I am REALLY struggling through the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. By all accounts it is supposed to be an absolutely fantastic book, and there are or have been stages where it has caught me. But I am about a third of the way through and I am just not following it.
This could be because I haven't read it in one sitting and have read other books while I have been reading this one, but I have really struggled with it. Is it worth pushing on?
I have always been one of those people who won't just leave a book. This was a particular problem when I also just used to read just one book at a time. Mark Behr's `Embrace' and F.Scott Fitzgerald's `Tender is the night', are just two books I can think of that in their time really put the breaks on my reading.
I just found them a fight. Satanic Verses is different. It is well written and descriptive, but in a dream like style that I find incredibly difficult to follow or keep track of. Not exactly stream of consciousness writing, but almost.
I was speaking to a friend tonight about my dilemma about how to read more, and my inability to concentrate of books. A preference for just sitting in front of the TV. He said, he thinks the problem is we give books to much reverence. He just skims books looking for ideas he wants. In fact he doesn't even read full books... he will give it 20 minutes.
That sounds a little extreme to me, but it does beg the question. If I am so aware that there are all these books and ideas out there, and I am never going to get to them all. Why am I struggling through a book? Sunk Costs. Should I just put it down and move on?
But I have heard such good things from so many reputable sources and friends? Is it just me?
Catch 22, for example, is also pretty inaccessible... or rather, it is written in a style which is difficult to follow at first. But if you make the mind shift necessary, and you get into it... you will be rolling on the floor with laughter. Catch 22 is one of my favourite books.
Maybe it is like those old 3D geography maps at school... which they eventually had to remove from the syllabus because some kids legitimately could not actually see the 3D image, and had been failing because of it...
Maybe Satanic Verses is really good... but I just can't see the 3D image?
Fight on? Give up? Move on?
2 comments:
I say give up. I was under the impression that it's not one of his better books, anyway. I thought the critics were generally disappointed (I may be wrong about this though). Have you read Midnight's Children? It won the Booker of Bookers you know...
give up. I've read two of his books and given up on a third (none being the satanic verses) and I agree that midnights children is the best candidate to start with.
Tyler Cowen says that SV is his best book, though by now I should know NOT to consider this as a recommendation.
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