Customer Reviews
Satanic Verses - By: Spider Monkey, 13 Sep 2008 
Without wishing to become embroiled in the controversy surrounding this book, there is no doubting the quality of the writing. This book has a strong fantasy element (not goblins & dragons, but rather events that wouldn't normallly occur in the 'real' world) & I have to admit I found the first 150 pages or so slightly confusing, but once I got used to Rushdies style, & the storyline, I found the rest of the book to be completely engaging. Rushdie uses very descriptive language & there are some beautiful phrases littered throughout this book which reallly highlight particular passages & make you stop to read them again. The story is original & quirky & I enjoyed reading a book i've heard so much about but have never read up until now. Although it is confusing at times, I'd say the beautiful & elegant prose more than compensates for this & perseverance is recommended. A good book that is worth a read at some point in your life.
Wonderfully written and a joy to read - By: Mr. R. Bhaskar, 24 Jul 2008 
Over the English Channel, a hi-jacked airliner explodes leaving two survivors clinging to each other as they falll. One gains a halo while the other grows horns & goat legs, acting out the ancient battle between good & evil again; but which is which?
This is a very complex book, with many interwoven themes: love, belonging & betrayal being the central ones. Different people will get many different things out of it, but what struck a chord with me was the issues of belonging, & the difficulties of standing between cultures, since this is something I feel on a day-to-day basis.
I also loved the language of the book. Rushdie has a wonderful gift for words & it was a pleasure to let the words drift over you. It also captured, for me, the voice of Indian literature. It does sound like an authentic mix of cosmopolitan English & Hindi; while Rushdie wasn't the first Indian writer to write in English & add a twist of Indian colloquialism, he has certainly mastered the art. Like its predecessor, Midnight's Children, I can't recommend this book enough.
Disappointed... :( - By: Shanara, 14 Jun 2008 
I bought The Satanic Verses for many different reasons.... the main one being to see why there was so much contorversy surrounding the book....
Even though the book in my opinion was very cleverly written with highly intriguing characters, I don't know, I just didn't enjoy the book. Whilst reading the book I was disappointed as I thought it would offer me more than what it did, which was hardly anything. As a Muslim, I wasn't as offended as others because I thought the book was a higly imaginative work of fiction. I found the characters in the book very intriguing & completely fell in love with the characters of the young teenage girls as I thought they were hilarious & correctly portrayed young teenagers. I liked the cross of cultures & the surreality of certain aspects of the text. I thought the idea of good & bad, & what is reallly good & bad very intelligent & also thought provoking. But even then, I just didn't enjoy the book. Maybe it was because the text was so smalll... maybe because there was too much imagery, maybe because it just didn't have that little something in it for me.
I see a lot of mixed reaction to this book, which is good as not everyones opinion is the same, but for me: the book was very intelligent but I just didn't enjoy it.
I do recommend it however, to most people. As its one of those books that everyone should read & draw their own opinions of. I need to read his other books to compare them against this one.
Not very helpful as a review I know. Sorry. I'm just torn bewteen my opinions of this book.
ENTERTAINING, MEMORABLE AND WELL WORTH THE EFFORT - By: Easily Me, 28 Apr 2008 Definitely hard-going - after reading `The Angel Gibreel', I returned straight to the beginning & re-read so as to truly feel I was in the story - but, ultimately, worth the effort. This is a book that requires active engagement with its material and, that being the case, will leave images & thoughts in your mind long after the final page is read.
The dream sequences, while entertaining as (almost) stand-alone pieces, are woven into a similarly entertaining & dream-like narrative. Each section entertains & provokes, & each section has its own story to tell. Piece those elements together & you have very good, almost great, novel.
`Almost' due to the pace and/or length of `Ellowen Deeowen'. However, that leaves another eight sections that more than make up for that draggy third section so, if you're thinking of reading it - which is probably why you're reading these reviews - then alll I can say is `highly recommended'.
NB: Don't read it if you're looking for an overt diss on Islam or religion in general though. It's a meditative piece that highlights a number of issues relating to conflict between the secular & the religious. It's about identity & not about insult.
The biggest load of crap I have ever read! - By: Mrs. S. J. Al Hafar, 20 Mar 2008 
Satanic Verses is quite frankly the biggest load of crap I have ever had the misfortune to read. Salman Rushdie is both a terrible & untalented writer (maybe the worst I have ever read), who has serious emotional problems. If it wasn't for his attack & attempted satire of Islam, making for a controversial topic, he would never have been recognised as a writer, let alone receive a knighthood for his literary services! With strange twisted plots, far too many characters & the akward writing style, I struggled to find the motivation to continue on to the end of this novel. Should you own a copy - rip it into thousands of pieces, burn it, use it for wiping your bottom next time you run out of toilet paper (you choose) - but whatever you do, don't waste your precious time reading this trash! If you are looking for a great read, by a brilliant writer though, do read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' or 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini.
