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What are readers saying about Midnight's Children: A Novel?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-08 10:30:00.
(Language: English)
 
From Shrinagar to Amritsar, from Holey Sheets to Mercurochrome to Lifafa Das, and from Rawalpindi to Quaid –e – Azam to Karachi to Bombay, India is intertwined throughout this deserving Bookerof the Bookers winner novel by Salman Rushdie. Woven around the history of a family called India, Saleem Sinai, the lead character of this story, describes how his being (or not being) affected the nation’s being! Or rather the being of two nations. India, and the Land of Pure: Pakistan! Using extraordinary surrealism, lively metaphors entangled with historical events occurring in the pre-independence India, and later on in both the nations: events such as the Jallianwalla Baug massacre, the midnight hour of independence (which is the seed of the story), Pandit Nehru’s speech, the transfer of power, the riots, the Language Marches by the Gujratis and the Maharashtrians claiming ownership over Bombay (which apparently is, now, Aamchi Mumbai), the dictatorship in Pakistan, the Indo Pak wars, and finally the Emergency era under the reign of the aptly named Widow with Saleem’s life make the Indian reader identify with him, as a part of the story, and the others feel witness to the history. The other characters throughout the story live up to the objective of reliving the history for the readers! The writer has a knack of getting deep into the psyche of his readers, be them adolescents, who would be holding their breaths over the faithful love affair of the Lal Qasim turned red communist Nadir and the Amina Sinai turned Mumtaz Aziz; or be them some philosophical ones, who would swear by events such as the one when the doctor Aadam Aziz tells his wife Naseem that the red stains on his shirt are blood stains and not the usual Mercurochrome, and that he had just been to ‘Nowhere on Earth’! And finally, to make the impossible possible, Rushdie has witches, children who can fly, those who can change their sex by entering water, those who can travel time and space through mirrors, and Saleem Sinai, who can read others’ minds! All in all, a masterpiece! Never before, never again! 
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-03-22 07:43:32.
(Language: English)
A novel that simultaneously tells the story of one man and the burgeoning nation of India. Through fantasy mixed with reality, Rushdie recounts the first fifty years of a birth of a nation and the dream that was India crumbling into death and tyranny. More than this, it is a book that you experience not just in the written word, but also through touch, sight and smell. Like Saleem, the reader disappears into India and only reappears when the last page is finished.
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Andrea posted a review at 2011-05-23 03:41:56.
(Language: English)
Long, winding, confusing, and still beautifully written. I might have given it a better rating, but I had not realized it would talk so much of snakes. It sounds ridiculous to judge a book on this, but I had to tune out all of those parts. The fact that I made it through this long novel and still gave it a 3 says something so if you are not shaded by a lot of description of snakes, you will probably really enjoy.
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Enrique posted a review at 2010-06-17 08:35:16.
(Language: Spanish)
Novela clásica del Siglo XX; obra maestra de este excelente autor. Polifacética: realismo mágico (al mejor estilo de García Márquez), posmodernista (metaficción, fragmentaria), histórica (India, Pakistán, Bangladesh, 1948-1977); creativa y original; cómica, dramática y hasta melodramática (parodia del Príncipe y el Mendigo). Al mejor estilo de Las 1001 Noches, abunda en cuentos al narrar la vida de su protagonista como gemela de la historia de la India después de la independencia. Tal vez demasiado larga. Obligatoria lectura.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-29 07:32:48.
(Language: English)
I am not sure I am up to writing a review of this book. It was wonderfully complex and intricate and difficult and intimate. No trite devices for me to rail at. The story is told by Saleem Sinai as he writes his autobiography in his 30's and at the same time tells the story to a simple, down to earth Indian woman who insists he get on with the story and not keep getting sidetrack - he is prone to diversion. Saleem was born at the stroke of midnight and the instant of the partition of India. He feels that he and India are in many ways one and that his story is India's story and that he is the cause of many of India's trials - a rather big burden to carry. I think many children feel they carry such a burden, at least for their family - that it is their fault if things go wrong; but placing yourself at the focus of the cause of the ills of a huge country is often simply amusing. The story is at its simplest and most enjoyable is the story of growing up in post colonial India in a more or less middle class family. But because of Saleem's burden, it is also the story of India with its wars, and marches, and excesses, and poverty, and Time of Emergency. It is told in a wonderful magical realism style that reminded me of 100 Years of Solitude. There are some truly beautiful passages such as Amina's trip to the "other India" with the description of the poverty stricken side of Bombay to hear the fortune of her unborn child. I also loved the "prequel" in the first part of the book - the story of Saleem's grandfather Aadam Aziz, who struck his nose while praying and after that could no longer believe but at the same could not not believe in God. Throughout the book Aadam and Saleem and others struggle with belief (or is it superstition )and science, with their obligation to family and self and the great good of India. There is my totally inadequate description of Midnight's Children. I have to admit it wore me. A truly worthwhile book to read or maybe to have read. But, I was relieved when I finished it and rewarded myself by immediately picking up the lovely Sarah Vowell's new book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-20 10:22:53.
(Language: English)
An amazing, magical narrative from an author who not only understands every aspect of humanity (why we fear, what makes us proud, how we fail or succeed...), but he also understands every aspect of the written word. He has more command of his language than 98% of writers today. Rushdie expresses himself in a style that is unlike anything I have ever read, more full of life and tangibility than any novel that has come our way in quite a while. India has never peaked my interest, but after "Midnight's Children," Rushdie has convinced me that I've been blind to a richness that deserves great attention.BE THE FIRST TO REVIEW "MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN"! Submit your review at http://www.teenink.com/Submissions/
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-02 11:15:46.
(Language: English)
I have made many a friend who are either from India or whose parents are from there. The more I get to know such folks, the more fascinated I become with the place. That said, I had never really committed myself to taking in any Indian literature on my own. One friend from India, whose taste I trust, advised me that Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" was his favorite and a perfect place to start. No kidding. "Midnight's Children" may go down as some of the best English prose I have ever read. And I have read Joyce, whose influence is clearly felt here. (There is even an overlong paragraph with many "Yes"'s where the protagonist ends up sounding a bit like Molly Bloom. No, it doesn't go on for 80 pages, but you get the idea.) How it is that Rushdie can make liberal use of sounds and terms of which I have never heard, yet I completely understand what he is expressing? I am tired, and I have much work to do, but believe me, this is absolutely a book worth the time of anyone who admires beautiful English, wondrous imagery, and plot twists that keep you on the edge of your seat. Rushdie is also a hero of mine as one who has stuck up for freedom of expression in the face of real personal danger. I am about to begin "The Satanic Verses", and I cannot wait.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-08 06:03:15.
(Language: English)
Talk about the sum of the parts vs. the whole. There so many levels and ways to look at the book. Essentially, the story revolves around "Midnight's Children"- children who are born on midnight or close to midnight of India's Independence Day. These children have special powers/insights/etc depending upon how close they were born to midnight. There is, in fact, the romance and strangeness of the first chapter, The PERFORATED SHEET" Each chapter title in and of themselves can have double meanings- for example- one of the chapter's titles is: Alpha and Omega (referring to blood types as well as heirarchy... dominance, if you will). Also, the characters PADMA and PARVATI are important as Parvati is a witch and friend to the protagonist, where as Padma is his love interest. I think J.K. Rowling must have read this book at some point since she has those two names as characters in HP. Anyhow, an intense read- not for the feint of heart!
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-08-01 03:01:21.
(Language: English)
This book is like the Indian version of 'Forrest Gump', just a lot more poetically written. The history of comtemporary India (since Independence till about 1975), strangely intertwined with and reflected in everything that happens in the live of the main character, who was born on the stroke of midnight of the day India was born as an independent nation.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-10 06:40:42.
(Language: English)
I read Midnight's Children eight years ago, and went around telling people that it was my favorite book for a long time (it made quite an impression as one of my first books for my favorite lit course in college!). By 2008, I had forgotten most of the plot, so I thought I'd get to work on re-reading it! It was very good the second time around too. Though I knew a lot about Indian history 8 years ago, I know even more now, so I was able to understand more and more of the book this time around. And it was brilliant. Realizing that Rushdie had spent hundreds of pages setting up a brilliant symbolism without you even noticing until it walloped you over the head is just a testament to this author's skill. It's also amazing how Rushdie can craft brilliant double- and triple- entendres and just rattle them off as if he hadn't put any thought into them. I'm thinking of a lot of prophecies about Saleem and other synchronous things that happened in the book (I will keep this review spoiler-free). It would be an understatement to say that it's a pleasure to read books by Salman Rushdie. The way he writes is just delicious. Rushdie not only won a Booker Prize for this masterpiece in 1981, but he won the "<a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4308790.ece">Booker of Bookers</a>" after forty years of the prize's existence.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-15 02:33:31.
(Language: English)
i would like to call this one da de facto diary of a schizho....so twisted and smartly written you will just be lost in the story...a very powerful and politically inclined narrative...this could have easily been the heroes of the old times...every page is a predictable gripper...you will want to read more as you find out that the author is letting you take a lead on the story...the beauty of it all...a story full of such common occurences of your every day banalities of life blend under the cover of a dark and unspoken era of political turmoil and unspoken injustices on human freedom, exodus' and mass killings, the plot unfolds the sheer will of four hundred something child prodigies born at the hour on the midnight india attained its independence, with supernatural abilities conspiring to have under the powers of it's leader and the main character of the book mr.saleem successfully united after 31 years of awaiting, having unfolded many a unbelievable feats through it's telepathic midnight congressional communions and a skeptical stand point on the regress of a disillusion that subtly sinks into reality as saleem the vanguard of the army of midnight children the unspoken covenant a victim of holocaust reveals to the comfort of a stabilizing 3 decade era from the night of independence the new generation of prodigals in his son and in successors of the missing age revolutionaries who fought and stuck to their ground and fought it out with governments ruled by royals with dark sides to their apt descriptions, the book is a lovely read through time as the reader will find himself geographically moving north and northerly around the subcontinent visiting the oldest cities crossing the largest rivers and the highest mountains and the meanest marshes with forests breathing their breath taking magic on a lost undercover troop…through beautiful ice clad valleys to intoxicatingly intense vast fields and beyond a marvelous journey through spaces history unfolded itself and stands witness today, a snake charmer and his super prodigal son with ears used to uncommon sonic manifestations pristine on his acquaintances with new found virtues saleem himself with unusual nasal powers that sniff out emotions and color the very human expression has to relieve his time finding humility in such a beautiful succession that has set the juggernaut rolling for a crave that will surely supersede any reader’s appetite for a complete entertainer. You will particularly enjoy sections of the book where the nasal revelations start to direct the story in a different dimension and the midnight confessions start coming in with such well thought of fluency that every time you will turn a page you will be taken by the events as if you picked the right time to read this book as these events start superseding you as if it were to be following a phase, unless you can relate well to a schizo the main character of the book, it’s a classic work of literature very few with such accurate exploitation of language almost as mystical to its content as to it’s implications through the narrative, only a very pensive and collective historian could have pieced together events of unspoken times and substantially created a fabulous art of fiction as a inspiration of sorts Now this is what i call clever writing. It's not a page turner, it's a line tuner, if there exists something like that. I mean this guy can leave his reader's anticipating for every single line. If you are a regular reader, you will see through his narrative though. Midnight's children is about a guy who was born at the strike of the hour on the midnight of india's independence. Though I found a striking resemblance in his narrative style with that of robert ludlum, as he talks about a whole new legion of post-indipendent India's children just the way Ludlum has his 3rd reich in the Holcraft Covenant. But rushdie is predictably imaginative. There is extensive use of hindi and this is not the kind of book you would like to stop looking for words, or you will loose the flow. I am yet to reach the end of the book, but the subtle message lying underneath this compelling story telling style is to highlight the socio-political changes that were happening amongst the masses in India as she was basking in the glory of its independence.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-03 04:04:46.
(Language: English)
[But whenever I say anything about my work I want to contradict myself at once. To say that beyond self-exploration lies a sense of writing as sacrament, and maybe that's closer to how I feel: that writing fills the hole left by the departure of God -Rushdie] The children of midnight, born of the violent foundation of the modern turbulent states of Pakistan, Indian and subsequently Bangladesh, makes for a powerful metaphor and contemporary mythology of a vast sub-continent. Rushdie's labyrinthine story telling echos western triumphs like Pynchon, Delillo and Faulkner. In the essence of language like a torrent, his efforts span decades and a multitude of diverse personalities. In this literary realm intense experience is everything, The intrepid progeny of the book's title are all born at midnight on the day of India's independence: 1001 unique powers that enshrine the magical aspects of nationhood and mark the living religion of bright waking gods. The battle of texture within this tense fiction is regarded by many as one of plot versus agents: the contemporary age has given us Coupland's character therapy, Burrough's baroque language virus and Palahniuk's twisted event-spaces. Somehow Rushdie has embroiled these mutant forms into a singularly intense account where the humans are the vibrant plot, living folktales that inhale the swirling cacophony of democracy and destruction. The inhabitants of the story define the elaborate political bastions of India, their whims echo the very machinations and detritus of history. The novel makes me worry that I too have rendered my own life as this chance fiction, living through glossy books: my own private elaborate Cornell box of fragments, ghosts of a redundant plateaux. Like Anthony Caro's vast umber sculptures, burnished welded structures that entwine classical lines with modern vistas, Rushdie's prose is simultaneously lyrical and incisive. The result is a sprawling second book that rightly deserved the Booker prize and provides a valuable English-language insight into the underpinnings of twentieth century Indian life...
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-10 11:33:25.
(Language: English)
“A son. A son, such a son! A son, Sahiba, who will never be older than his motherland-neither older nor younger. There will be two heads, -but you shall see only one- there will be knees and a nose, a nose and knees. Newspaper praises him, two mothers raise him! Bicyclists love him-but, cowards will shove him! Sisters will weep; cobra will creep… Washing will hide him- voices will guide him! Friends mutilate him- blood will betray him! Spittoons will brain him-doctors will drain him-jungle will claim him-wizards reclaim him! Soldiers will try him-tyrants will fry him… He will have sons without having sons! He will be old before he is old! And he will die…before he is dead!” The words of Ramram Seth, who prophesied himself into an epileptic fit, were right on mark, when pregnant Amina Sinai (who was once Mumtaz Aziz) is offered a free fortune-telling by the levitating cousin of a peepshow man she had saved from the evil started by a little girl. This is my first Rushdie book, and I must say that from now on his books will soon occupy my bookshelf. Midnight’s Children is not a mere work of literature, but a creation of mesmerizing genius. Every time you think there will be no more characters, a new person’s story captures you; and just when you think there couldn’t possibly be any more surprises in the plot, a “piece of the moon” is dropped on you like the most wonderful bomb! There is no review-without spoilers- that would do this work justice. But I will sure try. The story is narrated by the writer, and sometimes by Saleem, (Salman and Saleem, Saleem and Salman) both the protagonist, which makes you sometimes wonder whether they really are the same person. He starts his story from the beginning- from his grandfather’s prayer in the beautiful Kashmiri winter, unleashing diamonds and rubies, and giving birth to the whole story. A story of three generations who live through the turbulent unity of what is now India-Pakistan- Bangladesh, through the bloody wars of separation that follows, and through the ugly murderous “peace”. In this book, the reader will definitely get a history lesson that is one of a kind, from which not will one find hidden facts, but experience new feelings (mine is a creeping sense of loathing towards Indira Ghandi). Rushdie’s style of writing is captivating once gotten used to. He cares little for proper capitalization and punctuation rules, but that is what you will find most realistic about his storytelling, which is not a narration as it is what this book truly is: visions and ramblings of a free mind. The intensity, impossibility, pain-joy, sweet-bitterness, and complete insanity of the different parts of the tale strike me as impossibly for a man with a healthy psyche to create, but a writer with the wonderful affects of schizophrenia. Whatever pain Salman went through in his life, if the result is even just this one book, then I say it is definitely worth it. Something else I would like to note are the parts of this book which pleasantly reminded me of other books. The part in which Saleem’s aunt’s bitterness and negative feelings and transferred to others through the clothes she stitched and the food she cooked reminds me of Like Water for Chocolate. The Buddha’s hallucinations induced by the forest reminds me of many a scene in Gabo’s books (many of which are in Love in the Time of Cholera). But I must clarify that these “reminders” are in no way boring repetitions or copying of great works, on the contrary, they were unique enough to get my attention. I could not possibly write all the things I loved about this book in this review, for it would go on for pages and pages. Therefore, I will end it here with stating that my favorite character was not Saleem, the one with a nose like Ganesh’s, birth spots all over his face, one deaf ear, a missing spot of hair, incest-lover, with no balls… it was Parvati the Witch. My favorite part is the amazing play with words when talking about his father’s alcoholic-ism, tying it with the world of genies (gin and djinn, the genie in a bottle or bottled spirits?). Let me end in saying that this book is worth every single star I rated it with, and that the book I am reading next needs to really really impress me after this one! Favorite quotes (in addition to the ones I wrote in the status update): “Family history, of course, has its proper dietary laws. One is supposed to swallow and digest only the permitted parts of it, the halal portions of the past, drained of their redness, their blood. Unfortunately, this makes the story less juicy; I am about to become the first and only member of my family to flout the laws of halal. Letting no blood escape from the body of the tale.” These two sound like they came out of a Green Day song!! “his daughter rushes into the street with her chavanni in her hand, her expression of a midget queen, and murder lurking just behind her lips. What’s her name? I don’t know; but I know those eyebrows” “I am the bomb in Bombay, watch me explode, bones splitting, breaking beneath the awful pressure of the crowd, bag of bones falling down down down […] no Mercurochrome, only a broken creature spilling prices of itself into the street, because I have been so-many too-many persons” “They found their bodies covered in three-inch-long leeches which were almost entirely colorless owing to the absence of direct sunlight, but which had now turned bright red because they were full of blood, and which, one by one, exploded on the bodies o the four human beings, being too greedy to stop sucking when they were full. Blood trickled down legs and on to the forest floor; the jungle sucked it in, and knew what they were like”
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-26 05:45:34.
(Language: English)
"Midnight's Children" goes from awesome to awful in 30 chapters. What starts off as a promising tale of a special youth ultimately gets undermined by a scatterbrained plot, and the promises of historical significance laid out in the first chapters quickly devolve into the rambling, self-aggrandizing delusions of a megalomaniac narrator. There's a lot of good things to be said about Rushdie's mastery of the English language, but they detract, rather than serve, the plot, as Rushdie uses them to build an unreliable narrative of a self-centered man, born with a great gift but unable to think beyond the length of his impressive nose. Rushdie points out in the introduction that the events in Bangladesh, found near the end of the novel, used to be a framing mechanism. It may not have been such a great editorial choice to change this, as the transition between the past and that sequence is abrupt in the extreme, creating a literary non-sequitur. Also, hidden under some great prose are some plot points of questionable imagination. For instance, Saleem's rival, who is supposed to possess the greatest power of all the midnight's children, has... really strong knees. That's it. His knees are really big and strong, and he can choke people with them. I'm not even sure that's remotely practical. All in all, "Midnight's Children" started as a novel I couldn't put down; by the end, I could barely force myself to finish it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-29 12:52:52.
(Language: English)
My friend gave me this after her trip to India; I had a tough time getting into it. Given it had won the Booker, I decided to persist with it. If I was ever going to read it, my 16 hour flight to India via Dubia would be the time. His style of writing is quite unusual, a bit like a steady stream of random thought that switches between past, dream and present. At best, it gives one insight into the melting pot of history, myth, religion and politics of modern day India.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-07 10:41:24.
(Language: English)
This novel is set in post colonial India and Pakistan, following the first thirty years of the independence of the subcontinent and the life of the main character. He is one of the 500 children born in India just after independence imbued with special powers. His special power is telepathy in he can convene a meeting in his mind of all of the children. The boy's family is Muslim but largely non-practicing. His grandfather was a doctor who entirely renounced religion. His parents are not exactly in love with each other from the start - his mother grows to love his father. The boy's family move to Bombay after independence buying a villa from a departing Englishman who sets up conditions on ownership that intentionally mirror those of the agreements on independence. The boy's father falls on hard times and the mother moves the boy and his sister to Pakistan where he is no longer telepathic. In this time India goes to war with China and later Pakistan twice. In the second encounter the boy is part of the Pakistani army which is defeated. He returns to India and fathers a child - the other children are no longer happy with him. Much of his family were killed or disappeared during the war. All seems lost until he meets a woman who asks him to marry her - he starts putting his life back together. Just as India does after Indira Ghandi.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-18 09:02:24.
(Language: English)
The story reinforces something which I keep pointing out to myself everytime- its not the story that counts but how the story has been told. The book I must warn you is tedious reading. It requires effort to read it and really see the different layers that unfold as the book progresses. Rushdie handles his characters with ease. Each one of the characters has a significant role. Probably the kind of movie in which every character is hero and villain personified. The protagonist of the book is Saleem Sinai, the narrator. He is one of the 1001 children born when India breathed freedom. Those born closer to the midnight hour hold greater powers than others. There are children who have the power to change form, pass through mirrors, travel through time etc. Saleem, who was born exactly “at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps……†has the power to read minds. He is the most powerful of them all. Apparently the book has some underpinnings in Gunter Grass’s The Tin drum. I haven’t read the book but its definitely up on my reading list. The prophecy of the birth of Saleem Sinai unfolds in a very interesting manner. That’s something I might not be able to delve into but however for the sake of completeness I must include it. A son……..A son, Sahiba, who will never be older than his motherland- neither older nor younger. ……..There will be two heads but you shall see only one- there will be knees and a nose, a nose and knees. ..listen carefully, Padma; the fellow got nothing wrong! “Newspapers shall praise him, two mothers shall raise him.! Bicyclists love him, but crowds will shove him! Washing will hide him- voices will guide him! Friends mutilate him- blood will betray him! Spitoons will brain him- doctors will drain him- jungle will claim him – wizards reclaim him! Soldiers will try him- tyrants will fry him. He will have sons without having sons. He will be old before he is old.. And he will die….before he is dead In a nutshell, that’s the whole book! All 533 pages knotted down to a few lines. Easy isn’t it? Saleem enters a classic Prince and the pauper scenario where two children born at the midnight hour in the hospital are switched. The one to be doomed to poverty ends up under affluent circumstances. Saleem’s distinguishing feature is his long nose. Shiva, the child who by the twist of fate ends up in poverty has powerful knees- the power endowed by midnight. The name Shiva is no accident- he is the procreator and the destroyer.(Recall the prophecy, nose and knees, knees and nose) A very interesting note which I cant resist mentioning. The Prime minister, Nehru, writes a letter to Saleem Sinai: Dear baby Saleem , My belated congratulations on the happy accident of your moment of birth! You are the newest bearer of that ancient face of India which is also eternally young. We shall be watching over your life with the closest attention; it will be a sense, the mirror of our own. Saleem continues to narrate about how every blow India took hurt him as well. He takes blame for the fortunes and miseries of India. (Disbelief is best discarded!) Rushdie is full of clever lines throughout the book. For instance, history reaches the stage where Gandhi is shot by Godse. Every muslim is in hiding until the name of the shooter was out. Nathuram Godse. Thank God, Amina burst out, its not a muslim nameâ€. And Aadam, upon whom the news of Gandhi’s death had placed a new burden of age: “This Godse is nothing to be grateful for!â€â€¦â€¦â€¦.â€Why not, after all? By being Godse he has saved our lives! The story progresses quickly as Saleem’s life undergoes several twists and he ends up in Pakistan post partition. Rushdie’s love for Bombay is very clear in these instances and his eagerness to bring Saleem Sinai back to where he belonged is evident. That’s what eventually happens. The several layers of the book also slowly reveal themselves. Saleem writes: ….I had also been overwhelmed by an agonizing feeling of sympathy for the country which was not only my twin in birth but also joined to me (so to speak) at the hip, so that what happened to either of us, happened to us both. If I, snot- nosed and stain faced etcetera, had had a hard time of it the so had she, my sub continental twin sister; and now that I had given myself the right to choose a better future, I was resolved that the nation should share it too. Such was the conjoined nature of Saleem’s life. Shiva’s story keeps playing its own tune in the background and intertwines into Saleem’s life when he returns to India from Pakistan. It is here that the story takes drastic turns and Rushdie’s vents his fury against Ms. Gandhi. His life passes through the peak of her regime and the chaotic times of emergency. Rushdie alludes to Ms. Gandhi’s hair – black and white- as reflecting the duality of evil that lies within. Referring to her as ‘the Widow’ he squarely blames her for the ensuing pit that his life falls into. And as the story progresses down the long winding road where the end is near. Saleem Sinai ends up in a pickle factory run by the nurse who switched the children at the midnight hour- his second mother. (remember the prophecy!) I cant refrain from pointing this out as it builds to a very clever line which interjects its way: One day, perhaps, the world may taste the pickles of history. They may be too strong for some palates, theur smell may be overpowering, tears may rise to eyes; I hope nevertheless that it will be possible to say of them that they possess the authentic taste of truth….that they are despite everything, acts of love. The story at this point comes a full circle. Saleem Sinai’s tumultuous life is about to end. As Rushide, beautifully puts it “….because it is the privilege and curse of midnight’s children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes and to be unable to live or die in peace.†So ends the book. Midnight’s children. Its very hard to capture the entire essence of the book or to give some flavour of the story that it is. I hope I have done well.
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Dani posted a review at 2010-08-29 12:43:04.
(Language: Catalan)
Llibraco immens de Rushdie... una metàfora de la creació i creixement de la Índia moderna al costat del creixement d'un misteriós nen nascut a la vegada que la nova nació. És una història familiar en el context polític i social indi del S. XX. És entretingut, però la teranyina de noms, personatges històrics reals, barreja de ficció, fantasia, màgia, i realitat, fan que en alguns moments et perdis. A més, el llenguatge que utilitza Rushdie és molt culte, complexe, i a més, juga amb que sigui el mateix protagonista qui escriu la història, amb la qual cosa es permet desendreçar coses, i altres llicències literàries que fan més complicat d'entendre tot. M'ha agradat i a estones he disfrutat... però és un llibre que està per damunt del meu nivell, i se m'han escapat moltes coses.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-22 10:01:30.
(Language: English)
I don't know quite what I was expecting, but I guess I was expecting more. I thought the Booker of the Bookers would be a revelation, and even more than that, it is my friend's favourite, and I highly respect her book opinions, but I found this a tedious read. Granted, that's probably not all Rushdie's fault - I was reading a paperback with tiny print that dried my eyeballs for 552 pages, but although the history or Indian/Pakistan/Bangladesh was fascinating (and I love reading history through lit.) and the details of the cities was marvelous, and although it clearly is a magnificent book, and at times was fabulous, overall I guess I was expecting profundity, and I didn't find it. Lots of dazzle, lots of detail, and the perpetual motion of the narrative is stunning, but it all left me a bit cold. Perhaps it was the narrator himself, Sinai. Why did he have to be grotesque? Wasn't it enough for him to be stitched to and battered by history? DId he have to be physically repulsive? It was such an odd choice - he wasn't shunned for it, infact it barely mattered except as a vehicle for self-loathing for the narrator, and that creates a strange, distancing rhythm in the book. Rushdie is undeniably a brilliant writer, and this novel fits for me on the same shelf as a Hundred Years of Solitude, but after all the hooplah, I wasn't expecting another Marquez; with the epic scope and ambition and Rushdie's public persona, I guess I was expecting Tolstoy with some magic thrown in.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-09 09:13:14.
(Language: English)
Where to begin? This is one long, hard slog of a book - rambling, incredibly ambitious, completely surreal, self-consciously intellectual, alternatively funny and dull (often in the same chapter); chock-full of (literally) fantastic, memorable characters and incidents, packed with wonderful turns of phrase and some lovely metaphors ("the chutnification of history, the pickling of time"). But though its undoubtedly magical and clearly deserving of its cultural status, detailing as it does the trials and tribulations of three generations of an Indian family while simultaneously delineating the history of India, Pakistan AND Bangladesh since Indian independence in 1947 and attempting to show how the protagonist's fate is inexorably interlinked with the subcontinent's events, its long-winded prose style, irritating foreshadowing and complete over-use of magical realist elements nearly did me in by the time I reached the 600th page. Notice how long and dense my last sentence was. That's what the book's like. So though I'm glad I've read this novel, I don't think I'll read another Rushdie any time soon. I'm exhausted.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-24 06:48:32.
(Language: English)
his words are thick intricate tapestries and its like eating dense puddling. you don't swallowit in a hurry. you take small spoonfuls, let it roll around on your tongue, melt by your throat, and savour the texture slowly. each page is a meal. he forces me, like no o ther author, to read SLOWLY. for an instant-gratification compulsive-please-me-NOW person that i am, this bbok accomplishes the difficult task of making me slow down. beautiful intricate symbollic pattens, and the subtle humor and sticktogetherwords. An unspoken question in this book: i fear deeply, secretly, whati f i am just like everyone else?. Even a basic understanding of hinduism, islam, and india in the 1950s will make the literary experience MUCH more rewarding, complex, funny, touching, and irreverant.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-06 12:08:46.
(Language: English)
Another Booker..... Congratulations! Such a beautifully intertwined tale between the enchanted life of Saleem Sinai and historical events in the subcontinent.Loved the way Rushdie narrated the story along with the lotus goddess and knick knacks between them, a romantic exchange of thoughts and feedback for what was being written.Moreover if you look into the headings of each of the "pickle jars" you'd love the way they've been titled or should i say "Christened!"Although its all fiction "but" with some spice that might churn the bellies of political insignia, more than the silent(is it?) observer (Rushdie) because he wove history minced with the tale of blessed, "whatsitsname", Midnight's Children.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-11 09:52:16.
(Language: English)
there's a misplaced baby, knobby knees, a nose, and the clock strikes midnight. and y ou thought cinderella had it bad. see, i'm gonna be one of those geeky people who'll read the last harry potter book, and will no doubt be too excited to keep my mouth shut. but i didn't want my first review to be on that book. that's why i've picked this one (incidentally, rushdie himself is a harry potter fan, so it's fitting). it's goodly. it's also very long, so if you don't like it by the first 3 pages, drop it like a big fat hot potato. but i've always been a sucker for the bitter-humour types, and this one's the king of them. if you like dickens and john irving, you'll love him. the book is set in india, and is an allegory of sort charting india's turbulent independence. i know, sounds awfully postcolonial and historical (which it is), but it's also a parody and very clever. plus, if a writer can make a story around a nose, you know he can write damn well.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-16 10:29:19.
(Language: English)
It all started with the bump of a grandfather's nose against the Kashmiri earth. There was the Reverend Mother behind a perforated sheet and a prophesying boatman, whatshisname. A mother learning to love her husband bit by bit and a father's alcoholic djinns. It is a story of snakes and ladders, ladders and snakes. Nose and knees, knees and nose. Padma is here telling me that none of this makes sense. (But of course it cannot make sense, until you've read…) Then you must read the book in order to understand all that is written (although it is probably not possible to ever completely understand…). The author, Salman Rushdie, has fashioned a clever story of Indian history filled with historical facts and figures, complex allusions and fantastic imagery. (Here we go, Padma. Finally the essence of the story.) This is the story of Saleem Sinai, a child born at the moment of India's independence and the creation of Pakistan. National affairs have great impact on the life of Saleem and his family. Likewise, the course of the nation is steered by events that take place in Saleem's own life. Some parts of the story seem quite strange to me and it also seemed overly long and drawn out, yet I enjoyed the book overall for its characters and humor. I would have preferred a rating of 3 1/2 stars for this reason. I also suggest reading up on Indian history, especially during the time of independence, in order to get a better understanding of the story. The author is definitely a master of allusion
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alvi posted a review at 2009-10-12 05:54:55.
(Language: English)
This is, in every way, a perfect novel. Both humorous and heartbreaking. I found myself deeply moved and very suprised that I enjoyed this novel as much as I did. I have never been very interested in Indian history, and knew close to nothing about it. But upon reading this novel, I found myself drawn into the rich fictional history of the Aziz family, as well as the equally rich history of India. Rushdie may have ruined reading for me, as every book I read will now have much higher standards! Not for light reading, though. I imagine this is a book that you could read over and over and still find something new each time. This is a tough novel, and it takes a lot of work to truly "get it". The only reason I stuck with it is because I had to for class. But it was very rewarding in the end. The novel reveals itself in layers, with recurring themes and motifs that grow in extremely deep and powerful meanings. The character of Saleem, self-described savior of India, is one of the most memorable characters to have graced the pages of a novel. I have heard some people say that this book is a let down in the end, as though it never comes to a full climax. In answer to that: I felt that was the whole point. Saleems dreams are always dreams, they are never completely realized. The language is beautiful and lyrical, and the plot is highly detailed, as though each sentence was carefully planned. Rushdie may be the ultimate architect of this century when it comes to plot building. As a writer myself, I was both green with envy and speechless with awe over this novel. I have never read anything else by Rushdie, but now I definitly plan to! A couple of tips: 1. There are many different characters, so you may want to make a family tree to keep track. 2. Pay close attention to Rushdie's use of color in the novel, particularly green, saffron and blue, as well as numbers. 3. The narrator, Saleem, breaks away from linear storytelling in a big way. Often, the story jumps around and he gives a lot of foreshadowing. It helps to let go of our western idea of time (i.e. events happening in a timeline) and just let the story unfold. Trust me, once you can let go of your confusion and just let it be, the reading becomes much easier! Also, it's interesting to consider what he chooses to tell us ahead of time, and what he doesn't. And finally, you will definitely want to brush up on your Indian history! I'm not talking a whole lot, just an Encarta article or something so you know what's going on. Also, when historical figures are mentioned in the book, you should do a little research and find out more about them. This is especially true for the political figures, such as Indira Ghandi. Like I said, this book is A LOT of work, but worth all the effort.
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