The Satanic Verses
A Novel
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3.7 • 216 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “[A] torrent of endlessly inventive prose, by turns comic and enraged, embracing life in all its contradictions. In this spectacular novel, verbal pyrotechnics barely outshine its psychological truths.”—Newsday
Winner of the Whitbread Prize
One of the most controversial and acclaimed novels ever written, The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie’s best-known and most galvanizing book. Set in a modern world filled with both mayhem and miracles, the story begins with a bang: the terrorist bombing of a London-bound jet in midflight. Two Indian actors of opposing sensibilities fall to earth, transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil. This is just the initial act in a magnificent odyssey that seamlessly merges the actual with the imagined. A book whose importance is eclipsed only by its quality, The Satanic Verses is a key work of our times.
Praise for The Satanic Verses
“Rushdie is a storyteller of prodigious powers, able to conjure up whole geographies, causalities, climates, creatures, customs, out of thin air.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Exhilarating, populous, loquacious, sometimes hilarious, extraordinary . . . a roller-coaster ride over a vast landscape of the imagination.”—The Guardian (London)
“A novel of metamorphoses, hauntings, memories, hallucinations, revelations, advertising jingles, and jokes. Rushdie has the power of description, and we succumb.”—The Times (London)
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With its complex narrative and poetic, allusive language, The Satanic Verses can be challenging at first. But Salman Rushdie’s controversy-sparking novel is worth the effort. From its shocking opening scene to its final apocalyptic battle between good and evil, the 1988 book is a transporting, dreamlike parable about reclaiming the depth and beauty of Muslim identity in a rapidly changing world. Steeped in magic realism, Rushdie’s ambitious story addresses the struggle between spiritual beliefs and secular society, a meaty topic that’s as pertinent today as it was when the novel was making headlines.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Banned in India before publication, this immense novel by Booker Prize-winner Rushdie ( Midnight's Children ) pits Good against Evil in a whimsical and fantastic tale. Two actors from India, ``prancing'' Gibreel Farishta and ``buttony, pursed'' Saladin Chamcha, are flying across the English Channel when the first of many implausible events occurs: the jet explodes. As the two men plummet to the earth, ``like titbits of tobacco from a broken old cigar,'' they argue, sing and are transformed. When they are found on an English beach, the only survivors of the blast, Gibreel has sprouted a halo while Saladin has developed hooves, hairy legs and the beginnings of what seem like horns. What follows is a series of allegorical tales that challenges assumptions about both human and divine nature. Rushdie's fanciful language is as concentrated and overwhelming as a paisley pattern. Angels are demonic and demons are angelic as we are propelled through one illuminating episode after another. The narrative is somewhat burdened by self-consciousness that borders on preciosity, but for Rushdie fans this is a splendid feast. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; first serial to Harper's; BOMC alternate; QPBC alternate; author tour.
Customer Reviews
The Art of Being Reborn
"To be born again, first you have to die." That is the metaphor that runs throughout this book. Talk about religion and disrespecting others beliefs are irrelevant, because they have nothing to do with the content of this novel. This is a book about being reborn, about experiencing life new after excruciating difficulty. And about the misperceptions that others have about the innocent and the guilty.
If it's difficult to follow Rushdie's broken phrases and foreign idioms, slow down. There is beautiful wisdom in those segmented expressions. Jokes about sensationalism, raz-ma-taz, and the cultural significance of pop-stars aside, there is a deep undercurrent of emotional awareness and the truth of introspection. There is a pinch of the supernatural mixed with a heavy dose of brutal reality.
There are many who treat reading this book as an act of defiance against religious intolerance. The poor fools have bought into the popular-culture narrative. This is a book about self-awareness and the awakening that occurs when we relinquish dreams for reality.
masterpiece
with his original writing style, rushdie has created a work so deeply realized and incredibly symbolic, especially for those to whom it relates...
If you like magical realism
Then you will like this book.