Satanic verses

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  Rushdie balances the ideas of "absolute certainty" against the doubtful "what if/maybe there is something else" - especially visible in the episodes in Mecca (where the "Satanic Verses" are entered into the Qu'ran and subsequently removed), but also in the two main characters Salahuddin and Gibreel (which is "Gabriel").
  With these two, though, he goes another way: Both of them have their beliefs, their opinions with which they start their travels from ... (show more)

  Rushdie balances the ideas of "absolute certainty" against the doubtful "what if/maybe there is something else" - especially visible in the episodes in Mecca (where the "Satanic Verses" are entered into the Qu'ran and subsequently removed), but also in the two main characters Salahuddin and Gibreel (which is "Gabriel").
  With these two, though, he goes another way: Both of them have their beliefs, their opinions with which they start their travels from India to England, and through voyage and stay in that "Beloved" (as Saladin calls London), these opinions are changed - for better or worse, but changed. No certainties anymore, only the gray in-between. Those of you who've read more novels like this will find that this is also often the condition of the traveler, Rushdie with his own biography is quite aware of.
  Apart from these storylines there is a third which you will have to discover on your own, since I don't want to reveal too much here.
  Written in his now well-known style, The Satanic Verses is a book worth reading not for the hubub it created, but for its style, language, the questions it poses to you, the reader and the migrant condition it describes in words of magical realism... in short, I really liked that book. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook-användare on Mar 07, 2009 at 06:32PM

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  While best known for the uproar it caused in the Islamic world with its iconoclastic references of Mohammed, The Satanic Verses is a lot more than a pamphlet of blasphemy. While several religious concepts are tackled, the overarching theme of the book is emigration, cultural assimilation, disorientation and clashes -- not only between faiths but between cultures, races, generations, individuals. The main story takes place in London, but it is worth noting that barely any of the characters are... (show more)

  While best known for the uproar it caused in the Islamic world with its iconoclastic references of Mohammed, The Satanic Verses is a lot more than a pamphlet of blasphemy. While several religious concepts are tackled, the overarching theme of the book is emigration, cultural assimilation, disorientation and clashes -- not only between faiths but between cultures, races, generations, individuals. The main story takes place in London, but it is worth noting that barely any of the characters are British by nationality.

  The overall structure of the book involves several subplots and dream sequences which form their own storylines, which reminded me of Bulgakov's Master and Margarita -- I'm tempted to compare the Mahound chapters with Pilate's dilemma with Yeshua. The plots bind into each other through the reuse of character names and recurring motifs, which, coupled with the novel's overall magical realist style, is why Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is another direct allusion.

  Even if the themes themselves are dark and love can turn to hate at the drop of a hat, Rushdie injects a good amount of humour in his prose -- some scenes, gruesome as they may be, border on slapstick, and the dialogue has its moments of stand-up comedy. Another important device for Rushdie are allusions and intertextualism, which pop up here and there and reference anything from historical accounts to popular culture.

  Because of the multiple storylines I found the first half of the book hard to dig into, not made any easier by Rushdie's penchant of writing horrendously long and complex sentences every now and then just for the spite of it. Halfway through it all began to fall into place and the rest was a breeze. Curiously, I found many of the subplots even more enthralling than the main story arc. (show less)

   

  by Aleksi Keurulainen on May 09, 2009 at 10:07PM

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