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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
I mean...gorgeous writing. I enjoyed a lot of the story, but: I dislike magical realism. Which is what this book was. So...I can't really say I loved it. But the stories in between the MR were really so well written. Rushdie is a great author. Just not my cup of tea.
I read the last 100 pages today in the way I should have read the entire thing: in one focused rainy day sitting. I read the first 400+ pages spread out over too much time, and now I want to start over and do it all again. Except I don't really WANT to, I just wish I had. There's a lot in this book I don't understand (I am less than informed on most religious matters and metaphors), and a lot that resonates as clearly now as it has for a few hundred years ("You don't have to be an angel to be innocent, unless, of course, you're black") and a lot that was just...absurdly FUNNY. I didn't expect to snort in bed over a book that inspired a fatwa. But what do I know...really, that's something of what I take from this book. What the hell do I know? Or, "what kind of idea are you?"
I'm gonna need to do some following up to help digest that one.
I’m on this damned app just to log books but I’m gonna break my own rule and write a review to add my two cents on the discourse around this damned book (pun intended). Yes the book is blasphemous and offensive depending on who you ask and we all know that. But here’s my hot take: above all that, the book is mid and boring af. The wikipedia page on the satanic verses controversy is more entertaining than the book itself.
2023 pop sugar reading challenge-a book you should have read in high school.
I didn't understand any of this.
I didn't understand any of this.
Brilliant. Poetic in the sense that each sentence seems to have its own weight. Immediately invites a re-read. Often hilariously absurd, surprisingly touching by the end. There are many ways to make meaning of the story— religion, gender, class strife, foreignism, and the counterculture are all themes. Though not infrequently I don’t quite know what Rushdie is “on about” as one of his characters might say. But if you relax your hold on understanding and let meaning flow over you it is still an immensely rewarding novel— perhaps even more so.
The narration by Sam Dastor in the audiobook is incredible as well, for what it’s worth.
The narration by Sam Dastor in the audiobook is incredible as well, for what it’s worth.