Not for the feint of heart, but immensely rewarding, it's everything I love in a novel. If you were once put off by this very important book, by all means download the audiobook and prepare yourself for a good time However, as Satanic Verses progresses and characters transmogrify into angels and goats, and a goddess with her butterlies guide a devoted village to a very wet redemption, you'll also see how this novel offended every fundamentalist Muslim on the planet and remains banned in every Muslim country except the secular Turkey. Yes, you may need to check the plot outline on wiki, or even consider a study guide (not needed but probably would add a lot). Actor Sam Dastor is probably the world's expert on Indian accents and from the first minutes of the audiobook (definitely listen to the sample!) you know you'll be in for a treat.

To try to read these without an accent takes away much of the joy of this book. Each of the very memorable characters has a unique accent, coming as they do from different parts of India, the U.K., and even (for one brief moment) the U.S. Unfortunately, quite a few people abandon Satanic Verses in book form as being 'incomprehensible' and strangely 'flat.' The problem is that although 'Verses' is a difficult book, rightly compared with the complexity of Joyce's 'Ulysses,' it's not 'impossible' by any means. Use an audiobook to really enjoy Satanic Verses

The satanic verses cliff notes