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beeblebroxm 's review for:
The Satanic Verses
by Salman Rushdie
Now before I say anything, lets keep the whole controversy aside, just for a moment. This is a fabulous book, but it was stupid for Rushdie to go overboard with some of the things he says in it, and the reaction to what he said was an even bigger example of going overboard. So lets not go there. For now.
Coming back to the book, in my opinion the first thing one should do when reading Satanic Verses, is to quickly come to terms with the idea that the book is heavily symbolic and relies on imagery, and should not be taken literally. When men fall from the sky and start turning into goats, be sure that there's something deeper happening there.
Primae Facie, the story is about Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, two men who fall from a plane when it explodes over London (a fall from grace, maybe),and as they descend, Gibreel acquires the Archangel Gabriel's qualities, whereas Saladin turns into the devil.The strange thing about this is, that Gibreel is the one who has renounced god (much like Aadam Aziz in Midnight's Children)whereas Saladin is the morally upright one, albeit very very confused. They part ways and try to reclaim their lives in London, and their destinies and actions finally bring them together again.
Even as Saladin slowly starts to physically turn into the devil (horns growing out of his head et al), Gibreel is haunted by visions, where he is really the Archangel Gabriel, and speaks through him. Gibreel's visions show him three separate stories, one about a cleric in exile (part of the reason why this book became so troublesome), one about Ayesha and the village that she lives in, and the third is the story of the prophet (the controversial bits relate to this part of the book)
As the story progresses, it is difficult to separate reality from visions, but quite frankly, if one is attuned to the imagery, there is no need to. For instance, Saladin begins to turn into a beast(half man, half goat)moments after he falls from the plane. Understand Saladin's character however, and you realize what has really happened; his English adoring self has finally realized that in England, the land of his dreams, he will always be seen as a foreigner, as an animal, only half a man. His ill treatment by the police brings this home to him with disturbing clarity, and he sees himself through the eyes of the English. He was made out to be an animal, he never really turned into one.
The book left me with many questions, which perhaps a second reading may answer. I don't know if I will find them, but I can always try. A second reading will be rewarding, that I can definitely say.
Now for the big question, the hoopla, the hype, the controversy. The controversy in itself can be broken up into two bits. One of these is ideological. This is the part about the Satanic Verses itself, where Rushdie talks about what the Satanic Verses were, and speculated about their origins. My own knowledge of this aspect is limited, so I am not in the right position to judge the allegations of blasphemy levelled against Rushdie.
However, there is another aspect to the controversy. In a certain section of the book, Rushdie is vulgar, abusive, and completely disrespectful to religious sentiments. There was no need to be, the plot could have been handled in a better way, and clearly Rushdie was just being a jerk. These are the parts I completely disapprove of. When you write for an audience, you consider their sentiments, no matter how smart you think you are, and you don't write the sort of rubbish that Rushdie has written. Having said that, the reaction to the whole episode was equally unjustified, and in these cases, censorship is a reasonable option, book banning is not. I think Rushdie was after cheap publicity, and he got more than he could chew
All in all, Satanic Verses is a great book. Read it for the images. Read it for the story. Read it for the layers of depth and meaning. But please dont read it for the hype
Coming back to the book, in my opinion the first thing one should do when reading Satanic Verses, is to quickly come to terms with the idea that the book is heavily symbolic and relies on imagery, and should not be taken literally. When men fall from the sky and start turning into goats, be sure that there's something deeper happening there.
Primae Facie, the story is about Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, two men who fall from a plane when it explodes over London (a fall from grace, maybe),and as they descend, Gibreel acquires the Archangel Gabriel's qualities, whereas Saladin turns into the devil.The strange thing about this is, that Gibreel is the one who has renounced god (much like Aadam Aziz in Midnight's Children)whereas Saladin is the morally upright one, albeit very very confused. They part ways and try to reclaim their lives in London, and their destinies and actions finally bring them together again.
Even as Saladin slowly starts to physically turn into the devil (horns growing out of his head et al), Gibreel is haunted by visions, where he is really the Archangel Gabriel, and speaks through him. Gibreel's visions show him three separate stories, one about a cleric in exile (part of the reason why this book became so troublesome), one about Ayesha and the village that she lives in, and the third is the story of the prophet (the controversial bits relate to this part of the book)
As the story progresses, it is difficult to separate reality from visions, but quite frankly, if one is attuned to the imagery, there is no need to. For instance, Saladin begins to turn into a beast(half man, half goat)moments after he falls from the plane. Understand Saladin's character however, and you realize what has really happened; his English adoring self has finally realized that in England, the land of his dreams, he will always be seen as a foreigner, as an animal, only half a man. His ill treatment by the police brings this home to him with disturbing clarity, and he sees himself through the eyes of the English. He was made out to be an animal, he never really turned into one.
The book left me with many questions, which perhaps a second reading may answer. I don't know if I will find them, but I can always try. A second reading will be rewarding, that I can definitely say.
Now for the big question, the hoopla, the hype, the controversy. The controversy in itself can be broken up into two bits. One of these is ideological. This is the part about the Satanic Verses itself, where Rushdie talks about what the Satanic Verses were, and speculated about their origins. My own knowledge of this aspect is limited, so I am not in the right position to judge the allegations of blasphemy levelled against Rushdie.
However, there is another aspect to the controversy. In a certain section of the book, Rushdie is vulgar, abusive, and completely disrespectful to religious sentiments. There was no need to be, the plot could have been handled in a better way, and clearly Rushdie was just being a jerk. These are the parts I completely disapprove of. When you write for an audience, you consider their sentiments, no matter how smart you think you are, and you don't write the sort of rubbish that Rushdie has written. Having said that, the reaction to the whole episode was equally unjustified, and in these cases, censorship is a reasonable option, book banning is not. I think Rushdie was after cheap publicity, and he got more than he could chew
All in all, Satanic Verses is a great book. Read it for the images. Read it for the story. Read it for the layers of depth and meaning. But please dont read it for the hype