Ben's review
The Satanic Verses: A Novel by Salman Rushdie
I think I should give this book a 5 but I'm not quite there yet. The symbolism was a little too deep for me--I tend to be a little slow about putting the deeper meaning together; while I'm reading, I'm too absorbed in the plot to grasp all the symbolism. It usually takes a second time through, or maybe even a third, for me to fully understand it all, and that was the case here. I greatly enjoyed the plot and the characters. I'm a little mystified by some of the sub-plots, but I'm sure they mean something important. (I sure hope so, anyways.) I was initially worried about Rushdie's style--I'm getting sick of stream-of-consciousness writing, unless it's an attempt at poetry--but he managed to keep it under control enough to keep it out of the way of the story. I think there were times where he went a little too far into the characters' thoughts, but overall it was very well executed. And I very much appreciated the fact that he gave the book a clear ending, something many modern ...more
