The most interesting aspect of this book, in my opinion, is the contrasting ways in which is was received by the Muslim community in the Middle East compared to people in England. Residents in England greatly admired this work- it was a bestseller throughout the country, was a finalist for the Booker Prize, and won the 1988 Whitbread Award for novel of the year. However, Muslims in the Middle East found it deeply offensive to their religion and their population as a whole. They claimed it was a mockery of their religion and culture and the book was even banned in India as Muslim hate speech. The book was so controversial that author Salman Rushdie received numerous death threats and the then Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, even called for Rushdie’s death himself. These threats resulted in multiple failed assassination attempts directed at Rushdie, and, consequently, he was placed under police protection by the government of the United Kingdom. Regardless, there were still multiple attacks on people who were in some way connected to The Satanic Verses, and the translator Hitoshi Igarashi was sadly murdered as a result. This contrast is intriguing to me simply because of the extreme polarity of opinions regarding the book. I also find it noteworthy that those who found the book offensive were actually represented as characters within the book, while those who regarded the book positively were not focused on as characters in The Satanic Verses. This makes me wonder if the criticism the book received by the Muslim community was deserved due to their actually being affected by the content in the book, and the praise it was given by residents in the United Kingdom was misdirected. Despite whether it deserved the criticism or not, Rushdie certainly did not deserve to receive death threats or assassination attempts, but it is important to consider whether the content in The Satanic Verses was actually offensive and harmful towards a minority community. If so, it does not deserve to be praised as a literary work of excellence. Instead, it should be read with careful consideration as to how it might be harmful and misrepresentative of the Muslim community.