What kind of idea is this book? I don't have much of a clue. If I had known these ideas were sitting o**spoiler alert** What kind of idea are you?
What kind of idea is this book? I don't have much of a clue. If I had known these ideas were sitting on my shelf for nearly 5 years, I would have picked it up a lot sooner. Then again, the earlier I would have read it, the more confused I would have been.
This immensely spanning novel is hard to wrap my head around. I have a hunch I would understand it better if I knew more about Islam – about which I actually know very little. I will say though, it has very much sparked my curiosity. You might notice that a bunch of Islamic non-fiction appeared on my to-read shelf shortly after starting this book. I'm tired of Islam being a taboo topic in my culture, and I want to investigate it with the same curiosity as I would any other religion.
This is one of those that I have to re-read when I am older. There is so much packed into those 400-some pages that I'm not sure it's even possible to digest it all in one read (even if that read lasts 4 months). Here are the few coagulated thoughts I can scoop up from the meaning soup in my brain:
Many parts of this were extremely moving, both negatively and positively. Chamcha's abuse at the hands of immigration police. "Mahound"'s experience with Gibreel in the cave. The story of Ayesha and the butterflies. The death of Chamcha's father in the last 50 pages. I understand why Rushdie is so revered as an author.
The personal journeys of Saladin Chamcha and Gibreel Farishta were enthralling. So much to ponder about cultural identity, migration, performance, love, sexuality, faith, etc etc. I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the huge cast of secondary characters (in both the "real" and "dream" worlds), but those two were fascinating individuals to explore through their otherworldly adventure.
Equally fascinating, and I think extremely important, is Rushdie's boldness in his exploration and challenging of Islam – which is, don't forget, his own faith. I do understand now why this novel caused such a raucous amongst Islamic purists and extremists. Among many other "heresies," he outright suggests that Satan dictated a good chunk of the Qur'an to Mohammad, and in fact the entire novel is narrated by Satan, which I think suggests a far greater orchestration. But do I agree with this reaction? Obviously not. No religious theology is exempt from being prodded and questioned, and we as human beings have every right to investigate the ideas that shape and direct our lives – how else are we supposed to know if they are any good? I hope explorations like the ones Rushdie makes in Satanic Verses are able to continue in humanity. I wonder if the purists and extremists who protested, threatened and attempted to assassinate Rushdie even read the whole thing? Even I, who has a very rudimentary grasp of Islam and who barely tapped into the meaning of this novel, can see that this is an overall celebration of Islamic faith.
Those are my very amateurish thoughts. Now this idea is going back on my shelf, to be re-opened someday when I am more equipped to understand it. __________________
For some reason, I didn't highlight passages in this book while I was reading it as I usually do. I think I was too focused on understanding it to worry about underlining anything. But towards the end, I did pick out a few things that stood out for whatever reason:
"Dream lovers were all around him; he, dreamless, could only watch."
"Oh, the disassociations of which the human mind is capable, marvelled Saladin gloomily. Oh, the conflicting selves jostling and joggling within these bags of skin. No wonder we are unable to focus on anything for very long; no wonder we invent remote-control channel-hopping devices. If we turned these instruments upon ourselves we'd discover more channels than a cable or satellite mogul ever dreamed of."
"[Salahuddin] marvelled, also, at how beautiful everyone behaved in the presence of a dying man: the young spoke to him intimately about their lives, as if reassuring him that life itself was invincible, offering him the rich consolation of being a member of the great procession of the human race – while the old evoked the past, so that he knew nothing was forgotten, nothing lost; that in spite the years of self-imposed sequestration he remained joined to the world. Death brought out the best in people; it was good to be shown – Salahuddin realized – that this too, was what human beings were like: considerate, loving, even noble. We are still capable of exhaltation, he thought in a celebratory mood; in spite of everything, we can still transcend."...more
I feel blessed to have found this in the thrift store. I only found out this edition existed a couple days ago, and then bam: I found it myself! This I feel blessed to have found this in the thrift store. I only found out this edition existed a couple days ago, and then bam: I found it myself! This book is beautiful. I'd seen Michael Whelan's illustrations before, but there are some in this edition I had never seen, and they are surreal; he has drawn the characters and the locations just as I had imagined them. Totally amazing....more
I've always been in love with the movie adaptation, even though it scared me shitless... and still does. The animation is so beautifully done and enhaI've always been in love with the movie adaptation, even though it scared me shitless... and still does. The animation is so beautifully done and enhances the creepiness of the story the way computer animation could never do. I guess I credit this book/movie with getting me to love the horror/thriller genre. In many ways the novel is scarier than the movie. As a kid whose fantasy was sometimes to run away from my mother or wish for a different one, this story had quite an effect on me. I can honestly say that this *children's* book is far scarier than some of the most famous and praised *adult* horror novels I've read. It scares me every time I read or watch it, and probably will for the rest of my life.
03/03/22 This was fun to read as a kid, but even more fun as an adult while stoned. ...more
Recommended to me by a friend in middle school. I tend to dismiss YA as cheesey, overly-dramatic and simplistic – and I'm not saying those things arenRecommended to me by a friend in middle school. I tend to dismiss YA as cheesey, overly-dramatic and simplistic – and I'm not saying those things aren't true about the genre – but this series doesn't really deserve to be classified that way. The concept of the story really fascinated me, since it was something I had contemplated before; what if everyone could hear my thoughts? or what if I could hear everyone else's thoughts? The psycho priest Aaron was terrifying to me, and I think this series dealth with some themes that propelled me into "adult" literature perhaps a little too quickly (I started reading Stephen King the next year at the age of 14). The whole thing with the native aliens obviously has parallels to North American colonization, and their side of the story was incredibly moving....more
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