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A review by boxcar
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Wonderful book, again written with a flow and cadence that seems to be plucked from the innermost parts of my jumbled mind. I can see how people get turned off by his writing: the twists and inconsistencies; statements butting into statements unfinished; punctuation conventions cast aside. Like I said, I get being put off, but personally, the way Rushdie applies his chaos is so perfectly coherent. I’m not sure how to describe it.
If I had read the Quran, or if I were more versed in the verses and Islamic beliefs, this may be a five star. I am woefully ignorant in that department. So, it comes as no surprise that much of the story went over my head. I had a similar feeling reading Master and Margarita: desperately wanting to love the story and what it represents, but unable to follow along at many points. The Satanic Verses was better in that the plot was coherent regardless, and Rushdie is great at sensing when to explain something or add context. Still, context and explanations and all, I am too ignorant of Islam and the scriptures to claim to have gotten all this book has to offer.
What I did get:
an amazing look into the immigrant experience in London, the pressure to disavow your culture and heritage in favor of a facade of British drudgery.
The whimsical, fantastical. Angels, devils, a butterfly eating magic girl, twisting corridors of a brothel, London morphing and twisting into impossible forms, Police witchcraft, flying men.
The relationships between the characters were so full. Chamcha and his father’s fraught relationship bookends the narrative, showing genuine growth and a warmth I didn’t expect whatsoever. The love, carnal passion that consumes characters. Much of the book is concerned with love, that slippery thing, the forms it takes, the illusions that appear to be love. Men and women wind together and apart but inextricably remain connected.
Maybe in the future I will be more knowledgeable, more aware of the beliefs of mankind. I would like to revisit this.
Also, I think a fatwa was a lil overboard. But the prophet certainly isn’t painted in the greatest light. Feel like if one’s god is bereaved by this, it shouldn’t be up to man to avenge it. Let god lay down the law, y’know?
If I had read the Quran, or if I were more versed in the verses and Islamic beliefs, this may be a five star. I am woefully ignorant in that department. So, it comes as no surprise that much of the story went over my head. I had a similar feeling reading Master and Margarita: desperately wanting to love the story and what it represents, but unable to follow along at many points. The Satanic Verses was better in that the plot was coherent regardless, and Rushdie is great at sensing when to explain something or add context. Still, context and explanations and all, I am too ignorant of Islam and the scriptures to claim to have gotten all this book has to offer.
What I did get:
an amazing look into the immigrant experience in London, the pressure to disavow your culture and heritage in favor of a facade of British drudgery.
The whimsical, fantastical. Angels, devils, a butterfly eating magic girl, twisting corridors of a brothel, London morphing and twisting into impossible forms, Police witchcraft, flying men.
The relationships between the characters were so full. Chamcha and his father’s fraught relationship bookends the narrative, showing genuine growth and a warmth I didn’t expect whatsoever. The love, carnal passion that consumes characters. Much of the book is concerned with love, that slippery thing, the forms it takes, the illusions that appear to be love. Men and women wind together and apart but inextricably remain connected.
Maybe in the future I will be more knowledgeable, more aware of the beliefs of mankind. I would like to revisit this.
Also, I think a fatwa was a lil overboard. But the prophet certainly isn’t painted in the greatest light. Feel like if one’s god is bereaved by this, it shouldn’t be up to man to avenge it. Let god lay down the law, y’know?