Monday, October 15, 2007
The Satanic Verses
Following my post of 11th July 2007 I decided to find out what all the fuss over The Satanic Verses was about. Much has been written about the offence taken by Muslims to this book written by Salman Rushdie. Buying a copy of this book for £7.99 from W H Smith made me feel like a teenager trying to buy a pornographic magazine. The book has such a reputation that the customer feels as though he is buying something naughty, that should be behind the counter and he may not be allowed the purchase.
I read this novel with an open mind. I think Salman Rushdie is a wonderful author who tells a great story. His writing stretches the vocabulary of the reader. Salman tells a full story, nothing is brief or shallow. The reader gets a full bright picture in his mind as the story develops. There is a lot of humour in this book and there are no boring bits to wade through. His writing is adult, this is not a children's book.
A lot of media today is dumbing down to the lowest level. There are writers however who raise the game and this is very welcome. As a newspaper columnist I admire Yasmin Alibhai-Brown because her vocabulary and level of detail stretches the reader to fully understand the issues. Salman Rushdie writes in a similar fashion.
I enjoyed reading The Satanic Verses, I was not offended in any way. I think it is a very good novel and I can understand why some Muslims may dislike some of the story. Nothing in this book shocked me and nothing was vulgar or gratuitous. I think it is wrong that some Muslims objected to this book, it is simply a harmless novel and is not an attack on Islam.
If Muslims stumble across this blog then I will ask them to think for themselves rather than be brainwashed by fellow Muslims at their local mosque. There is a lot of humour in this book and I am sure that Muslims can in private laugh at aspects of other religions. There is something funny about everyone on this planet and it would be very sad indeed if you cannot laugh at yourself. I have no time for people who complain about a book they have not read from cover to cover. Muslims can read this book for themselves and I hope they will appreciate this book for the great piece of work it is.
The £7.99 I paid for The Satanic Verses and the time spent reading it all, made this a very good purchase. You do not need to be a religious scholar or to have had an university education to enjoy this book.
Following my post of 11th July 2007 I decided to find out what all the fuss over The Satanic Verses was about. Much has been written about the offence taken by Muslims to this book written by Salman Rushdie. Buying a copy of this book for £7.99 from W H Smith made me feel like a teenager trying to buy a pornographic magazine. The book has such a reputation that the customer feels as though he is buying something naughty, that should be behind the counter and he may not be allowed the purchase.
I read this novel with an open mind. I think Salman Rushdie is a wonderful author who tells a great story. His writing stretches the vocabulary of the reader. Salman tells a full story, nothing is brief or shallow. The reader gets a full bright picture in his mind as the story develops. There is a lot of humour in this book and there are no boring bits to wade through. His writing is adult, this is not a children's book.
A lot of media today is dumbing down to the lowest level. There are writers however who raise the game and this is very welcome. As a newspaper columnist I admire Yasmin Alibhai-Brown because her vocabulary and level of detail stretches the reader to fully understand the issues. Salman Rushdie writes in a similar fashion.
I enjoyed reading The Satanic Verses, I was not offended in any way. I think it is a very good novel and I can understand why some Muslims may dislike some of the story. Nothing in this book shocked me and nothing was vulgar or gratuitous. I think it is wrong that some Muslims objected to this book, it is simply a harmless novel and is not an attack on Islam.
If Muslims stumble across this blog then I will ask them to think for themselves rather than be brainwashed by fellow Muslims at their local mosque. There is a lot of humour in this book and I am sure that Muslims can in private laugh at aspects of other religions. There is something funny about everyone on this planet and it would be very sad indeed if you cannot laugh at yourself. I have no time for people who complain about a book they have not read from cover to cover. Muslims can read this book for themselves and I hope they will appreciate this book for the great piece of work it is.
The £7.99 I paid for The Satanic Verses and the time spent reading it all, made this a very good purchase. You do not need to be a religious scholar or to have had an university education to enjoy this book.
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