Salman Rushdie is one of the most interesting authors I've come across so far. After reading both
The Satanic Verses and
Midnight's Children, I've found a deep appreciation for his ideas, but also a strong deference for his prose.
Rushdie's most infamous novel, Satanic Verses, is a long and very courageous work published. It was hard not to anticipate that he would anger many people, let alone orthodox Muslims, who are very easy to piss off. One of Rushdie's main characters, Mahound, lives a life in the novel parallel to that of the Prophet Muhammed, only with a small twist. In the allegory, Mahound receives certain revelations advising a certain tribe that it would be acceptable for them to keep three of their goddesses as a condition for them to accept Allah, the diety of Islam. This revelation is later repealed in the story.
The parts of the novel involving Mahound are in a dream state of one of the other main characters, Gibreel Farishta, who goes through a religious crisis. The book contains several plots that are intertwined, similar to something like Pulp Fiction. The main point is that a demon can come in the form of an angel, and an angel may be a demon in disguise.
All in all, Rushdie's ideas portrayed in this book are phenomenal. They are extremely original and also require a lot of courage to publish, considering how sensitive the material is. However, Rushdie's shortcoming is that he tends to become a little full of himself with his writing style, and overdoes it. His biggest problem is that he writes with an overly distinctive Indian flair. There are many phrases, words, and actions that would not be understood by someone unless they have an understanding of Indian culture and some understanding of Hindi. His prose is done well, but becomes very very repetitive and wordy. But nonetheless, a worthwhile read.