The Satanic Verses

I am reading this for the third time. It is one of my favorite books. Mr. Rushdie obviously has a brilliant, quick intellect. This book is comprised of several stories, mostly centering on the experiences of a man who is elevated to the status of an angel, the other demoted to the status of a devil. Even though this book has a large imaginative and intellectual scope, there are some scenes of such tenderness and pathos that lead me to believe that Mr. Rushdie is a most compassionate soul. However, even though I have read it several times, I am still unable to determine if Mr. Rushdie had any theme in mind or if he was just spewing out his brilliant mind. The book starts with the two protagonists falling through the sky after the plane they were riding was hijacked and bombed by a terrorist. For what seems forever, Mr. Rushdie creates the sensation of falling, falling, falling. This book is a tour de force of writing. Actually, there are two possible themes that are coming to mind. First is the pain of not belonging which is shown clearly by the lives of South Asian and black immigrants in London; and very poignantly by a character in India who earns his living as a clown. He was born a lower caste Hindu and to escape the pain of it converted to Islam, but he isn't even accepted in that world either. His only true companion is his pet bull who he dresses up and uses in his clown acts. The other possible theme could be the paradox of good and evil existing side by side. Gibreel Farishta's lover's father, a Holocaust survivor, says, "'...the most dangerous of all the lies we are fed in our lives,' which was in his opinion, the idea of the continuum. 'Anybody ever tries to tell you how this most beautiful and most evil of planets is somehow homogenous, composed only of reconcilable elements, that it all adds up, you get on the phone to the straightjacket tailor...'" Yes, there is a destructive Mahound and imam who either themselves or whose helpers torture and gorge on innocent people, but that is a fact of life. I read several reviews in which the writers were claiming that Rushdie was being spiteful in writing this book, but even though I believe he knew exactly what were going to be the results of publishing it, I doubt he meant spite. An artist reacts intellectually and emotionally to the world around them, gets ideas, thoughts, tastes, and a writer is compelled to write them. However, I am waiting for someone to write a novel about a writer with only one successful book behind him, whose sales are diminishing, who makes an arrangement with a notorious religious despot that he will write a disparaging expose and the despot will put a fatwa on his head, thereby ensuring fame and fortune for them both by the sheer magnitude of the ensuring notoriety.

I had read midnight's children as a teenager years ago and had tried reading The Satanic Verses then but had found the book quite impenetrable. Last month with time in hand, I took to the book again attracted by the controversy it generated and was left with memories of a fascinating story. Before you read this book you should adept yourself with some knowledge of Islam and life of Prophet Mohammed (which basically boils down to reading the wikipedia pages on Prophet Mohammed, Islam and the Holy Quran). Satanic Verses is a complex satire of two Indian actors Saladin Chamcha and Gibreel Farishta. The alter-egos undergo mutation after the bombing of their boarded plane where Saladin takes the satanic form and Farishtaa an incarnation of Archangel Gabriel. It is not clear why each get their form - one may view them to be a result of perception - Farishtaa made fame playing Indian deities in Bollywood while Saladin, an immigrant in London is a voiceover artist mostly doing voiceover for consumer products. There is nothing demonic about Saladin and Farishta is anything but an angel. The story begins and ends with Bombay but a lot of Satanic verses is about London and life of an immigrant in the vibrant city. Most of the cast are first or second generation south asian immigrants in London . Rushdie devotes a lot of pages on their character development. Saladin and Farishta are pursuing reconciliation with their love interests ( who live in London) after the events of their mutation. Farishta's dream sequences form the sub-plot of the story. The dreams involve the city of Mecca during the time of revelations , after Prophet's return to the city after the exile and a sequence during the Prophets death. A short dream sequence involves an Imam in exile ( possibly Khomeni) and his attempt to overthrow the empress of the country of his origin. The last dream sequence is about a butterfly eating teenager who takes an entire Indian village onto a fatal pilgrimage. Each of these are captivating , follow a chronicle order and you are left with three or four different stories somehow kept loosely connected by Farishta. It is these dream sequences where the controversy stems from. There are some who suggest that in reality the book does not have a lot of scandalous elements , and they are wrong. The dream questions the authenticity of the revelations that the Prophet received and how they suit the worldly conveniences. The twelve prostitutes in Mecca each take the names of the Prophet's twelve wives in order to attract business. The venture is successful. Finally, the death of the Prophet is shown as a result of Al-Lat's vendetta. Al-Lat is one of the pre-Islamic Meccan Goddesses , who were all declared false in the earliest of Prophet's revelations. Ayatollah Khomeini who issued the original fatwa may also have been offended by the comic elements surrounding his dream sequence. What is Satanic Verses about philosophically? - It depends on the interpretation of the reader. It can be viewed as the clash of faith vs doubt or that of a life of an immigrant , or the role of a satirist in a society etc. While Midnight's children was a literary marvel , Satanic Verses is a fascinating story and makes Rushdie a great story teller.

I bought this book in support of freedom of speech, like so many others. I didn't know a whole lot about the actual story ahead of time, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. That said, it was tough to read, and it's not for everyone. You'll get more out of this if you have some foundational knowledge of Islam and Indian culture. The writing style is certainly interesting and unlike anything I've seen, but some of the sentences run on for what feels like an entire page. In spite of my best efforts to focus and pay attention through some of the longest sentences, I found myself having to re-read pages quite a bit. The story itself jumped around and sometimes I couldn't tell what was really happening from what was metaphorical, or what order events were happening in. Everything came together by the end, and the ending itself was not what I expected, leaving me to question my interpretation of some things. I do feel like I need to re-read it, or maybe read a study guide, in order to understand more of the story. The story is based on the Islamic version of historical events, and insults Muslims, apparently. I had to look up the reasons why so many people were outraged by this book, and I do get some of the points. But I'm left wondering if the Western world is just more accustomed to (and less offended by) coexisting with people who don't share their beliefs. I can think of some of the book's subtleties that Salman Rushdie could have tweaked to be far more offensive if he'd really wanted to. I'm still mulling over how offensive I really consider this to be, but admittedly I'm agnostic and not sensitive to material that questions religious orthodoxy.

This book is one of those reads that pulls you in, shakes you about a bit, and leaves you thinking long after you’ve put it down. Rushdie’s writing is rich, layered, and sometimes a bit wild — but in the best way. You get sharp humour, surreal moments, and chapters that feel like they slip between dreams and reality without warning. It’s definitely not a light read, but that’s part of what makes it so memorable. The characters feel alive, the themes hit deep, and the storytelling is bold enough that you can’t help but admire it. Whether you agree with everything in it or not, the creativity and craftsmanship are undeniable. A challenging, powerful novel that rewards you for sticking with it.

This is an incredible book, if you invest the time to understand it. I underlined metaphors and beautiful bits of poetic prose, circled words to look up later, and often had to read pages over again to understand what on earth was happening in the plot. The first few pages of the book were all but impenetrable. That said, this is a work of genius, a masterpiece worthy of all the laurels it receives, and you sort of owe it to yourself to give it a try. Not a beach read.

An illuminating work. Easy to see why some oppose it. Bit of a mirror.

Libro bellissimo un po’ complesso da leggere in inglese se non di madre lingua !

Salman Rushdie got my attention when I heard about him having been attacked by a religious fanatic. Learning about the authors life on the news got me interested in finding out what was so "offensive" about his writings. So I bought this book, not knowing whether it would be a literary masterpiece or just some average writing that got way too much attention through the story around it. In short: I was not disappointed. The book is comedic and entertaining. As a native German speaker, I even learned one or two new English words (which is always a gain, given most of the vocabulary used in everyday English is pretty repetitive and therefore hardly improves my language skills).