Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses rises above the controversy

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Childrenwas my first book into this foray of reading the classics. I enjoyed it, and was excited, but also a little apprehensive, about reading The Satanic Verses. I knew a little about all the hoopla surrounding this book, and learned more studying up about the history of it before starting the read. I was worried that the controversy surrounding the book hid what would be just a so-so average novel. Turns out my fears were unfounded, as it is an entertaining and well-written novel.

First, the history lesson for those unaware of this book. The title of this book comes from the actual Satanic Verses incident, which in history was apparently when the Islamic Prophet Muhammad mistakenly took the words of a satanic suggestion as divine revelation (according to Wikipedia). Obviously this would not hold well in the Quran, and it is not recognized as canonical in the Muslim religion, but the stories of the event are out there from other historians. The fact that Rushdie wrote about this, and really sort of made light of it and of Muhammad in general in many places, had the leader of Iran (at the time, in 1989) calling for the death of Rushdie by true believers. Rushdie had to go into hiding and several translators of his novel were attacked and/or assassinated. Apparently this call for his death is still in place today, with millions offered in reward for his killing.

Anyway, to the novel. Like Midnight’s Children, the book has a fantastical, science-fiction like element. This time, the two leads survive a terrorism attack on a plane. When the plane blows up in midair, 30,000 feet up, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha live through the explosion and the long drop back to earth. When they awaken, Gibreel has taken on the persona of the archangel Gabriel and Saladin has become a devil, complete with hoofs, horns, and tail. The first part of the novel deals with each of theirs backstory, growing up in India and later moving to London, which I won’t get much into here. Suffice to say, Gibreel’s inaction causes Saladin to be arrested and attacked shortly after we are caught up to speed.

We see as the novel develops that Gibreel seems to be suffering from some mental health issues, as he really thinks he is an angel. However, every time he sees himself using his power, there always seems to be a natural explanation for the outcome (he thinks he causes a drought, while the weatherman on tv talks about the changing air patterns warming the area). As a reader, we aren’t quite sure if he has real power or not, but everyone else certainly thinks he is crazy. Saladin on the other hand, finding his way back to human form while still carrying a grudge against Gibreel, develops a plan to prey on Gibreel’s deficiencies. As a past voice actor, Saladin puts his many voices to use by prank calling Gibreel, pretending to be other men sleeping with his (Gibreel’s) love Allie. Finally losing his grip on reality, Gibreel goes off the deep end. Even then though, in his disillusionment, he is faced with a similar scenario from the beginning. The pair find themselves in a raging inferno, with Saladin trapped and Gibreel with the power to save him. Rather than let him die, Gibreel this time saves him, and in a way saves himself.

The book wraps up with Saladin returning home to India a year later to see his estranged father before he (the father) dies. Gibreel shows up here at the end too, only to confront Saladin with the truth of his disease before killing himself. Saladin realizes there is good and evil both inside of him, and inside all of us. For me, the central theme of the book is identity, especially for immigrants but really for all of us too.

There is obviously a lot more that goes on in this book. It is full of rich, detailed characters in Gibreel’s and Saladin’s circle of friends and coworkers. Also, there are whole chapters devoted to Gibreel’s “dreams” as the archangel. One of these story arcs is the one that brought all the controversy, as it details Muhammad (called Mahound here) and his arrival to Mecca (called Jahiliyyah in the book). Now, obviously I am not a Muslim and I know little about the faith, so I will not discuss my thoughts as I don’t feel I’m an expert on the subject, but I will say I can see that if a central tenet of my faith was belittled or altered, I can see why such a ruckus developed.

As a raised Christian, I’m sure I missed out on a lot of the innuendo and cultural dialogue that is heavy in this book from beginning to end. Even so, an outsider like myself can still find plenty to enjoy. Rushdie’s style of writing is enveloping and flavorful, you can feel what the characters feel, envision what they see, almost taste their surroundings. An excellent novel for anyone that likes to read simply for the joy of new experiences and new ideas.