If you didn't like this book, maybe give his other works a chance. I would recommend 'Shame' and 'Shalimar the Clown' for better examples of his storytelling ability. My honest opinion is Salman Rushdie was trying to piss people off but writers do that sometimes. The writing style was tedious because almost all of it mimics conversation. There were many times when I was lost and felt like giving up.

394.įrom a readability standpoint, Salman Rushdie's writing is very disjointed, wordy, and scattered in thought. 393 and 'The fifteen-year-old whore 'Ayesha' was the most popular with the paying public', pg. 'When the news got around Jahilia that the whores of The Curtain had each assumed identity of one of Mahound's wives, the clandestine excitement of the city's males was intense', pg. Literally, he uses their names: Ayesha, Ramlah, Hafsa, Juwairiyah, 'Mary the Copt', Sawdah, etc. 388, where the wives of Prophet Muhammed work. Later, 'The Curtain, hijab, was the name of the most popular brothel in Jahilia' pg. The Prophet Muhammed is called 'Mahound', an alternative name for Muhammed sometimes used during the Middle Ages by Christians who considered him a devil.Ģ. The controversy from the writing is in Girbreel's dream sequences are the strong references to Islam:ġ. As they fall, they are transformed: Gibreel becomes an angel-like character closely resembling the angel Gabriel (Jibril) and Saladin transforms into a cloven-hoofed devil. Their plane explodes during a terrorist hijacking after takeoff and they fall into the English Channel. The plot is about two Indian actors who fall out of the sky. The author uses them 'Have you heard of Lat, and Manat, and Uzza, the Third, the Other? They are exalted Birds.', pg.

The devil tricked Prophet giving extra verbiage for misleading purposes. The title is taken from the alleged verses (Surah 53:19-20) that were given to the Prophet as divine revelation. I am not confident to discuss them so I'm sticking to a book review. The controversy of the Satanic Verses from a historical perspective is a whole other discussion. Having studied extensively Arab/Middle Eastern/Islamic culture and being a former Arabic linguist, I was able to zero-in on what was being written. It didn't take me finishing the book to understand why Salman Rushdie was/is a hated man. This is controversial book because of the social context rooted in the story.

The satanic verses goodreads