The Satanic Verses

Rating:
Summary: Controverial, definitely. Brilliant, hardly.
Review: I read this book, remembering the acclaim surrounding it, expecting great things. I'll be the first to admit that the book definitely had its moments. As a part-time philosopher I found the author's ideas on death and dying particularly interesting, but the book itself was far from brilliant. The author uses the book as a format to vent his frustration with London, India, Islam, Hinduism, Mohammed, conventional wisdom . . . in all, every gripe that he has (an believe me, he has plenty) comes out in this book. If we have any doubt that he is on his soapbox, he dispels this by using himself as a character in the novel (can't say he doesn't have guts, at least). In my opinion, all of this is perfectly fine. In one way or another, every author does that. My gripe with the book is that, in all, it's an incoherent collection of stories whose sole purpose are to allow the author to vent.

Overall, I think it's an okay read. If you are like me, however, you won't be moved. You won't be astounded by the author's brilliance. You'll appreciate the candor and the controversy. But, at the end of the book, you'll simply find a place for it on the shelf and move on.

Rating:
Summary: ????
Review: I have no clue what I have just read in "The Satanic Verses." Admittedly, I am probably not a member of whatever the target market was, having a very limited knowledge of Islam, Hinduism, or India. On the other hand, I am relatively well-educated, well-read, and well-traveled. Rarely do I encounter a work of fiction that I cannot at least follow along with to a certain extent.

Here I've met my match. I feel like there should be an Annotated Version of "The Satanic Verses" or that I should have had some kind of study group to get me through it--not that I would have gone to the trouble.

Although it is evident by Rushdie's writing style that he is incredibly talented, I finished the book merely for the sake of finishing it. Was it a fable? A series of short stories with recurring characters throughout? Was it merely an anachronistic observation of the contemporarly struggles of modernization among Muslims and throughout India? An expose of the plight of Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangledishi immigrating to London? Why all the controversy? You won't get these answers from within this book, unless you have a working knowledge of its subject matter--which still remains a mystery to me.

"The Satanic Verses" is probably not intended for the casual reader, regardless of his background or education.

Rating:
Summary: A Calculated Blasphemy or Literature?
Review: This novel must be read with an educated mind or at least a cultural understanding of what it produced in order to benefit from its pages. It is not a simple read; in fact I found it quite needlessly lengthy and cumbersome but it just might teach you something important about the conditions of faith in other parts of the world.

As a novel, "The Satanic Verses," is an epic about human frailty and the ever present battle between good and evil. It begins in the English Channel with a crashing plane and two men who seem to fall from the sky. Gibreel Farishta, an Indian movie star, borders between a life of excess and consumption and life as an archangel who has lost his faith. It is often difficult to tell where Gibreel is really coming from. Saladin Chamcha returns from Bombay to London where he hovers between life and death as either human or a strangely metamorphosed creature resembling a devil. Neither man contains pure evil or innocent good so the struggle to live or die causes them to knock against the doors of heaven and hell with equal regard. It is a very human struggle written behind a fairy-tale idealism.

Salman Rushdie is obviously well educated and his writing borders upon snobbishness having missed the ability to relate to an audience rather than attempt to impress one. In my opinion this novel was horribly calculated in order to anger an already emotional crowd while reaching the echelons of controversy and thus further his debatable career. Had Rushdie been a truly great writer of literature he wouldn't have needed the now notorious backlash to sell his ideas. The difficulty with this novel exists in its complicated cultural references making it far too remote for an average reader to understand unless they are willing to spend a few hours educating themselves to the ways of India, the Middle East and Islamic religious practices. Rushdie writes with a frenzied chaos and forgets to reach out towards the average reader. But his writing certainly begs for a deeper understanding if in fact one actually does exist.

A few recommendations prior to taking on this novel, be sure to have at hand a dictionary, a book on Indian and Middle Eastern history, an Indian slang reference, of course the Holy Qur'an and possibly, "The Rushdie Affair," (by Daniel Pipes) to explain it all. At the minimum you must have a very vivid imagination, an extremely open and tolerant mind and finally the ultimate desire to learn something new. Rushdie's words will have your mind spinning in several directions at once maybe this pattern is purposeful to some extent, if you don't pay attention you just might miss some of the worst slights. At the core of all the controversy are a few verses that the Prophet Muhammad was supposed to have written (by some historic accounts) to please authorities so that he could continue his preaching's. These verses seem to acknowledge Meccan goddesses and allowed nobles to accept the Prophet but it also placed Islam in controversy because the entire basis of the religion is monotheistic, the Qur'an without fault and these verses placed doubt behind the entire validity of Islam if in fact they were ever considered by the Prophet. The angel Gabriel is said to have grumbled about Muhammad's actions claiming the acceptance of goddesses to be stemming from Satan himself. Thus the verses were stricken from God's word by God himself via Gabriel. Rushdie implies further that the scripture which Islam is based upon, the Holy Qur'an, was in fact not written by God through the angel Gabriel, but from the man Muhammad who instead dictated words to Gabriel, thus making Islam human rather than faith based. Here is where the sacrilege came into play because Rushdie implied that Islamic faith is deceitful. Rushdie attempts to cover his tracks through creative uses of names and historical references, i.e. using the name Mahoud for Muhammad and Jahilia ("ignorance" in Arabic) for Mecca. Needless to say Rushdie placed his own head on a platter and it appears he served it up without naive innocence but rather with a huge slathering of egoism! I think that people of any faith will be able to see the injustice and a fine line appears between independent thought and all out blasphemy.


Rating:
Summary: The true face of my religion
Review: Satanic verses gives us an overview on the real face of islam .. no political lies .. and no fear of what a terrorist can do , Salman Rushdie must be an our golden sample that demonstartes the power of both a great writer and a great saver.

Rating:
Summary: The Master of Understatement.
Review: Soon I was playing a game with a friend - a wonderful game I created called, "Opening Sentences for a Novel." Inspired, of course, by Salman's Rushdie's Satanic Verses.

The book is a parabalic.. hallucinatory journey.. a discovery of soul. An experiment with religion. A creative piece of brilliant work where Salman merely asks a few honest and insightful questions.

So, one part of the journey.. (and only one part, mind you)... was about Mahound (aka Mohammad), and his tormented battle with the Archangel Gabriel... Within the Quran it explains that Mohammad wrestled with Gabriel.. and gabriel spoke the truth... The book begins with two indian men falling out of the night sky into the English sea... Wow.. what a beginning! It begins with them in perpetual fall... one man is terrified... the other man is singing jovially... and as they fall... they carry on a conversation... and Salman makes the comment: Let's face it; it was impossible for them to have heard one another, much less conversed and also competed thus in song. Accelerating towards the planet, atmosphere roaring around them, how could they? But let's face this, too: they did.

Anyway, when they fall... the two men begin to slowly change.... one begins to transform into an angel... the other, into a hoofed goat.. with horns.. aka.. the devil... now, the man who's transforming into an angel... begins to have these... hallucinatory dreams... each dream.. is a continuation of the same story.... He knows that when he falls asleep again.. he's just going to pick up where he left of... and he dreams of Mahound, and in his dream, he IS Mohammad... So, Salman Rushdie concocted this brilliant scene... when Mahound wrestles with the archangel Gabriel.. and Gabriel's mouth opens.. and he speaks the truth.. The Truth, which became the Quran. But, as Salman explores this scene... he puts a twist to it... the character, Mahound.. (The dreaming Gabriel)... wonders if the Angel is actually talking.... or if he is only hearing what he wants to hear...

It's pure poetry! The muslim fundementalists didn't even bother to try to understand the theme of the book! Which wasn't at all about religion... something far more endearing to the heart. Mahound was simply one chapter. For instance... You know the second guy? The one who turns into a horned goat.. Well, one chapter is about how he ended up in the middle of the sky! Starting from his youth... So, he's like 10.. and his father's a multi-millionaire.. but very hard on his son... the father thinks he's making a man out of him. But the son just despises him...One time the son finds a wallet on the street with a wadful of british pounds.... The father snatches the wallet off him... And here's the thing... the dad has the original magic lamp of Aladdin.. as traced back through the centuries. He had aquired it through some effort. BUT he NEVER rubbed the lamp! The 10 year old can't figure out why! His dad says, "as long as it's mine, no one will rub it. When I die, it will be yours.. then you may do with it what you like." Anyway... after this.. we leave their story altogether... and explore all these other fascinating characters... Right at the end of the book... the man's father has just died... and he aquires the magic lamp. I ain't gonna tell you the twist. It's BLOODY AMAZING! You will never come across a twist like that... very very rare.

Rating:
Summary: Sympathy for Rushdie
Review: I feel sorry for Salman Rushdie who will be remembered for this heap of junk. His word usage is unique but a more boring tirade I have never read. It is a shame the author has been so long tortured by a gang of religious fanatics who took this thing seriously. It took me years to get around to it after hearing all the fuss and I still do not know the source of the commotion. My sense of art has never been mainstream, but,Allah,please return the hours I have just wasted on this tripe. I can not even pretend to be on the band wagon.

Rating:
Summary: Ellowen Deeowen....
Review: My favorite two words from this book are ellowen deeowen, which actually took me a bit to decipher to mean L-O-N-D-O-N....due to Rushdie's wonderful economy with wordplay.

The Satanic Verses is another of those 'someday' books that I have finally read...and thoroughly enjoyed. While it's true that an understanding of Islam would have made this book a far more satirical gem, the humor is not completely lost on one who does not have that foundation.

Two men, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha; both survive the explosion and crash of the airline flight 'Bostan'...and each goes through significant changes, both inside and out.

What follows, along with threads of Indian history and lore, are two divergent tales of men affected by the same tragedy. One takes on an angelic persona and appearance, the other is marked with a 'beastly' facade, and treated as such. But appearances can be deceiving...and all that they, and we, know about the nature of good and evil, are put to the test.

While reading this, I couldn't help making a comparison to the uproar when Rushdie released this novel and the current climate in America. Rushdie was branded blasphemous by the Ayatolla Khomeni and a fatwah (an order of death) was placed upon his head for simply 're-inventing' religion and inserting a satire thereof into his fictional tale.

The comparison that stuck with me while reading this was to those who have spoken out against G.W. Bush about the Iraqi war being branded 'unpatriotic' for such vocal objection, and specifically those in the entertainment industry have had an image 'fatwah' placed upon them (the Dixie Chicks, Whoopi Goldberg) for simply speaking their minds, as did Rushdie when he wrote this tale. In this case, Rushdie's life was threatened by one seeking to censor his speach...while in the other case, the people's livelihoods were threatened with the same intent.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, or strength of conviction in them, this is a wonderful tapestry woven by a master storyteller. While I would not recommend it as a starting point for enjoying Rushdie, it is a story to be savored and enjoyed after a few initial 'tastes' of his capable imagination.