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The Satanic Verses

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The Satanic Verses

By: Salman Rushdie
Narrated by: Sagar Arya
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About this listen

Just before dawn one winter’s morning, a hijacked aeroplane blows apart high above the English Channel and two figures tumble, clutched in an embrace, towards the sea: Gibreel Farishta, India’s legendary movie star, and Saladin Chamcha, the man of a thousand voices.

Washed up, alive, on an English beach, their survival is a miracle. But there is a price to pay. Gibreel and Saladin have been chosen as opponents in the eternal wrestling match between Good and Evil. But chosen by whom? And which is which? And what will be the outcome of their final confrontation?

©1988 Salman Rushdie (P)2020 Audible, Ltd Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Magic Thought-Provoking

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this was a more enjoyable read than I expected. The references had me in stitches as I recognise the characteristics and characterisation of some of the events. a very amusing good read.

enjoyable read

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I have to admit I found this a bit of a slog, which is why it took me the best part of a month to listen to. I kept finding myself more keen to listen to podcasts than persist with this. I was bewildered by the number of characters and started to get confused by the unfamiliar names and shape-shifting, dream-like magic realism of the plot. These qualities are no different from Rushdie’s “Midnight's Children” and “The Moor’s Last Sigh”, which I also read as audiobooks; but I found those easier to get into. The audiobook narration by Sagar Arya has a range of voices to distinguish the different characters, but it didn’t always hold my attention. I suspect I would have got on better with this if I’d read it in book form. I mainly read it out of curiosity to see why it’s so notorious, what caused the controversy about blasphemy, and why Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in response to it. I enjoyed the other books more.

A bit of a slog

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A joy to listen to! I have not read The Satanic Verses and it is far more entertaining and provocative than I imagined. Full of humour which was performed perfectly. Highly recommend.

Fantastic Performance of an Incredible Text

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The book requires a second listen but overall I was satisfied with the story. It turned into something I did not expect and at times I struggled but was glad I made it through. Narration was brilliant.

Very well written, surprising, sometimes insane

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This is the best audio book I've listened to for a long time! Well done. Superb.

Brilliantly enjoyable, amusing, superb dictation.

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