I am not a fan of magical realism, but I did find Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie to be an interesting read. I know the general basics of Islam, so I got the gist of some of the parallels and mockery, but I did not grasp all of it, and I did not comprehend its scale. As a novel, I did enjoy Satanic Verses somewhat, although I think I would have been more intrigued if I had understood all the references and if I enjoyed magical realism.
Part of me is disturbed and angered by Rushdie’s provocation. He likely did not foresee the extent to the backlash, but still, he wrote Satanic Verses with the intent to provoke, and it resulted in the deaths of many. To me, Rushdie seems arrogant, cocky, and irresponsible; however, I do recognize that his writing should be protected, and he was not behind the resulting attacks. Freedom of speech and freedom of press are incredibly important, and so Rushdie’s writing should be protected, even if it is distasteful and disrespectful. I wonder whether Khomeini realized that by issuing a fatwa against Rushdie, he brought more attention onto Satanic Verses, leading to increased controversy and, likely, contributing to its commercial success. A cynical part of me wonders if part of the reason he wrote a provoking book was just ot receive attention and get his name and writing out to the general public via controvery. I also wonder whether Satanic Verses would have been received differently if it had been written by an author who was not raised Muslim, and whether that would have made the backlash more minute or more intense. I am also curious about Rushdie’s other writings. Has he written anything just as successful or more successful as Satanic Verses, or will all his books always be dwarfed by the phenomenon that occurred around Satanic Verses?