JulieM

Notoriety can be a bad thing ... unless you are an author, in which case it just might launch your book onto the bestseller lists. The Satanic Verses is probably best known for the controversy it sparked when Ayahtollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death after the publication of this book. The story is about two Indian Muslim men who fall from the sky when their airplane explodes in a hijacking attempt. As they cling to each other while tumbling to the earth, they transform and Gibreel Farishta becomes the angel Gabriel and Saladin Chamcha morphs into Satan. The story continues through dream sequences, flashbacks and bizarre magical realism scenes to describe what happens to each of them as they safely land in London. The part of the book that many Muslims find offensive is in one of the dream sequences when Mohammed receives the revelations from Allah through Gabriel which involve a compromise allowing the worship of 3 female goddesses with the hopes that more people would accept Islam if these 3 goddesses were given a place in the religion. Later these verses were excised. I think the disrespect to Islam is that the book implies the Qu'ran is not divinely inspired and instead a work of mere mortals. Also, Mohammad is portrayed pretty poorly is this story, as a conniver and a man who easily gives into lust and other temptations. I must admit that I picked up this book because I have been reading some books about Islam and I was curious to see what all the hoopla was about. I don't really have an opinion on whether this book is disrespectful or blasphemous, but I definitely found the writing style to be a work of genius. Every page is packed with obscure references to religion, classic works, current events, song lyrics and even television commercials. I love reading books like this because of the workout my brain gets just trying to figure out what is being said. For example, one chapter is titled Ellowen Deeowen. I must have read half the chapter before figuring out that the title is the phonetic spelling of the city 'London'. I loved those ah ha moments. I found myself scouring the internet trying to figure out what obscure references had to do with the plot of the story. But even more than being a brain exercise, Rushdie makes some very astute comments about people who leave their country and try to assimilate into another culture. His depiction of the issues surrounding the diversity of people and cultures in London was very interesting and a great discussion point but was probably missed with all of the excitement surrounding the religious controversy.