The Satanic Verses in Overdue Podcast

Apr 22, 2025 Jason rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

Profane satire.

“From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable. He moves in mysterious ways: men say.”

“A man who sets out to make himself up is taking on the Creator's role, according to one way of seeing things; he's unnatural, a blasphemer, an abomination of abominations. From another angle, you could see pathos in him, heroism in his struggle, in his willingness to risk: not all mutants survive. Or, consider him socio-politically: most migrants learn, and can become disguises.

Profane satire.

“From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable. He moves in mysterious ways: men say.”

“A man who sets out to make himself up is taking on the Creator's role, according to one way of seeing things; he's unnatural, a blasphemer, an abomination of abominations. From another angle, you could see pathos in him, heroism in his struggle, in his willingness to risk: not all mutants survive. Or, consider him socio-politically: most migrants learn, and can become disguises. Our own false descriptions to counter the falsehoods invented about us, concealing for reasons of security our secret selves.”

My second book by Rushdie, his writing is at least as dense and full of wry humor as I remember from Midnight’s Children, but the crazy ride he takes us on in this book was less enjoyable for me. 1) It was maybe doing a little too much. His writing is so good that I don't want to say that he should have drastically cut parts of the book, but perhaps this particular book could have been cleaved in two? One focusing on the migratory experience, lambasting England and the rest of the West for it's racism, imperialism, etc. And, another solely focused on satirizing organized religion, asking the reader to question what other fallible men have told us is TRUTH - and yes, I am aware that to many even acknowledging "fallibility" in the particular circumstances is wildly blasphemous. 2) This is 100% human tragedy, bleak as all hell (on Earth) - I found it hard to like either of the two protagonists and by the end landed in a place that felt pretty nihilistic. All this being said, this is still an excellent book, Rushdie is an amazing writer, and to be fair comparing to Midnight’s Children is also unfair seeing as it sits in rarefied company on my all-time favorites shelf.

This is super sharp, critical, and darkly comic writing. Does it feel a little dated? Yeah, I think so. Does it also feel timeless in it's pointed criticisms and farcical situations? Absolutely (as sad as that is). We still see today that fearful men with power do not like to be made fun of and all to often are so self-interested and fragile as to lash out when you point out their manipulations and abuses, literally plotting petty revenge, calling for murder or effectively disappearing dissenters. Humanity is too often both cruel and ridiculous, we should be able to freely acknowledge and point out these aspects. ...more

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