The Satanic Verses

Rating:
Summary: spell-binding
Review: Finally, I am reading Satanic Verses. It came out when I was in my teens, and it's a good thing I didn't read it then, for I never would have been able to appreciate it. As an adult, it is wonderful to read a book by an author who explores human nature, history, and religion with such spellbinding imagination and vivid prose. I must admit, being a Muslim and an Indian, it is easier for me to understand what he writes and appreciate his jokes and meanings. Much of it gets lost when one knows neither the religion nor the Indian culture, even a bit of its language. To those wondering why it caused such an uproar, in sum, because the author gave a fictional interpretation of the Koran saying that Prophets, even angels, are fallible, and that the holy city of Mecca (Jahilia in the book) was not so holy to begin with. Kinda hard to digest for a lot of Muslims who have grown up believing that everything that the Prophets did were great and no mistakes were ever made and Mecca is pure ground and such and such and such. You get the point.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous
Review: I loved this book. And yet, I feel sure that I missed a good deal of what it was saying because I do not know the Koran or Islam. Without these points of reference, it is very hard to believe that I came into full contact with the novel. Still, the book is unbelievably entertaining and engaging. For someone as out of touch with Islam as I, the novel was about love. And I was quite provoked by some of the propositions here. It speaks to Rushdie's incomparable skill as a novelist that while I was not touched, I was rapt. If you have loved or wanted to be, this novel has a great deal to say.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Tale
Review: "The Satanic Verses" is the first novel of Salman Rushdie's that I have read and I have to say it is an amazing story! Rushdie takes an unusual yet appealing approach in portraying the themes of good verses evil and metamorposis. Rushdie left no rock unturned; never once did I find myself looking for more. However, at times the plot moved rather slowly and I became lost in Rushdie's world of plots and subplots. There were times in the book when a character was having trouble distinguishing between reality and his dream world and I too felt confused. However, these times are few and far apart and do not detract from the central meaning of the novel. The ending is truly captivating and make the bumps and stumbles along the path worth wild.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Tale
Review: "The Satanic Verses" is the first novel of Salman Rushdie's that I have read and I have to say it is an amazing! Rushdie takes an unusual yet appealing approach in portraying the themes of good verses evil and metamorphosis. Rushdie left no rock unturned; never once did I find my self looking for more. However, at times the plot moved rather slowly, and I became lost in Rushdie's world of plots and subplots. There are times in the book when a character is having trouble distinguishing between reality and his dream world and I felt like I too was having the same troubles. However, these times are few and far apart and do not detract from the central meaning of the novel. The ending is truly captivating and make the bumps and stumbles along the path worth wild.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, lyrical, creative
Review: An incredibly original and creative novel.

Many readers have been drawn to this novel by the provocative controversy which surrounds it. If you're reading Satanic Verses looking for a shocking denouncement you will likely be disappointed. Unless you're a scholar of the Islamic faith you likely won't understand what all the fuss is about.

I read this novel over ten years ago and have re-read it in bits and pieces many times since. Aside from the imaginative interwoven plot the most compelling feature of Verses is Rushdie's amazing lyrical writing style. Love him or hate him Rushdie is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant authors writing in the English language, and practically every section of prose could be enjoyed on it's own independent of the story. There is more word-play and double meanings is Verses than you could find in a dozen readings; every time you read a chapter you'll find something new.

Aside from a general interest in the various religions of the world I profess no great knowledge of the Koran, therefore undoubtedly there is symbolism in Verses that I missed/didn't understand. Some elements of this book that won't be accessible for the lay reader. But based purely on its creativity and masterful prose this book is a worthwhile, entertaining, and challenging read.

(A background note: Satanic Verses was the first Rushdie novel I read, and I promptly fell in love with his work. I subsequently read The Moor's Last Sigh and East West, and promptly feel right back out of love. Satanic Verses was the novel that Rushdie was born to write; in his lyrical prose, humor, and surrealistic mix of realism with the fantastic he creates an amazing work of art. Nothing he has written comes close. Unless you're a die-hard Rushdie fan, a scholar of Indian society and the interrelation between East and West simply read this novel and skip the rest.)

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful theological dream...
Review: Contrary to what the other reviewer stated Satanic Verses is not amoral. It is a story of alienation form a new culture and from ourselves. The book also shows us the often randomness of who is painted a saint and who is portrayed as a villian by history. Can we say with 100% certainty that Judas was the traitor who sealed Jesus's fate? I have read many historical accounts to the contrary. However, now and forever that name is going to represent betrayel.

The book begins with Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha falling from a plane while simutaniously Gibreel becomes an angel and Saladin a devil. They land in London where they have to bear the consequences of having those randomly assigned appearances, in a Country where even if they had not changed appearances, they would not be accepted for the mere fact they are dark skinned foreigners. What ensues is a story that takes place in both modern day London and in the pages of the Koran.

If the themes of alienation and Islamic history are of no intrest to you, then read it for Rushdie's amazing use of language. Although I am not that familiar with the stories of the Koran I was so taken in by his ability to make me feel heart wrenching despair and exaltation towards the human condition all on the same page. If you are a bibliophile then this book is a must!

Rating:
Summary: A theological masterpiece
Review: When reading, viewing or reviewing this book, many overlook the importance it has as a great theological work. The style is poetic like that of the Qur'an; the characters and events come straight from the life of Muhammad (eg Hind, Gabreel, Saladin being the muslim who took back Jerusalem from the Crusaders); and the names being a reflection of medieval Europes views of Islam (Mahound is the satanic name given to Muhammad, Gabreel instead of Gabriel etc.). This book is an example of the great literal abilities of a man who is well in his depth and is a rare, rare treat in this age of Oprah Winfrey book club wanna-bes. It is said that there are two types of people in this world - those who have read the Lord of the Rings and those who are about to read it. The same goes for the Satanic Verses.

Rating:
Summary: MasterWork of Prose
Review: Mr. Rushdie's Opus, The Satanic Verses, is an imaginary masterpiece of English prose. The story is melodic, imaginative and extremely funny in some points. I was pulled into the story from the first page and found myself relating very much to Gibreel Farishta. The butterfly lady and the trek to Mecca is fascinating. Not being Islamic, I was not offended and fail to see where the book could be offensive at all. Its fiction. Hope there's a sequal.

Rating:
Summary: You need to buy a copy.
Review: I think if I was the Ayatollah I might have put a hit on Rushdie as well, but thankfully I'm not a humorless demagogue trying to sell my version of Islam as an absolute.

Like most Rushdie books this is a deep and profound book in which most of the ideas come at you fast and furious in a burlesque manner. Concerning two Indians who fall out of a plane with one becoming demonic and one becoming angelic, it is obvious that these people aren't so much symbols to their actual characteristics but as to how the Colonizing English see them. The angelic character is well versed in the classics, makes silly Indian movies and can't stand his own culture (which is where the Muhammed scenes come in - they are illustrating the main characters self-hatred and self-doubt about his religion of birth. Ironically, you have to actually study Islam to get what's being mocked and if you do that you might even convert to Islam. Of course there is also an extremely unkind portrayal of the AYatollah in this book, so go figure what Rushdie is on the Iranian hit list for. Since Shame had a lot more to say about Islam, it's amazing that Ayatollah waited until this book to get angry.) Meanwhile the demonic character becomes the focal point of the Indian community in England and his attributes become even more grotesque as his popularity grows. The large penis that he develops is indicative of the British view of Indians as dirty people breeding like rabbits.

This is a novel that you can read many times and see a new and more interesting nuance every time. It is also a novel funny enough that you are going to want to keep reading.

One further note - Edward Said wrote an article in favor of the Ayatollah contract on Rushdie arguing that Salman Rushdie was just as hostile in the book towards teh queen of England and Margaret Thatcher. His point was that British people should not be defending Rushdie since Rushdie is mocking them as well. I think that's almost as good of an advertisement for this book as Ayatollah's (even if it is just another Said self-promotion in a long string of self-promotions by Said)

Rating:
Summary: say what?
Review: Salman Rushdie is probably the last person in the world who needs any wishes of luck from another author. And I applaud him for not writing about "ordinary" people or things: ordinary people are profoundly boring and no offense to the ordinary, but they don't deserve to be written about. When I read a novel I dont want ordinary; I want extreme, insane, maddening, breathtaking, mindblowing prose and all of this Rushdie delivers. So here is to the happiness of all elitist writers who don't give a wiggy-what about the average, mediocre and ordinary (all of which should not be written about but rather promptly ignored) and instead write about the rare, precious and beautiful.