Angels and Devils

The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie
I wish I’d read this novel when it first came out, without all the controversy being a distraction. Knowing about the fatwa did, however, make me curious, and even forced me to do some background research. Being a westerner, it is hard for me to understand the outrage that this book provoked. Certainly, it is irreverent. But blasphemous? That is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. (How about that scene where Farishta loses his faith, so he runs to an all-you-can-eat buffet at a luxury hotel and stuffs his face with bacon and sausage!) I don’t mean to make light of the controversy - it is serious business. Though Rushdie himself is still alive (for now), the book’s Japanese translator was stabbed to death, and assassination attempts were made on the Italian and Turkish translators, as well as on the Norwegian publisher. (The fatwa extends to anyone who was involved in the book’s publication, and was aware of its content. Let’s hope that does not include casual bloggers!)

Now for the plot: the two main characters, Farishta and Chamcha, are both Indian, both actors (one a superstar in India, one less famous, though steadily working, in London). They are traveling from India when their plane is blown up over England by hijackers. Improbably, they are the only two survivors of the flight, and as they fall to earth Farishta turns into an angel (specifically, the archangel Gibreel) and Chamcha into a devil (or he takes on the appearance of one, anyway). Within this main plot are numerous sub-plots, most of which are visions dreamed up by Gibreel in his role as archangel. Are Gibreel’s religious visions real, or schizophrenic hallucinations? More than anything, though, the novel is about identity and the eastern immigrant’s experience in Britain. (The scenes of what happens to Chamcha when he is picked up by British immigration authorities are particularly harrowing.)

There are many allusions and symbols in the novel, not to mention numerous unfamiliar (i.e., Indian) words. Here is where a knowledge of Islam and middle eastern history would come in  handy. (As would some knowledge of the Indian film industry - there are references to famous Bollywood movie stars.) So I actually learned some things while reading this book, which I always appreciate. The narrative is somewhat rambling, what with all the sub-plots and dream sequences, but I enjoyed getting lost in this rollicking story.  This book is brilliant - lyrical, magical, irreverent, with a biting wit.  It reminded me a lot of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, another satirical, surrealist novel that I loved, yet didn’t always “get.”

Having finally finished The Satanic Verses, I was in the mood for something lighter, so I picked up Six Suspects, by Vikas Swarup, another novel of India.  (Swarup also wrote Q & A, which became the movie Slumdog Millionaire.) I am actually listening to the full-cast BBC audiobook, which is like listening to an old fashioned, scripted radio show, with sound effects and everything. I’m close to halfway through and thoroughly enjoying it. I’m guessing this one will be turned into a movie as well.