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• An incredible book that is famous for all the wrong reasons. The story of two men (Gibreel Farishta and Sallahudin Chamchawalla) who we first meet as they are falling from a Himalayan height, from what we soon learn is an exploded aircraft. They float smoothly to the ground and soon begin to notice some slight changes (horns and cloven hoofs, an angelic glow from behind the crown of the head). The book then explores a variety of issues including racism, colonialism (it is the man in the bowler hat who begins to turn into the devil of course), sense of place and identity, the history of Islam (which is where the trouble began), and a huge number of other issues that I am forgetting about or went over my head entirely during my four readings of the book. But no matter how much I miss there is always enough writing that is so incomparably beautiful that it just doesn't matter. Rushdie is a master of the language and he treats it playfully, constantly using puns, and word games which gives the book a modernity and a sense of humour usually lacking from other literary classics (and yes this is, already, a classic).Ignore all the hype about the offensive passages, and do what very few of those who condemned, banned, and burned it did; read it.

  5.00 out of 5

  vegetrendian

• Salman Rushdie was a relatively unknown writer when The Satanic Verses was published. Though his second novel Midnight’s Children won him an award, most American’s were unaware of Rushdie’s talent. What put Rushdie on the literary map was the death sentence the Ayatollah Khomeini handed down because of The Satanic Verses. I was not sure what I was getting into when I picked up the book. I know the story behind the title. It is written that Mohammad recited some controversal law given to him by the Archangel Gabriel. When it became apparent these new laws angered both his followers and retractors Mohammad questioned Gabriel about them. Gabriel told Mohamed the devil had desquised himself as Gabriel and lied to bring confusion to Mohammad’s people. These verses were struck from the “books” and are known as The Satanic Verses. So from the title I knew I was reading lies.The story centers around two Indian men both whom live “lies”. One is a big Indian movie star named Gibreel (though as a child his mother called him Shaten) who always plays Indian deities. The other named Saladin (whose name resembles the author’s enough to not go unnoticed) who left India for England to get away from the Indian way of life. Saladin considers himself British and not at all Indian. The two meet on a plane heading to London from Bombay. Gibreel is running away from his life because of a woman, while Saladin is returning to London after visiting his dying father in Bombay. Terrorist take over the plane, and after letting all of the women and children go, they demand to be flown to England. During the flight the plane is blown up. Gibreel and Salidin find themselves falling through a cloud like tunnel, and miraculously fall onto an English beach. The fall has mutated the two; Gibreel develops a halo while Salidin turns into a goat like creature, not unlike the classic pictures of Satan. What follows are stories within the story, which is way the book is so long. Gibreel finds he is drawn into other people’s dreams that in turn affect the person’s life. One story within this book is the story of Mohammad and Gabriel which must be why The Ayatollah went off. Mohammed is not to be portrayed in any medium. Changing Mohammad’s name did not change his story though, so again this is why Rushdie was in so much trouble.The bigger story is of self realization and acceptance of one’s own life. Saladin must come to grips with his Indian background and accept “his people” . He also had to learn to express his feelings. Once he did all of this he was able to become human again. It really was his story, Gibreel was really just a catalyst for his adventure, as Gibreel was for everyone else in the book. What I really liked about the novel was Rushdie’s use of Irony and Satire. The archangel Gabriel is an avenging angel but Gibreel is a revenging angel. Everywhere Gibreel goes revenge and death follow (except for the story of Mohammad). Salidin becomes human when he allows his feelings to show. In the end it is up to Salidin to avenge those who have been hurt by Gibreel. Though it is a long book it is well worth the time as Rushdie is a master at story telling. If you like deeper/hidden meanings in books and love characters that stay with you for a long time this is a book not to be missed.

  5.00 out of 5

  Sarij

• I thought this book was a masterpiece. There are few books, masterpieces or no, with as much life as this one, as much taste and sound and texture. Rushdie writes in a style and league of his own, with every sentence carrying hills of meaning, with every image and metaphor grandly realized. This book is famous for causing a lot of controversy in the Islamic community, but that's not why you should read it. You should read it because it's Great Literature.The Satanic Verses starts with two Indian men, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, who are involved in a plane crash to England that changes Gibreel into an angel and Saladin into a devil. With this basic premise, Rushdie spins a tale about race, religion, morality, language, and the immigrant experience. Things shift in his writing, things change, things morph into other things, bright and shining. There are just so many questions asked in this book that I couldn't keep track of them all, and yet it's not just a book of ideas with characters that only serve to drive the plot along; the characters are rich and their voices are as clear as their stories. Rushdie is a master of the craft, and even though he writes in very specific British-Indian-Islamic context, his story touches upon issues that are universal.

  5.00 out of 5

  veevoxvoom

• Blew my mind. Made me giggle, made me think, made me wonder, and made me believe. I had always been intimidate by Rushdie - the way his name is spoken in hushed tones made me think his work would be beyond my intellectual capacities (pish!), and the fact of the fatwa resulting from this book made me think it would be heavy religious stuff that I didn't want to get into (into which I did not want to get :p). WRONG!I will search out his work in the future - I've heard that this wasn't even one of his better works, and frankly, I can only hope that this is the case.

  5.00 out of 5

  lucthegreat

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