson.[1] It received mixed reviews on original release.
"To a man like Roger Barlow, the whole world just seemed to be a complicated joke ... everything was always up for grabs, capable of dispute; and religion, laws, principle, custom – these were nothing but sticks from the wayside to support our faltering steps."
ThePresident of the United States plans to visit thePalace of Westminster. A Lebanese-born terrorist aims to assassinate him; Roger Barlow, a hapless, bicycle-riding, tousled-haired MP aims to foil the attack in order to distract from a scandal involving his financial entanglement in a lingerie shop named Eulalie.
The title is a reference to theIslamophobic trope about "72 virgins" being the main motive of Muslim men who are willing to die in acts ofwarfare orpolitical violence. A concept that does not appear in the Quran.[2] The trope is often claimed to be supported by an obscure Central Asianhadith abouthouris in paradise. The "72 virgins" translation of that hadith possibly originates from a "war on terror" era American English translation of that hadith being quoted in a 1996anti-American manifesto byOsama bin Laden.[3][4]Since then it has become an extremely widespreadIslamophobic trope.[5][6][7]
Seventy-Two Virgins received mixed reviews on original release.David Smith, writing forThe Observer, said "despite the pacy narration, there is a sense of going nowhere fast", but praised the humour, saying "Yet while Johnson is a heroic failure as a novelist, he scores in his comic handling of those most sensitive issues: the ideological motives ofMuslim suicide bombers (whence the title) and the mixed blessings of the American empire. The playing of these as pantomime risks causing offence, but, as in person, Johnson succeeds in being charming and sincere."[8]
The Spectator (which Johnson was editing at the time) gave it a positive review,Douglas Hurd comparing it toP. G. Wodehouse (the plot device of a character being threatened by potential scandal regarding his involvement in a lingerie business named 'Eulalie' is lifted directly from Wodehouse'sThe Code of the Woosters) and praising the "rollicking pace and continuous outpouring of comic invention"; however, he also said that it read like it had been written in three days. Hurd also accurately described Johnson as "the next prime minister but three".[9]
In theLiterary Review, Philip Oakes said that the "Thrills [were] muffled by relentless jokiness and inordinate length of book."[10]
Attention was refocused onSeventy-Two Virgins in 2019, with Johnson poised to win theConservative Party leadership election and becomePrime Minister of the United Kingdom.[11] InThe Guardian,Mark Lawson noted that "it's striking that Barlow's view – that public value should make private conduct irrelevant – is one the writer has continued to embrace through domestic troubles." He noted theanti-French andanti-American tone, and pointed out the use of offensive language: "references to 'Islamic headcases' and 'Islamic nutcases'. Arabs are casually noted to have 'hook noses' and 'slanty eyes'; amixed-race Briton is called 'coffee-coloured'; and there are mentions of 'pikeys' and people who are 'half-caste'."[12]Sexist content was also noted. More sinister was that "the suggestion – from both an external observer, and the protagonist's inner voice – that Barlow [theauthor surrogate] may be a fraud. His assistant worries that, under the jauntyvaudeville act, there are no real core ideals, values or beliefs."[12] The novel was also criticised for depicting Jews as "controlling the media" and being able to "fiddle" elections, an evidently antisemitic trope.[13] During the2019 general election campaign,Catherine Bennett similarly argued that the novel "amounts to a compelling case for character reappraisal" and that its perceived tendency to evaluate women's worth "according to their fuckability on the – sometimes eccentric – Johnson scale" indicates a lack of "interest in addressing, for instance, sex discrimination, harassment, [or] the gender pay gap".[14]
Moreover, the myth of "72 virgins in Paradise" for a (presumably male) martyr is just that, appearing nowhere in the Qur'an.
In his 1996 declaration of war, bin Laden promised that Muslim martyrs would receive 72 pure virgins in heaven. ISIS offers sex slaves right now. Front-loading the rewards proved popular. By 2014, an estimated one thousand foreign fighters were joining ISIS every month, far in excess of new al-Qaeda recruits.
The "72 virgins" concept itself is a widely misunderstood and often misrepresented trope. It originates from a disputed hadith in some medieval Islamic texts and is not mentioned in the Quran; most mainstream Islamic scholars regard it as symbolic, apocryphal, or even satire, not doctrinal theology. Nonetheless, the idea has been weaponised by extremists and misused in the West as a crude stereotype to paint Muslim beliefs as inherently violent or absurd.
This research uses innovative research technologies to track the narratives which drove antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate in comments on YouTube videos about the conflict over a three month period … A second sub-theme mocked Muslims for perceived beliefs that when they die, there are 72 virgins waiting for them in heaven. This claim is also used to suggested that Muslims aim to die by violent means to receive this.
Verbal abuse/threats: Direct or indirect insults, offensive or intimidating speech. Example: Calling the victim "evil and violent" for wearing the hijab and ranting vitriol for 13 minutes (Case 151) and threats like "we bury you in pig bits to match your gutless yellow spines. Your 72 virgins won't touch you then" (Case 22).
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