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kaiju_krispies's review against another edition
I started reading it for a reading group and gratefully put it down when the deadline passed. The whole experience was one of challenge; there was not a time when I looked forward to returning to reading, only grim determination to make it a little farther. The prose is elegant and innovative, the characters are nuanced, the subject matter is rich. It simply wasn't enjoyable for me; I learned a little, but the final impression was that the book is meant to make you feel as Rushdie, and other immigrants, must often feel; rudderless and impotent, torn between opposing monstrous forces, either condemned or deified by those in power for no clear reason and with the knowledge that at any moment it might all be swept away. Now live this existence for another 1000 pages.
What the book does well is to provide deep questions to wonder over. What is the purpose of a book, or of art at all? What is the responsibility of a storyteller or his editor to the world? At least 38 people are dead because of The Satanic Verses--was it worth it? How far am I willing to go to uphold free speech and the right of artists to provoke? And ultimately, what is the purpose of that provocation, or to tell any story at all; has the needle moved on anything in response to this book's publication, for better or for worse, or is it even fair to ask a story to have a purpose beyond the author wanting to speak their version of the truth? I wonder how many people talk of this book in a world where it was regarded only with cold disdain and not righteous violence. I'll think on it more, but I do not think I will ever return to it.
Graphic: Police brutality, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia
Moderate: Vomit, Body horror, and Sexism
kimschouwenaar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Islamophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Pregnancy, Racism, Child abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Hate crime
steveatwaywords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Like so much of Rushdie's writing, Satanic Verses moves so quickly and ambiguously between its symbols, motifs, and semi-dream states of magical realism, that one has barely an opportunity to take a breath, let alone pause to reflect upon all the connections made.
Most of these connections are themselves left as more complex questions, of course. Anyone hoping to have a neat and tidy closure to any of the multiple storylines will be disappointed. Instead, we are left with questions of faith and believability, of immigrant identity, of the supernatural, of madness both personal and societal. We are not a clean or easy-to-solve people; our histories and complexes of meaning-making crowd together into mashes of chaos and regret. We are not angels or devils, entirely, but people making our choices and haphazardly meeting our consequences.
The controversy roused by this book is obvious enough from its content: it is something the book itself addresses and anticipates. But at the same time, those who might condemn the work wholly or simply likely fail to see the larger mash-ups of human experience I just mentioned.
Enter the water as so many for centuries have before you and will afterwards; how we emerge on the other side is entirely out choice.
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Sexism, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Grief, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Infidelity, Violence, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Dysphoria, and Death of parent
lanid's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Antisemitism, Body shaming, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Excrement, Suicide, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture