Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses has incited its fair share of controversy in the eighteen years it has been in print — so much, in fact, that Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (kind of like putting a hit on someone — a death order) against Rushdie for writing the book in the first place. The story weaves three plots together — one of the legendary Indian film star Gibreel Farishta and his fellow actor and Anglophile Saladin Chamcha (Salahuddin Chamchawalla) trying to piece their lives together after they are miraculously floated to shore following a mid-air airplane explosion — and their transformations into an angel and devil respectively; another of Mahound, better known as the Prophet Mohammad, delivering prophecies to the polytheistic and lusciously pagan city of Jahilia (Mecca) despite initially fearful animosity from the demonic priestess Hind, and her husband Abu Simbel; the last of a dying woman and her Indian village faithfully following a butterfly-clad visionary named Ayesha to the shores of the Arabian Sea, and then to Mecca, to save her life.
The book is ridiculously hard to follow at some parts, but that's because Rushdie throws colloquial Indian gibberish into the pages — surprisingly, I understood most of it, and this is coming from the girl who is about as far from her Indian roots as my dog is from weighing less than a ton. But it's definitely worth it, if you can ignore the tremendous length of some of the dream sequences and concentrate on the story at hand — a story of good and evil from the beginning and humanity at the end. I can't necessarily say I'm enlightened by it — moved to write — as I am with other books (chiefly The Hours and Wicked), but it left some sort of mark on me - the idea of emotional transformation; the idea that faith has no restrictions, even when on an endless march to the shores of a distant sea.
Addressing the issue of controversy: what some Islamic clerics have found offensive about this book is not in its plot, but in its truth. The idea of the Prophet Mohammad delivering something unclean to his people — the Messenger of God picking up the wrong envelope — felt pretty blasphemous. But so much that you would put a permanent death order on the guy who wrote it? (since Khomeini died in 1989, the fatwa was declared to be withstanding earlier this year, because its creator had to destroy it) I mean, this guy's a pretty good author. Can you imagine why people would try to censor a book simply because it tells a fictional story of a fictional event? How long are we going to hold onto conservatism in the world and refuse to see that this — the blatant hatred of "offensive" literature — is the result? I mean, I don't like Ayn Rand. That doesn't mean I'm going to make a bonfire of her books or anything. Well, maybe I'll just burn my copy of The Fountainhead and get all my anger out then. YOU WOULD DO WELL TO LEARN A LESSON FROM ME, YE SILLY CONSERVATIVES.
Read 17 comments (Leave a comment?)
Hiko said:
some people just cant let go of what they believe in, nor can they seem to accept that anything else could possibly be true, and everyone else must think the same thing as they do…sad and annoying. and for gods sake please talk to me! at least for 15 minutes… >:(
Posted on November 20, 2006 4:03 AM • #
Ranjani said:
Off-topic: You have to realize that you’ve given me no reason to talk to you at all. Isn’t this something like the scenario I gave you? It works, doesn’t it?
Also, your comment pretty much defined yourself. Good job with that.
Posted on November 20, 2006 12:12 PM • #
Skye said:
It’s like the vatican’s outrage over The Da Vinci Code and the Harry Potter books. Religious authority does not appreciate anything that suggests “otherwise” or undermines their teachings and/or authority. It is amazing the literal view that some people can take on life, even to the extent where they are threatened by fiction.
Posted on November 20, 2006 2:47 PM • #
Ranjani said:
What’s worse is the people they manage to reach and convince. Truth is only true in the hands of the most powerful. It feels too much like 1984 unfolding again.
I just wish they’d get rid of the fatwa. Can you imagine living with a hit on your head? But apparently, this guy’s life is meaningless to some people, who are afraid of the stories he writes.
I’m still never going to get over the fact that people think Harry Potter is demonic. It’s just teenage angst wrapped in sparkly magic stuff. But you have to give the churches some credit; they don’t want Rowling dead for what she writes.
Posted on November 21, 2006 12:11 PM • #
Michelle said:
Lol it already sounds hard to follow from your first paragraph cos i was kinda lost hehe. But it sounds like a good book!
Posted on November 22, 2006 9:12 AM • #
AngelaM said:
Why don’t we all just put a “hit” on the people that want to put death warrants on others for having different views? Maybe that will solve things or not…
Posted on November 22, 2006 12:21 PM • #
Hiko said:
I believe thats called anarchism… :P
Posted on November 22, 2006 7:57 PM • #
timmie said:
hello :) just dropping by. :P hmm.. people are really close minded about certain things like that. its weird. oh well.. its human nature. we just have to live with it. sorry for my useless comment. i dont know what to say.. uhmm. tc. :P
Posted on November 23, 2006 5:04 AM • #
Ranjani said:
It’s called “anarchy”, first. In addition to that, Angela, Gandhi once said:
Not to mention, killing high level government officials is very frowned upon and leads to terrible things. Bad idea!
Posted on November 23, 2006 11:36 AM • #
Hiko said:
hehe…whoops…I didnt realize you changed the way comments work, so I submitted it several times thinking it didnt go through…I mean COMPUTER MALFUNCTION AAAAAHH :)
Posted on November 23, 2006 11:29 PM • #
Brittney said:
Everytime I read your blog I’m always amazed at how graefully written it is. This book sounds interesting. I’m barely at a college reading level ((freshman in high school go figure)) so I don’t think I’m ready to handle a book, but it’ll be on my list.
Posted on November 24, 2006 2:08 AM • #
Ranjani said:
Thanks, Brittney! I’m pretty sure you can take it on. If you can give the man a little room to write in his style, the story comes out very easily. And it’s a great story :)
Aaron: I actually didn’t change the way anything worked; internet lagging, maybe?
Posted on November 24, 2006 11:38 AM • #
Catherine said:
You bring up a very good point at the end of this entry about literature. I never could understand why people ban books simply based on an idea or theme mentioned in the book. If people would open their minds to new opinions or simply accept that each individual is going to have a different viewpoint, there wouldn’t be hatred in this world.
Posted on November 24, 2006 1:24 PM • #
Hiko said:
anarchism what I was referring to is called “anarchism” ;P
Posted on November 24, 2006 6:06 PM • #
Ranjani said:
Hiko: Fine, I’ll give you that one.
Catherine: It’s strange; we create the language, and then we dislike it. We come up with customs, as a group, and then break them down. Our race is extremely fractured, and it’s scary. If people can do this over a book, imagine what they could do over a movie or a speech (Pope Benedict, anyone?). I get chills just thinking about it.
Posted on November 24, 2006 8:55 PM • #
Monica said:
It seems like an interesting read… perhaps one to add onto my holiday list of ‘things to read’ Thanks for the heads up. :)
Cheers!
Posted on November 25, 2006 1:16 AM • #
Ranjani said:
No worries! Hope you enjoy it :)
Posted on November 25, 2006 1:17 AM • #