The Satanic Verses: A Novel Paperback – March 11, 2008

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 finished this a couple months ago and still find myself contemplating it often. It's an unbelievable accomplishment, exposing vulnerability masked by cockiness of both the subject matter, characters, and author. This is a book that doesn't leave you.

I know this book was widely praised upon release, won at least one prestigious award, and sold like hot cakes. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I’d be.Rushdie aggravates with thegimmickofrunningwordstogether. He doesn’t do it often but it distracts. He also falls in love with the word “juggernaut.” For a man so smart you’d think he’d find more than one way to express an idea.Another off-putting device is his making his two major characters famous actors. If each had had a less glamorous and different profession than the other it wouldn’t feel like he was just trying to get attention.It’s well written. His arcs have appropriate lengths and the transitions are seamless. There are surprises and some humor. Bad things happen to some characters so it’s suitably far from a joy ride. He’s clearly a great technician and fantastical situations blend very well with realistic segments.Maybe he’s written better books. Hemingway and Wambaugh used something bad happening to a major character more directly and powerfully. Regarding Rushdie’s segments that closely mirror reality, non fiction giants Caro and Morris wrote clearer and more precise factual pieces.I read a review saying he does a great job exploring psychological truths. I agree. He doesn’t overstate his case and he uses brilliant allegories to try to make his points. Though a dense book of about 560 pages with many words per page, he isn’t wordy.If you buy and read it you’ll be entertained and learn. If you’re expecting a masterpiece and the things that bothered and distracted me harm your reading experience, while reading and upon finishing you won’t think that you got one.

Two men falling from a exploded 747 somehow survive the ordeal but continue their lives in strange and mystical ways. One of the men discovers he has become the embodiment of Satan but still tries to continue his life as it was before the bombing. The story is rooted in religious traditions and has offended some people of faith, some so deeply that a fatwa was issued against the author by Ayatollah Khomeini. Attempts on the author's life lead to him being blinded in one eye a few years ago.