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Les versets sataniques

Les versets sataniques

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  • Create Date：2022-08-14 03:53:06
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
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  • Author：Salman Rushdie
  • ISBN：2070437124
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Summary

Un jumbo jet explose au-dessus de la Manche。 Au milieu de membres humains éparpillés et d’objets non identifiés， deux silhouettes improbables tombent du ciel : Gibreel Farishta， le légendaire acteur indien， et Saladin Chamcha， l’Homme aux Mille Voix。 Agrippés l’un à l’autre， ils atterrissent sains et saufs sur une plage anglaise enneigée。

Gibreel et Saladin ont été choisis pour être les protagonistes de la lutte éternelle entre le Bien et le Mal。 Mais par qui？ Les anges sont-ils des diables déguisés？ Tandis que les deux hommes rebondissent du passé au présent， se déroule un cycle extraordinaire de contes d’amour et de passion， de trahison et de foi avec， au centre， l’histoire de Mahound， prophète de Jahilia， la cité de sable – Mahound， frappé par une révélation où les versets sataniques se mêlent au divin。

Salman Rushdie nous embarque dans une épopée truculente， un voyage de larmes et de rires au pays du Bien et du Mal， si inséparablement liés dans le cœur des hommes。

~gallimard。fr

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Reviews

Yimaje Adil ，

Skukululu

B Jaya ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 It's mandatory for the future generations to read it 。 It's mandatory for the future generations to read it 。 。。。more

Geoffrey Fox ，

The news of the stabbing of Salman Rushdie （2022。08。12） has made me want to celebrate once again this wonderful， hilarious satyrical novel。 Which I now want to reread。 I just found my handwritten review from my journal， written shortly after its publication。 Here I've typed it out， as a place-holder for what should be a more thorough， thoughtful essay， taking account of the extreme violence for which this very clever comedy has been a pretext:（From my journal， 2 April 1989:）Salman Rushdie， The S The news of the stabbing of Salman Rushdie （2022。08。12） has made me want to celebrate once again this wonderful， hilarious satyrical novel。 Which I now want to reread。 I just found my handwritten review from my journal， written shortly after its publication。 Here I've typed it out， as a place-holder for what should be a more thorough， thoughtful essay， taking account of the extreme violence for which this very clever comedy has been a pretext:（From my journal， 2 April 1989:）Salman Rushdie， The Satanic Verses。 NY: Viking， 1988。 547 pp。Gibreel Farishta， star of countless Indian “theologicals，” and Saladin Chamchala， an Anglicized Indian actor who specializes in voices for commercials， are blown out of an Air India plan， the “Bostan，” over London and tumble， unhurt but transformed， to earth。 Gibreel， whose movie name （not his real one， which I forget） means Gabriel Angel， becomes — at least in his dreams and his later madness， and possibly in fact — the Archangel Gabriel。 Saladin Chamchala — shortened from the Urdu， Salahuddin Chamchawalla — becomes goat-like， with horns， hooves and an enormous prick; is he satyr or Satan？Farishta is the perfectly eclectic Indian， absorbing all the religions and accepting all the customs of his homeland and thinking the English are a bit weird。 At one point， believing himself to be the archangel， he decides to tropicalize England — giving it a tropical climate will improve everybody’s behavior， he believes。Saladin is the hyper assimilated Indian， loving England more than the English do。Much of the book is taken up with Gibreel’s dreams， first of the founding of Islam （“Submission”） by Mohammad （“Mahound”）， and later of another， modern Ayeesha， a young girl who leads a whole Indian village on a pilgrimage to Mecca， in which those whose faith is strong walk through the Arabian sea。Ending is disappointing… [but I won’t give it away here: read the book and have some good laughs， at the contradictions and improvisations of immigration and transcultural confusion]。 。。。more

Ramiro Diaz ，

Long live Salman Rushdie

Lina AL Ojaili ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 كلام رواية مبني ع قصة باطلة عن رسول وسندها ضعيف يعني تحليل وشرح ع اساس باطل انا مع حرية اعتقاد والنقد بس بكلام منطقي

John Poulain ，

So this coming up for free on audible I wanted to find out what could be written to threaten a man's life， starting it I really couldn't find anything objectionable， two men survive a fall from a great height by singing songs and flapping their arms and afterwards are put on a collision course that stretches back into their past and on into their future。Gibreal （after the archangel） plays in the theological films， but at the beginning he is playing Ganesh and other characters， Saladin is wishing So this coming up for free on audible I wanted to find out what could be written to threaten a man's life， starting it I really couldn't find anything objectionable， two men survive a fall from a great height by singing songs and flapping their arms and afterwards are put on a collision course that stretches back into their past and on into their future。Gibreal （after the archangel） plays in the theological films， but at the beginning he is playing Ganesh and other characters， Saladin is wishing he could move to L-O-N D-O-N and dealing with a withholding father。 Learning that in England they only wipe their bums with paper， and that its like a kipper， full of one's and no one will tell you how to eat it。These comical observations and odd encounters and mystical happening continue until the book starts talking about Mahmoud， at which point the objections to the book start to become clearer， the eponymous Verses where three deities other than Allah are revealed and especially when the apostate starts to say that Mahmoud couldn't recognise the word of Allah when it was read back to him， that it was awfully convenient that the "very business like Mahmoud had found such a businesslike God" that the backup from Archangels when he'd made an argument was too convenient and how restrictive the rules were on how to fart， or go to the toilet or live at all。I liked the various diatribes and characters but can't really comment on the more controversial elements as I'm not well versed in them， however I'm not sure that they add as much to the story as the other parts。 。。。more

Alex Doe ，

Devastated by the recent news of Rushdie’s attack。 This book was excellently written as all of his novels are。 Highly recommend for surrealist/ postmodern fiction types。

Mathias Chouvier ，

« Dès le début， les hommes se sont servis de Dieu pour justifier l'injustifiable。 »Saladin et Gibreel， deux hommes qui ne se connaissent pas， vont survivre ensemble à un attentat au terme d’une chute vertigineuse dans la Manche depuis un avion。 Leur destin va par la suite les conduire dans une quête du bien et du mal qui ne laissera personne indemne。Les Versets Sataniques est un incroyable roman， très riche mais particulièrement difficile à lire。 Le style changeant et la densité monstrueuse de l « Dès le début， les hommes se sont servis de Dieu pour justifier l'injustifiable。 »Saladin et Gibreel， deux hommes qui ne se connaissent pas， vont survivre ensemble à un attentat au terme d’une chute vertigineuse dans la Manche depuis un avion。 Leur destin va par la suite les conduire dans une quête du bien et du mal qui ne laissera personne indemne。Les Versets Sataniques est un incroyable roman， très riche mais particulièrement difficile à lire。 Le style changeant et la densité monstrueuse de l’histoire sont les deux principaux obstacles à une lecture fluide。 Mais si vous dépassez les premières （200） pages déconcertantes， vous tomberez sous le charme de cet étrange roman， qui brasse des thèmes aussi variés que l’image， la foi， l’immigration et l’intégration。 Tour à tour drôle， émouvant， scandaleux ou documentaire， le roman explore tous les genres et de nombreuses thématiques， dans un récit très riche mais particulièrement complexe à dompter。 Les circonvolutions des personnages les mènent à une confrontation finale particulièrement réussie， où tous les éléments disparates prennent un sens et qui s’avère particulièrement émouvant。 Une crise de foi magistralement orchestrée， inaccessible mais fascinante。 。。。more

Paul Bryant ，

I loved Midnight’s Children and Shame but this one was an exercise in exasperation which I should have left well alone instead of becoming intrigued again by its fearsome bloody reputation as a book that kills people。 There were three reasons why I very strongly disliked this book。THE TIRESOME STRUCTUREIt could be most of this book is a meticulous account of the dreams aka visions of mostly one character。 And he has dreams within dreams。 The as it were real-world plot inches along like a slow bi I loved Midnight’s Children and Shame but this one was an exercise in exasperation which I should have left well alone instead of becoming intrigued again by its fearsome bloody reputation as a book that kills people。 There were three reasons why I very strongly disliked this book。THE TIRESOME STRUCTUREIt could be most of this book is a meticulous account of the dreams aka visions of mostly one character。 And he has dreams within dreams。 The as it were real-world plot inches along like a slow bicycle race with this person’s back story and that person’s back story and the dreams jump around as dreams do so this whole cumbersome multi-layered affair seems to be going nowhere for many pages。THE UNFUNNY COMIC VOICECajoling， supercilious， sneering， mocking， silly， making constant quips， it exhausts and finally aggravates。 Here he is wittering on about angels:The human condition， but what of the angelic？ Halfway between Allahgod and homosap， did they ever doubt？ They did: challenging God’s will one day muttering beneath the Throne， daring to ask forbidden things: antiquestions。 Is it right that。 Could it not be argued。 Freedom， the old antiquest。 He calmed them down， naturally， employing management skills a la god。 Flattered them: you will be the instruments of my will on earth， of the salvationdamnation of man， all the usual etcetera。 And hey presto， end of protest， on with the haloes， back to work。 Angels are easily pacified， turn them into instruments and they’ll play your harpy tune。The above passage raises another big problem – who exactly is talking here？ This narrator， is he actually The Devil as is implied early on？ *THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM ACCORDING TO SALMAN RUSHDIEA whole lot of this book is taken up with a detailed sequence of dream-narratives that dispense with the dream framework and become a comic-ironic history of the life of a religious leader who is never called Mohammed but referred to as either The Prophet or as Mahound， an insulting medieval name for Mohammed。 （It came from the French Mahun which was a contraction of Mahomet。 Well， so the internet tells me。） So we get the twisty tale of how Mahound eventually got rid of the polytheism of the city of Jahilia and how Islam， here called Submission， became accepted as the true religion。 Well， what could possibly be offensive about that， since that is what actually happened？ Only everything。 As an example of how detailed this gets， there’s a whole chapter about Mahound making a deal with the city boss to accept three of the female local gods into his religion in return for the city of Jahilia accepting him as The Prophet。 The boss says you can’t just throw out all these three hundred gods， the people won’t stand for it。 Well， says Mahound， how about if I say the people can keep these three gods but we’re gonna re-brand them as angels。 Okay， says the city boss， that sounds like a deal。Then of course there is the notorious section where the sex workers in the largest brothel in Jahilia pretend for their clients’ amusement to be the wives of Mahound。 They are fooling around and being deliberately offensive， and gradually they take on the characters of Mahound’s wives。 This is the section which earned Rushdie the famous fatwa but it is by no means the only part which might strike a Muslim as blasphemous。 The scribe Salman （hmmm， same name as our author） gets the job of writing down Mahound’s words and frankly he gets fed up of it:When he sat at The Prophet’s feet， writing down rules rules rules， he began， surreptitiously， to change things。 And strangely， the Prophet does not notice。 Salman says:So there I was， actually writing the Book， or rewriting， anyway， polluting the word of God with my own profane language。 But good heavens， if my poor words could not be distinguished from the Revelation of God’s own Messenger， then what did that mean？ SOMETHING OF A MISCALCULATIONSpeaking as an atheistic liberal， I have no desire to get anyone mad at Rushdie all over again。 But there is no doubt he was playing around with the most sensitive ideas about Islam here。 It’s possible he thought a brilliantly complex post-modern metanarrative aimed squarely at Booker Prize judges， London Review of Books subscribers and the like would fall outside of the purview of the Muslim world， and he could， as it were， hide his subversive fabulation in the spotlight。 In this he was catastrophically mistaken。The intricate obsessive re-telling of the early history of Islam is the main reason I had to give this up : it’s deadly boring for a non-religious reader。 You don’t know if this or that name or incident is suppose to be a caricature of history or an ironical comment or a plain historical fact。 Reading The Satanic Verses turns into an exercise in frustration – who is supposed to be an angel？ What’s an angel anyway？ Is it the Devil who is telling me this whole shaggy god story anyway？ Did I care once？Salman Rushdie is one of our greatest authors but in The Satanic Verses he was barking up the wrongest possible tree。**This narrator says to the reader : “Who am I？ Let’s put it this way : who has the best tunes？” 。。。more

Vivek Ringne ，

Felt like the novel was all over the place。 Was a little drag to finish it。 Took almost 3 months as it was never able to hold me to any interest

Dustin Seanor ，

Solid 3。5。 Tough to get through， and might not have finished if I hadn’t been laid up recovering from surgery。 Beautiful writing， some of the references were way above my head。

Howard ，

I think the writing is phenomenal。 The story is crazy intense but it seemed to run out of steam at about the 80% mark， for me。 It got better at the closing， so it was still an okay story， but not earth-shattering。 I might try another one of his when I feel like another long fiction book later。 I've been very curious about this story for a long time， so I'm glad I finally listened to it。 I think the writing is phenomenal。 The story is crazy intense but it seemed to run out of steam at about the 80% mark， for me。 It got better at the closing， so it was still an okay story， but not earth-shattering。 I might try another one of his when I feel like another long fiction book later。 I've been very curious about this story for a long time， so I'm glad I finally listened to it。 。。。more

Hari Brandl ，

I found absolutely nothing controversial about this book。 Besides a lot of witty turns of phrases and fanciful interludes I found it to be a slog to read。 Reminded me of Pynchon in parts。 Nothing to declare a fatwa over， but then， I am not a religious Muslim。I'm left hoping his other works will appeal to me more。 I found absolutely nothing controversial about this book。 Besides a lot of witty turns of phrases and fanciful interludes I found it to be a slog to read。 Reminded me of Pynchon in parts。 Nothing to declare a fatwa over， but then， I am not a religious Muslim。I'm left hoping his other works will appeal to me more。 。。。more

Jeremy ，

This was a struggle to get through。 Rushdie needed a better editor。 The book seems to meander down too many unnecessary alleyways and storyline-wise， it could have been tighter， and hence， way shorter than 550 pages。 Rushdie's writing seems stilted or choppy and doesn't flow very well， all of which， as I said， makes The Satanic Verses a difficult read， and not in the pleasurable sense， a la， Pynchon。 This was a struggle to get through。 Rushdie needed a better editor。 The book seems to meander down too many unnecessary alleyways and storyline-wise， it could have been tighter， and hence， way shorter than 550 pages。 Rushdie's writing seems stilted or choppy and doesn't flow very well， all of which， as I said， makes The Satanic Verses a difficult read， and not in the pleasurable sense， a la， Pynchon。 。。。more

David Wilby ，

Following the tumultuous row over it's 1988 publication， Salman Rushdie's most renowned novel earned him a fatwa along with plenty of news coverage。 But what was all the fuss about regarding this book？Give or take a few pages where the author's brilliance had me breathless， I absolutely did not see much of merit in the story。 It has countless faults which rendered it less than readable such as some of the characters often being referred to either by their first or second names whereas a clear id Following the tumultuous row over it's 1988 publication， Salman Rushdie's most renowned novel earned him a fatwa along with plenty of news coverage。 But what was all the fuss about regarding this book？Give or take a few pages where the author's brilliance had me breathless， I absolutely did not see much of merit in the story。 It has countless faults which rendered it less than readable such as some of the characters often being referred to either by their first or second names whereas a clear identification of who's who would have made it so much easier to keep track。 Not only that， but there are so many characters， and indeed skipping of the narrative backwards and forwards in time。 It occasionally leaves you dizzy with confusion and pleasure， but reading it requires a degree of patience and plenty of scribbling in pencil in the margins if you're going to get much out of it。I found the experience of reading The Satanic Verses a bit like that of reading Ulysses by James Joyce。 All in all I wasn't quite sure what was a clever cultural reference and what constituted just a figment of Rushdie's imagination。 But festooned throughout is that genre-defining postmodern affiliation to the idea of intertextuality - the idea that all texts are mere collages of stories made up of other texts。 If you know how to pick out the clues， then you'll find plenty of hidden elements， not only the obvious ones from the Koran， but also from Ovid's tale of Orpheus and Euridice retold in a Kerouac-like hipster style， Milton's Paradise Lost spliced together with Manga comic imagery， or， say， the Maharabatti with advertising jingles。 Everything is blended in the Rushdie processing mixer as he serves up one slightly astringent cocktail after the next。 Yet in so doing， he's not really catering to anyone's taste， so it's really no wonder the Ayatollah Khomeini wasn't impressed。This is undoubtedly a book which occasionally requires us， the reader， to have knowledge of the grand-narratives from which it draws its inspiration。 But it ends up too clever for its own good。 One wonders whether Rushie was out to court controversy with the renaming of the Prophet Mohammed as "Mahound" - not a good move I'd say。 In my case I didn't find The Satanic Verses offensive， but if this is the real reason for anyone to attempt reading this book then honestly don't bother。 It's not worth it。 Just as it's not worth putting yourself through the torture of reading Dan Brown's The Davinci Code just to find out if it really is all a load of tosh。 But instead it is worth checking out this BBC programme with Mobeen Azher。 。。。more

Sanjana ，

4。7/5In my heart of hearts I know this is a 5 ⭐️ but I’m taking off 0。3 because it is so goddamn dense。 I couldn’t read this book without marking up every page， but that’s also its beauty— probably the most imaginative and inventive prose since Nabokov’s Lolita。 It took me over a month to parse but I feel like a different person after reading it。

Christie ，

"To be born again，" sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens， "first you have to die。"After their hijacked plane exploded， Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha fall from the sky and land on the English coast。 But， their journey is far from over， as each of them will experience visions， metamorphoses， and revelations in the coming days and years。 I picked this book up solely for Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge （Read an award-winning book from the year you were born）。 I can now say th "To be born again，" sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens， "first you have to die。"After their hijacked plane exploded， Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha fall from the sky and land on the English coast。 But， their journey is far from over， as each of them will experience visions， metamorphoses， and revelations in the coming days and years。 I picked this book up solely for Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge （Read an award-winning book from the year you were born）。 I can now say that I get why it won awards， I also get why it has been banned in many countries and why the author had to go into hiding after it。 But， I can't say that I actually get the book。 I spent most of the novel frustrated by the random jumping around from one plot to another。 There were also whole sections of the book that did not make sense to me （maybe if I was more well-versed in Islamic teachings/writings it would have gone better）。 Beyond all that though， I did find myself engaging with Gibreel and Saladin's stories。 They were both trying to escape from their pasts and their home country for different reasons。 Their welcome on English shores probably mirrors what a lot of immigrants experience （though with fewer fantastical elements I would guess）。 The book has a lot to say about racism and xenophobia。 I just wish that wasn't buried so deeply in among the dream sequences。 The book also feels like a bit of a time capsule now， but I enjoyed the 80s pop cultural references。 If I had to recommend this to anyone， it would be someone who is smarter than me， who enjoys controversial literary fiction， and who doesn't mind a convoluted storyline。 2022 Read Harder Challenge: Read an award-winning book from the year you were bornCW: ableism， animal cruelty/death， cancer， child abuse， death of a prominent character， gore， guns， homophobia， incarceration， infertility， infidelity， Islamophobia， kidnapping/abduction， medical procedures， mental illness， murder， pedophilia， prostitution， racist language， religious extremism， sexual content （several detailed scenes）， slut-shaming， suicide， swearing （strong language throughout）， torture， war 。。。more

Abdullah Furqaan ，

A few weeks ago， I decided to buy Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses from a local GoodWill。 Three dollars for one of the most so-called controversial books in the Islamic world？ Hell yeah， I'll give it a shot。 At one point in time， this book was thought to be so controversial， so blasphemous， that Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his writings。 It became the duty of every Muslim to bring his head on a silver platter - behead the devil！ So I thought， I'm about to give A few weeks ago， I decided to buy Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses from a local GoodWill。 Three dollars for one of the most so-called controversial books in the Islamic world？ Hell yeah， I'll give it a shot。 At one point in time， this book was thought to be so controversial， so blasphemous， that Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his writings。 It became the duty of every Muslim to bring his head on a silver platter - behead the devil！ So I thought， I'm about to give this book a try， I'm a heresy-friendly Muslim with a taste for controversy and blasphemy。 But this book definitely was not worth the hype。 I'm an amateur theologian， and there are few things that bring me more amusement than blasphemy， heresy， and controversial Islam。 While the book was certainly controversial and filled with amazing magical-realistic writings - immersive and entertaining - it was too long， lacked proper editing， and seemed like a collection of the most eloquent word vomits by the legendary Salman Rushdie， may Allah be pleased with him and grant him Paradise。 。。。more

Jan ，

2。5*

Radhika ，

"Something was badly amiss with the spiritual life of the planet， thought Gibreel Farishta。 Too many demons inside people claiming to believe in God。" Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses， written in 1988， rose to fame largely after being embroiled in sacrilegious controversy， after Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa for Rushdie's death， and the book was subsequently banned and burned in several countries。 Published in the UK， the book's import remains illegal in India till date。 I picked "Something was badly amiss with the spiritual life of the planet， thought Gibreel Farishta。 Too many demons inside people claiming to believe in God。" Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses， written in 1988， rose to fame largely after being embroiled in sacrilegious controversy， after Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa for Rushdie's death， and the book was subsequently banned and burned in several countries。 Published in the UK， the book's import remains illegal in India till date。 I picked up this book to oppose censorship and support artistic license， and stayed on for its slapstick humour， stylistic satirical writing， and almost LSD-like experience of magical realism。 I enjoyed the first half of the book， till Part 5， beyond which I couldn't go through with it， so this review deals with only Parts 1 to 5 of the novel （and is consequently shorter than my other reviews）。 In the novel， two Indian Muslim expatriates originally from Mumbai - Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha - are trapped in a hijacked plane which is bombed mid-flight。 Both protagonists are are magically saved but also miraculously transformed into archangel Gabriel and the devil Satan respectively。 The novel is partly set in 1980s London where the protagonists find themselves after their free-fall from the sky， and partly in dream sequences embedded in the story， ascribed to the mind of Farishta。 It is within the series of these half-magic dream vision narratives that the book borders on blasphemy， and I can see why it could be disrespectful to religious sentiments （though I don't believe in banning books for it）。 Understanding the source of this literary controversy required a fair amount of knowledge about the Islamic genesis。 In Islamic theology， the authenticity of the Satanic Verses is contested， wherein Prophet Muhammad is tricked by Satan through divine revelation to recite controversial verses permitting prayer to three Meccan goddesses， thereby violating the core Islamic tenet of monotheism （"Have you thought of al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzá and Manāt。。。"）。 Rushdie allegorically narrates this legend through a dream sequence of one of the protagonists， Gibreel Farishta （Archangel Gabriel）， as he falls down mid-tair from a bombed jet。 In Rushdie's re-telling， set in Jahilia （Mecca）， Mahound （Prophet Muhammad） falls asleep while having the Qu'ran being narrated to him by Archangel Gabriel， at which point Satan impersonates Gabriel without the Prophet noticing， causing some verses of the Holy Book （i。e。 the Satanic Verses） to be written by him。 Perhaps even more controversially， in a comical twist， the Archangel confesses to having professed the blasphemous verses himself - "Gibreel， hovering-watching from his highest camera angle， knows one small detail， just one tiny thing that's a bit of a problem here， namely that it was me both times， baba， me first and second also me。 From my mouth， both the statement and the repudiation， verses and converses， universes and reverses， the whole thing， and we all know how my mouth got worked。"In a subsequent chapter， a poor orphaned villager in the thrall of butterflies - Ayesha （named after the Prophet's youngest wife） - has a divine intervention in which the Archangel Gabriel lays with her in bed。 In other chapters， sex workers are named after other wives of the Prophet。 Once you get past the scandalous parts， this is actually a pretty layered and complex book that brings together a variety of interesting and intermingled threads。 Themes of immigrant life and systemic racism against those of the "tinted persuasion" in 1980s London， what it means to be a non-believer in a superstitious， God-obsessed religiously fanatical society， family strife， and philosophy all come together to form the bulk of the book。 The imagery in the book is beautiful， not only evocative of 1980s Bombay and London， with all of its sounds， scents， sights， but also of the worlds Rushdie builds through the protagonists' dreamscapes and imagined odesseys - lands made up entirely of white sand and no water and misty gardens with swirling butterfly clouds changing colours like chameleons。 The closest parallel I can think of to this book is Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz's Children of the Alley （1959）， a controversial allegorical history of the birth of Judaism， Christianity and Islam。 This book was also banned in Egypt for a time because of its controversial treatment of religion and its use of characters based on Muhammad and Moses， among other religious figures。 Another novel based on similar thematic grounds is Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett， written around the same time as The Satanic Verses。 Good Omens is a comical story about an angel and devil being reincarnated in contemporary Europe， similar to Rushdie's rendition of two Indians of opposing sensibilities being transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil in London in The Satanic Verses。I probably first realized this while reading Gabriel García Márquez and other Latin American fiction， but magical realism is not really my cup of tea。 My enjoyment of books in this genre is tinted by this preference。 For those who do enjoy reading magical realism， especially with a feel for the larger currents of history and idiosyncratic characters， read this book。 。。。more

Sarah ，

I wanted to read this book because of all the history and controversy behind it。 I admit that I'm not nearly as familiar with the Koran as I should be， so I probably don't understand many of those layers， but I can see why Muslims would be upset at parts of the book which essentially retell Muhammad's history in not so flattering ways。 The bulk of the book， however， is about Gibreel and Saladin， 2 Muslim Indian men who experience a series of extraordinary and magical events that consistently thr I wanted to read this book because of all the history and controversy behind it。 I admit that I'm not nearly as familiar with the Koran as I should be， so I probably don't understand many of those layers， but I can see why Muslims would be upset at parts of the book which essentially retell Muhammad's history in not so flattering ways。 The bulk of the book， however， is about Gibreel and Saladin， 2 Muslim Indian men who experience a series of extraordinary and magical events that consistently throw them together， usually at odds with each other。 Gibreel's story is more interesting， as it is a push-pull of whether his experiences are the result of divine intervention or the manifestation of severe mental illness。 Saladin's story of constant rejection and depression hits closer to home though。Magical realism and Rushdie himself can be hit or miss with me。 This one falls in the middle。 It interested me， but mostly because of the controversy - the narrative itself is a little too quiet and slow for my tastes。 It's a long book and many characters show up after long absences， which made me have to stop and think。 All the seemingly unrelated storylines were a bit strange too。 I'm still not sure how Ayesha fits into the broader messages。 Still， even though Midnight's Children and Haroun and the Sea of Stories remain Rushdie's best works， I'm glad I read this， if only to see what the fuss was about。 。。。more

Rachel ，

I read this in college after hearing Salman Rushdie speak （amazing speaker）。 The book was okay， but I didn't love it。 I read this in college after hearing Salman Rushdie speak （amazing speaker）。 The book was okay， but I didn't love it。 。。。more

Pritam Chattopadhyay ，

“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。” ― Salman Rushdie， The Satanic VersesRushdie’s fourth novel， The Satanic Verses， is a capac “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。” ― Salman Rushdie， The Satanic VersesRushdie’s fourth novel， The Satanic Verses， is a capacious book with a long-winded plot， dazzling language and magic-realist effects。 It efforts to investigate the questions of good and evil through the experience of two Indian actors， Gibreel Farishta and Salahuddin Chamcha。 They fall from an aircrashed plane into Thatcherite England and metamorphose into Archangel Gabriel and the Devil correspondingly。 Rushdie scrutinizes the divine disclosure from the perspective of a non- believer and weaves fantasies around conventional accounts of Prophet Mohammed’s life。 Dig the following: **The book goes to the heart of Muslim religious beliefs when Rushdie， in dream cycles， confronts and sometimes seems to ridicule some of Islam’s most susceptible principles。**Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammed was visited by the angel Gibreel – Gabriel in English – who， over a 22 year period， recited God’s words to him。 Consecutively， Muhammed repeated the words to his disciples。 These words were ultimately penned down and became the verses and chapters of the Quran。**Rushdie’s novel takes up these core convictions。 One of the foremost characters， Gibreel Farishta， has a progression of dreams in which he becomes his namesake， the angel Gibreel。 In these dreams， Gibreel bumps into another central character in ways that reverberate Islam’s established account of the angel’s meetings with Muhammed。**Rushdie chooses a somewhat confrontational name for Muhammed。 The novel’s adaptation of the Prophet is called Mahound – a substitute name for Muhammed sometimes used during the Middle Ages by Christians who considered him a fiend。**Additionally， Rushdie’s Mahound puts his own words into the angel Gibreel’s mouth and delivers proclamations to his followers that expediently augment his self-serving purposes。 Even though， in the book， Mahound’s fictional scribe， Salman the Persian， rebuffs the legitimacy of his master’s recitations， he records them as if they were God’s。The book changed Rushdie’s life and created an unparalleled maelstrom in literary record。 Rushdie was caught in the pincer of global and religious politics。 The novel was banned in several countries including India as it was charged with offending the religious sensibility of the Muslims。 Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa， sentencing Rushdie to death， putting £ 2 million bounty on his head。 Death squads were let loose to find out and kill the author of the blasphemous book， triggering a civilisational clash between broadminded humanism and Islamic fundamentalism。 。。。more

Tom Martland ，

Rushdie's prose is best described as intense。 It makes for extraordinary but sometimes exhausting reading。 A book to live with for a while。 The infamous and still powerful conceptual matter is excellent Rushdie's prose is best described as intense。 It makes for extraordinary but sometimes exhausting reading。 A book to live with for a while。 The infamous and still powerful conceptual matter is excellent 。。。more

El Vatikan ，

Definitely not a binge book

Daniel ，

Ambitious and monumental。 Postmodern in its wanderings， for sure。

David T ，

Long book。 The middle is really amazing。 The set-up and conclusion kind of drag， imo

Olivia Fortson ，

this book is not for the weak。 it is not easy to follow。 this book is extremely controversial and after reading it i see why。 the switching of narratives， mythology， and needing knowledge of the Quran makes this book difficult for thee average western reader。 i am a nerd so i know a good amount about middle eastern mythology and the Quran。 i loved this book quite a lot！！ he truly is a master writer and is probably one of the best contemporary writers of our time。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Les versets sataniques

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Les versets sataniques&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Les versets sataniques&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0