This book is not for the faint of heart. It is overwhelming in terms of plot, imagery, and its large cast of characters. However, it is completely worth it and it flows beautifully once you get in tune with the book. I bought the Satanic Verses when I was 17 and I was not ready for it--I read 15 pages and then put it away. I picked it up again 7 years later and could not put it down.

There is just....so much packed into this book. One would have to read it many many times to get the full meaning of it, but at the same time it is a highly enjoyable and pleasurable read. By combining the two, this book becomes perfect--you can enjoy it on first read, but you will want to read it again, and again. Rushdie is the consummate storyteller. Like Neil Gaiman, he is amazing at the actual "telling" of the story, as opposed to just having interesting characters and plots (although he does). He is a storyteller in the tradition of the old tellers, the bards and minstrels and trovadores of a bygone age. Rushdie keeps it alive.

However, a warning. There is a reason that Rushdie had a fatwa declared against him. This book does not portray the Prophet Mohammed in the best light. At all. That is something people may find offensive. I found it fascinating in terms of exploring the genesis of a religion. Rushdie keeps your guessing--in the end, you have to decide what you believe about the characters, including Mohammed.

What kind of idea are you?

This question, scattered throughout the pages of this novel, is the intermediary between the author and his work. A waterloo of sorts, a windbreaker giving rise to the question of the material’s purpose. It gives us some sort of glimpse as to why he chose to name it “Satanic Verses”, insight to all its diabolical implications, and some sort of motive as to why it is disrespectful to Islam and the Prophet. So what kind of an idea is this? In turn, what kind of idea are we? It is said that people are only the sum of their ideas and beliefs. So what equaled to our sum? What are we made of?

Are you a preconceived idea?

When does the bias of the material end and when does the bias of the reader begin? If you’re either a Christian or a Muslim, then surely the title of this novel made you pause, if only a little. Or maybe it drove you off altogether. I assure you this novel is not satanic in any devilish way. Now I ask the question: Do we really approach a book with an open mind, or do we give immediate judgment to books based on their titles? Do we read without bias or do we bear impasse to fairness. Do we aim to learn or do we aim to protect our knowledge? These questions, I believe, are critical when discussing reading materials which are controversial in nature. It occurred to me when, during an article review in one of my classes, my group-mates and I discussed the bias of an article about the Gaza affair. My groupmates interpreted the article in favor of Israel while I, on the other hand, viewed it a bit sympathetic towards Palestinians. I realized then that when it came to issues we have forehand knowledge of; people tend to see what they want to see. Justification of its stand is the priority of the mind rather than the absorption of new information. This selective receiving, blindsiding whatever parity the material has, is a greater source of misconstrusion rather than biased material. Sure, there will always be certain biases in all materials we read, but the bias of the mind is the sieve through which comprehension passes, it will only let in biases it supports. This greatly affects one’s comprehension into the mold it wants to see. The bias of a material will be evident to an open mind, but the bias of a reader will affect even the most unbiased material. A good example is the reading of the Bible. The Bible is the foundation of Christianity. Everything that Christians believe in come from that book, but I believe it was Isaac Asimov who said “Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.” It only shows that one’s biases are the hands that mold one’s reading experience. People’s understanding is founded on the guidance of certain assumptions and axioms based on previous knowledge, but this principle can also be taken to an extreme. This “learned” mindset which has become second-nature to us, is a great hindrance to critical thinking and knowledge acquisition. Even the most gifted mind is beset by this problem, and I believe it takes years of practice to be able to read something without any inclinations.

So before you read this novel, I beg that you give a conscious effort to be open-minded and at least try to suppress the inevitable biases that you will have. A full cup will spill all that’s poured into it, be an empty cup. Only then can one learn to fully appreciate this novel.

Different Ideast

Salman Rushdie’s novel is a multi-layered magical tale with lots of possible implications. Its many facets, much like a dice that can roll to many of its sides, may have different meanings or might be driving together at one main point. It’s hard to really pin-point the central theme of the novel. The author suggests that it is about migration and the problems that immigrants face, which is most obvious during Chamcha’s early metamorphism. The notion of “nationalism” and betrayal of one’s country is thereby tackled. But then Mahound’s, the Butterfly Girl’s, and the Immam’s respective arcs try to bring perspective to blind faith. Baal’s tale warns one of trying to be someone else. The Old Woman’s and Rehka Merhcant’s respective accounts tell us not to devote our purpose to another person. The terrorist’s example hints mockery in self-sacrifice. Farishta’s bizarre experiences advises us to not to be fooled by destiny or purpose. Alleluia’s case conveys that uprightness is not always rewarded. The whole “immigrant mob” incident showcases that the mob mentality is not always right. Many possible ideas are present, one can choose which to focus on, which to ignore, which to accept. Which I idea are you?

My idea

For me, the main idea of this novel is learning to understand that one must create one’s own ideas. If you will notice, all the facets and interwoven tales are delved in problems when the characters place their life, their ideas on nationalism, faith, someone they want to be like, someone they love, on political beliefs, on destiny, on goodwill, on what everybody does. We are busy with these worldviews that we then ignore the question “What are my own ideas?” “Who am I apart from these things not of my own?”

“WHAT KIND OF AN IDEA ARE YOU?”

“Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accommodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed, bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damnfool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? – The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, be smashed to bits; but, the hundredth time, will change the world."

A bit of a cliché, I know. But one can’t avoid the reality of what this says. Are your ideas your own, or were they placed there by society? Creativity, originality, uniqueness these things are being suppressed by a society that calls for conformity, for belongingness. What kind of idea will you be?

The World's Ideas

“Society was orchestrated by what she called ‘grand narratives’: history, economics, ethics. In India, the development of a corrupt and closed state apparatus had ‘excluded the masses of the people from the ethical project’. As a result, they sought ethical satisfactions in the oldest of the grand narratives, that is, religious faith. But these narratives are being manipulated by the theocracy and various political elements in an entirely retrogressive way.”

“We can’t deny the ubiquity of faith. If we write in such a way as to pre-judge such belief as in some way deluded or false, then are we not guilty of elitism, of imposing our world-view on the masses?”

Worldviews, social constructs, axioms, these are also important as much as one’s individuality. For one must take into account that one’s self interest doesn’t give one the right to step on another. “Let our aim be a way of life not diametrically opposed to, but better than that of the mob. Otherwise we shall repel and alienate the very people whose reform we should desire.” I understand Salman Rushdie was disrespectful to Islam and to Muhammad, shouldn’t he have been? It is not for me to say. It was his choice, and I refuse to cast another stone where I am but an observer. But who are we to say that he deserves to die for his unbelief? It is one thing to ask for an apology, and another to take life altogether. Why should a review get deleted when it says bad things about an author? Free Expression is commendable but one must also remember repercussions. Acts are done in the name of ideas. Be careful what ideas you clash with, you embody, for unlike an idea which can change, the associated action cannot be taken back. The Fatwa placed on Rushdie’s head speaks the truth about how conforming the world asks us to be, how the actuality of ideas cannot be undone. But sometimes, just sometimes, the realization stemmed from one person’s ideas changes the world for the greater good. Will the possibility of criticism deter your idea?

What kind of idea are you?

Be your own kind of idea, think critically, question everything, don’t be a passive receiver, be open-minded, be creative, unique, but also learn to respect ideas that are not your own.

تعرفت على سلمان رشدي من خلال أحمد ديدات وبالضبط من خلال أحد كتبه التي كانت تحتويها مكتبة والدي والذي كان يحمل عنوان " شيطانية الآيات الشيطانية"0
لا أنكر أنني منذ سنوات و أول ما عرفت أن هناك من قام بتأليف كتاب معنون بآيات شيطانية تملكني الرعب واحسست القشعريرة تسري في كامل بدني، وعزفت عن قراءة الكتاب أو أي كتب أخرى للكاتب حتى رواية أطفال منتصف الليل التي قيل أنها من أروع الروايات،
بعد سنوات أحست أنني بتصرفي هذا لا أقل تفاهة عن المتعصبين والمتشددين لأي فكرة مهما كانت خلفياتها..
حاليا أنا أؤمن بالإبداع أيا كان ومن أي كان، وهنا أشدد الإبداع وليس الهراء..
ولو كنت أدري أن هذه الرواية التي أقامت الدنيا وأقعدتها ستكون بهذا المستوى الردئ لما صبرت عنها كل هذه المدة، ولو بوسعي الآن أن أقول شيئا فليس لي سوى جملة واحدة: " لو عرف المسلمون مدى تفاهة هذه الرواية لما جعلوا كاتبها يلعو ويشتهر بتلك الطريقة الجنونية/ إننا ولا شك نحن من نصنع الألقاب للناس"0
هنا على ويكيبيديا معلومات أكثر وأوفر لكن لفتني أكثر وشدتني كثيرا ردود الفعل، فعلا مهزلة
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A2%...

n  “From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.”n

I’ve been meaning to read this novel for years, ever since I first read his other magnificent novel “Midnight’s Children“, and the wait was worth it, it is not disappointing in any sense of the word.

My one problem is that I expected this to be an novel set in ancient times, as I thought it had a bigger focus on ancient deities and Islam in general, instead I was greeted by a fantastic study on what is like to be alienated, as an immigrant, a minority. But I will still hope for him to do another work on what I originally expected, it is too good a subject to pass up.

n  “What kind of idea are you? Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accomodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed, bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damnfool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? – The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of hundred, be smashed to bits; but, the hundredth time, will change the world.” n

This work also had a focus on how religion can be politicized, and the fatwa on his head was more than proof on how such a thing was somehow allowed. It is odd, that the point he was showing in a fictional novel came to affect him in the real world in such a terrible way. What happened to him, and many others included in the publishing, and even translation of such a valuable work , should not be permitted by anyone of any religion or lack thereof, or even differing political opinions. It is an anchor that keeps society in the darkness, and it needs to end.

Rushdie’s works in general are masterpieces, and this one is one of those at the top, only behind “Midnight’s Children”. Hence, it should be thoroughly read an explored. Have fun!

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If I see one comment about how I shouldn't like this book as a Muslim, or people complementing me for standing up to my faith or some nonsense like that, I AM GOING TO LOOSE IT!!!
Review to come, hopefully soon.