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Salman Rushdie

Amadou Moustapha Wade

The Satanic Verses Hardcover – February 22, 1989

by Salman Rushdie (Author)

1,147 ratings

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “[A] torrent of endlessly inventive prose, by turns comic and enraged, embracing life in all its contradictions. In this spectacular novel, verbal pyrotechnics barely outshine its psychological truths.”—Newsday

Winner of the Whitbread Prize

One of the most controversial and acclaimed novels ever written, The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie’s best-known and most galvanizing book. Set in a modern world filled with both mayhem and miracles, the story begins with a bang: the terrorist bombing of a London-bound jet in midflight. Two Indian actors of opposing sensibilities fall to earth, transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil. This is just the initial act in a magnificent odyssey that seamlessly merges the actual with the imagined. A book whose importance is eclipsed only by its quality, The Satanic Verses is a key work of our times.

Praise for The Satanic Verses

“Rushdie is a storyteller of prodigious powers, able to conjure up whole geographies, causalities, climates, creatures, customs, out of thin air.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Exhilarating, populous, loquacious, sometimes hilarious, extraordinary . . . a roller-coaster ride over a vast landscape of the imagination.”—The Guardian (London)

“A novel of metamorphoses, hauntings, memories, hallucinations, revelations, advertising jingles, and jokes. Rushdie has the power of description, and we succumb.”—The Times (London)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

No book in modern times has matched the uproar sparked by Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which earned its author a death sentence. Furor aside, it is a marvelously erudite study of good and evil, a feast of language served up by a writer at the height of his powers, and a rollicking comic fable. The book begins with two Indians, Gibreel Farishta ("for fifteen years the biggest star in the history of the Indian movies") and Saladin Chamcha, a Bombay expatriate returning from his first visit to his homeland in 15 years, plummeting from the sky after the explosion of their jetliner, and proceeds through a series of metamorphoses, dreams and revelations. Rushdie's powers of invention are astonishing in this Whitbread Prize winner.

From Publishers Weekly

Banned in India before publication, this immense novel by Booker Prize-winner Rushdie ( Midnight's Children ) pits Good against Evil in a whimsical and fantastic tale. Two actors from India, "prancing" Gibreel Farishta and "buttony, pursed" Saladin Chamcha, are flying across the English Channel when the first of many implausible events occurs: the jet explodes. As the two men plummet to the earth, "like titbits of tobacco from a broken old cigar," they argue, sing and are transformed. When they are found on an English beach, the only survivors of the blast, Gibreel has sprouted a halo while Saladin has developed hooves, hairy legs and the beginnings of what seem like horns. What follows is a series of allegorical tales that challenges assumptions about both human and divine nature. Rushdie's fanciful language is as concentrated and overwhelming as a paisley pattern. Angels are demonic and demons are angelic as we are propelled through one illuminating episode after another. The narrative is somewhat burdened by self-consciousness that borders on preciosity, but for Rushdie fans this is a splendid feast. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; first serial to Harper's; BOMC alternate; QPBC alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Publisher : The Viking Press (February 22, 1989)
Language : English
Hardcover : 560 pages
ISBN-10 : 0670825379
ISBN-13 : 978-0670825370
Item Weight : 1.76 pounds
Dimensions : 6.53 x 1.74 x 9.28 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #115,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,083 in Magical Realism
- #1,321 in Fiction Satire
- #1,577 in True Crime (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,147 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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azfatboy

Wow--colorful and entertaining!

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2018

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I don't know what I was expecting, but it put me off reading this for years. I guess I thought it would be a dry dissertation on hidden islamic texts? Kind of an expose on inconvenient scripture? Instead I was blown away by an intriguing and immensely fun story that teased my brain and left me wanting more. What a great read!

32 people found this helpful

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randrifter

What was that about?

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2019

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Review for the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, published 1988

All I knew about this book was that it was so controversial that Iran’s Supreme Leader; Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (an Islamic Legal opinion/pronouncement) that Salman Rushdie (and anyone involved in publishing this book) should be executed for blasphemy. Boy, did that cause a world-wide kerfuffle! That was over 40 years ago and the Ayatollah’s fatwa still stands. This year I figured it was time that I found out what all the controversy is about.

This book took me a long time to get through. The bottom line: I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. It didn’t make me mad, except for the wanky ending. It was not a book that; ‘I couldn’t wait to read another chapter(s) tonight.’ It was a book I could easily go a week or more before picking it up again.

This book is by far the most bizarre story and style I’ve ever read. It’s written in a style/form that would make Shrunk and White go apoplectic. Some sentences run on for a page, trying to use as many grammatical markings (commas, colons, semi-colons, m-dashes, slashes, parenthesis, etc.) as possible. I understood what he was saying, but man, I would almost guess he was on meth when he penned this.
The story jumps around quite a bit, though revolving (or so it seems) around two main characters. Sometimes it gets so bizarre that I had to ask; Where the **** is he going with this? I couldn’t guess if one or both main characters where really angels or delusional schizophrenics.
After I would discuss parts of this book with my wife, she always asked; ‘Why are you still reading it?’ Answer: I wanted to know what was so terrible about it that a religious leader would order the author to be executed.
Somewhere in there, he does explain how Mohammed came to write the Koran and have answers, or rather confirmations of his own opinions, that came from the angel Gabriel. Rushdie opines that Mohammed came from a distinct culture and class, and that his opinions are directly reflective of that culture. This left me asking ‘What? That’s what all the hubbub is about?’
Do I recommend this book? No. The part about Mohammed and the Koran is interesting, but the rest is a series of messes and confusion.

21 people found this helpful

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Kathy

Very worth your time and careful consideration.

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2016

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Complex examination of Islam and Mohammed and revelation and the idea of submission which is so central apparently. How does a culture which has lived within such defined parameters deal with the onslaught of modernity, deconstruction, rhizomatic thought, the destruction of subjectivity, etc. I very much liked his solution, greatly surprised me and I am still trying to understand all the nuance of this book. Learned a great deal about Islamic culture, post colonialism and how to go forward amid such huge catastrophic changes as are so carefully explained for Westerne

58 people found this helpful

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Brooklyn G

Not what I expected, in a positive way

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2016

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I picked this book up at a stoop sale, remembering its notoriety 30 years ago. I expected a dark, macabre story. Instead, I found a parable about the search for self and the role of faith that successfully incorporated philosophy and humor into a complex multi-plot narrative with plenty of engaging characters. You'll be reflecting on what exactly happened here and what it all means long after you've finished the last page.

55 people found this helpful

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Er Jwee Chiek 余瑞傑

A forbidden but riotous fun filled and mischievous tale of two Indian emigrants to London. One with wings the other with horns.

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2017

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In The Satanic Verses: A Novel , the paths of the arch angel and the devil crossed several times in this bizarre supernatural framed narrative. Written by the worlds most notorious author because after 30 years on the run, he is still a fugitive with a 3 million dollar bounty on his head. Dead preferably. Salman, although Indian muslim by heritage, has been a very accomplished and confident English writer. Although interestingly he did allude to his roots in this tale because most of his characters were Indian and certain segments of the story took place in India, Bombay for example. His two main characters were Indian anglophiles, who like most Indians in real life, gravitate towards the colonial masters. Hence, a certain understanding of Indian culture, especially the behaviour of muslim Indians, would go a long way in appreciating the story. Salman Rushdie's style was refreshingly unique for me. He used frame narratives to expose us to the many plots and characters in the story. So much so that Kindle's x-ray notes were very helpful to refresh myself with the background of names in this rather heavy and substantial tale. Written in the omniscient style, Rushdie wrote fearlessly with aplomb and mischievously satirised or parodied his negative and often contemptuous views of his own people (Indian Muslims) and their blind unquestioning faith. A style he must have regretted when the late Ayatollah Khomeini gifted him the fatwa soon after publication. The number of assassinations on various folks around the world because they translated the book to a different language increased the notoriety of the book and the author.
For the average person who can get hold of this forbidden book, the surrealism, cultural, historical, religious context and vocabulary present a challenging read. I can see why devout muslims would take offence to the contents because a huge premise was based on the life of Prophet Mohammed, the interpretation of the Koran and the unquestioning attitude of the believers. For me this was such a riotous fun read with many many gems on life's observations. The million dollar question as I approached the end of the book was what was the final outcome of the fates of the two protagonists. The arch angel Gibreel and the horned devil Saladin.

39 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Doccox

Worth reading if you are willing to make the effort

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2018

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Some 30 years after its publication, I picked up this book (second hand) to see what all of the fuss had been about in the pre-ISIS days of the Ayatollah Khomeini who had replaced the Sha of Iran (Persia).
Before reading this huge rambling (but often amusing) 540+ pages; a difficult book. Do read the Wikipedia page on the Rushdie Fatwa resulting from this book and explanations of its origins. There was, as of 2016, still severe controversy relating to the author and the Muslim allusions in (and interpretations of) his story. It will also help to have an understanding of Indian cultural (and food) terms, the culture in Mumbai in the 1980’s and some of the historical friction between Christians and Muslims. The book is still banned in many countries with a significant Muslim population.
To the average Western reader this may be seen as a simple (?) comical tale of the amazing survival of two Indian actors, blown out of the skies by a fanatical suicide bomber, then their experiences and escapades in England, supplemented by flashbacks to their historical development in India and subsequent interaction of Asians with UK culture at the time of the Thatcherite years (significant institutional racism and even racial violence).
One survivor takes on the attributes of the angel Gabriel, the other the devil Saladin and we follow their escapades, lives and loves and their reversion to more human form. The story is constantly interwoven with actual and imagined historical events.
Is it religiously offensive? Possibly to those of a strict Muslim upbringing and their religious leaders interpreting what is said alongside the Quran. I am sure than many decried the book without ever reading it – as happened with many other books/ films which attracted notoriety.
Compared to the non-event Christian fuss over Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian”, there is a certain fantasy section relating to certain reported history of the prophet which could certainly be interpreted negatively by those of a strongly Muslim religious view (You need to read beyond 300+ pages to come to this section) – see also the Wikipedia review mentioned above.
Is it worth reading? If the above does not put you off but intrigues you get hold of a library copy and see!

74 people found this helpful

Susan Hamilton

What a surprise!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2016

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A very strange book - I was expecting a serious tome and was highly surprised to find a comical novel. I bought it to see what all the fuss was about and NO WAY could I find a single sentence in the book that could possibly be construed as insulting to anything or anyone. I'm sure there are millions who have decried the book without having opened it!

34 people found this helpful

Yangmaster

A most unusual fictional novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2018

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I began reading this book full of curiosity about what had sparked such hostility from the radical Muslim quarter. I found it to be a modern-day novel, and a very unusual one at that. The two main characters were both Muslim Indian actors who began the story falling from the sky out of an air-liner which had just been blown up by terrorists.
Miraculously, they survived their fall into the English Channel (seemingly by supernatural intervention), but thereafter began to experience further supernatural changes - one began to show angelic characteristics, while the other began to turn into a satanic-style goat-like demon complete with horns!
Neither of these characters, in my opinion, deserved what was happening to them, and I began to struggle to carry on reading it, despite the excellent style of the writing.
Just past half-way through, I lost the desire to continue and I gave up. I may go back to it... I have to admit, I'm curious about how it all ends - but not just yet.

10 people found this helpful

Holly "Ragdoll Reads" Hodson

Not for me.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2018

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Reading this made me feel like I had serious brain damage. I'm sure it's a great book, presumably if you're the type of person who loves linguistically interesting or 'difficult' literature - I on the other hand am not typically on of those people and only managed to get through the first 2 chapters because I'm stubborn.

11 people found this helpful

neighbour

Salman, keep calm and carry on!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2020

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I really have no idea what all the fuss was about. I initially bought a copy on the street whilst stuck in a traffic jam in London. The vendor was handing them out as if he was Kim Philby. As for the mentioning of the Prophet, and considering that people were killed during demonstrations, it never ceases to amaze me that people can take offence at the merest hint. As Christopher Hitchens said, most of the demonstrators had never read the book, even if they could actually read. We live in sad times.

5 people found this helpful

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