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Thursday, July 4, 2013

Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (2008, 576 pages)

Reading Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Bombay, 1947) was a very challenging experience for me.It is so rich in imagery and has so many complex layers of meaning as to be almost overwhelming. It is a very powerful post colonial work.   The real glory in the work is in the amazing power of the language and the imaginative power of the text.   I saw the footprints of Joyce and Pynchon all over this book.  Much of the book is about the relationship of England to India.   This is my third Rushdie novel.  I have previously read his The Empress of Florence and Midnight's Children.  

If Rushdie never wins the Nobel Prize, it will because of the power of the petro-dollar.  

I think the best approach to Rushdie is to just read his works, let his powerful intoxicating prose roll over you and leave trying to figure it out to a second read.   Satanic Verses is a very high level work of art, if you can focus on it in the way I suggest a great pleasure to read.

 
Mel u

4 comments:

  1. "Amazing power of the language and the imaginative power of the text." — Mel, you couldn't have described Rushdie's writing any better. I haven't read "Satanic Verses" as it has been banned in India but I have read "Midnight's Children" and absolutely loved it, mainly due to Rushdie's terrific grasp of language. I thought it was poetic. He deserved the Booker of Bookers some years ago.

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  2. Parshant-are you also blocked from downloading an e-book? thanks so much for your comments and visits

    Rosaria Williams-for sure!

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  3. Mel, I never thought of downloading it as an ebook. I'll check that option, now that I also have an e-reader.

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