Midnight's Children: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels) Paperback – April 4, 2006

Phenomenal tale spun by a modern-day Sheherazade. Magical realism. It's not for everyone. It's hard-core literary and the names of foreign (and imagined) locales and people can be difficult for Americans to digest. It took some time for me to adapt to the prose style and the nature of the literary undertaking, but once I did I enjoyed it immensely and gained a great admiration for one who can write as Rushdie does. I followed it up with 'Knife' which was just right. Now I'm into The Moors Last Sigh, similar in ways to Midnight's Children. Rushdie's imaginative powers are second to none.

Although Midnight’s Children is proclaimed as Rushdie’s masterpiece, I did not enjoy it as much as I did Shalimar the Clown. It’s epic in its scale and ambition. There is so much here it may be difficult for some readers (myself included) to digest it all. There are a staggering number of minor characters, all realized with Rushdie’s customary skill. There are many passages of brilliance, wit, and wisdom. But these multitudinous characters slither in and out of the narrative making it difficult at times to follow, particularly considering that a novel of this length and complexity does not lend itself to a reading of one, or even just a few sittings. It is in the form of a three-volume “confession” by the narrator, Saleem Sinai, who is born at the exact midnight moment of India’s birth as a nation (hence the novel’s title), to his consort and fiancé, Padma. To add to the difficulties many of the characters have multiple names.Rushdie employs some literary devices that detracted from my enjoyment of the novel. At times it almost seemed as if he was indulging in technique for technique’s sake. One device is repetition. For instance, there’s constant thematic repetition of “knees and nose, nose and knees”, Saleem being the nose and his arch-enemy and rival, Shiva, being the knees. After a while my response was I get it, their fates are intertwined, but I don’t get why I need to read this formula yet again (maybe I don’t get it? I’m not even quite sure why the formula couldn’t be reversed. Are knees aggressive and the nose sensuous? A lot of hammering on one nail.) Another is Rushdie’s use of obscure vocabulary without any clear purpose that I can understand (even when I understand the words without looking them up). For example the words apocrine and eccrine keep popping up in the narrative without any clear reference (at least to me).Another problem I had, particularly with Volume 3 (spoiler alert – don’t read further if you want to remain in suspense), is where we learn of the identity of “the Widow”, who is the villain of the piece. It’s Indira Gandhi. The anti-Gandhi theme introduced here seems a bit overheated. Although Indira Gandhi did do some bad things, particularly the suspension of democracy during the “Emergency” of 1975-77, which is the background for a significant part of Volume 3, they seem pretty small beer when compared with the great historical crimes of the twentieth century. In fact she seems not obviously better or worse than many of the Prime Ministers India has experienced before and afterwards. So the tone of outrage and focus on her as the villainous “Widow”, while it may have been understandable from Rushdie’s perspective at the time Midnight’s Children was completed (1979), seems rather dated.All that said it would be unfair not to note that there are many passages in Midnight’s Children of great beauty and wisdom. Rushdie is unparalleled in capturing the sweep of life in India and Pakistan (and Bangladesh) and his genius for this is at its most expressive in this novel. He is also a writer of great learning and knowledge of what he writes -- knowledge which is fully on display here (in a good sense). The Bombay of which he writes is the Bombay of his own childhood; he himself was born in 1947, the year of India’s independence, the same as Saleem, the “hero” of the piece. Along the way, he gives us all sectors of Indian society, from the wealthy and privileged to the underclasses, and he does it with a true novelist’s eye (and nose!) for the telling detail and without editorializing. He succeeds in interweaving the private incidents in the lives of the characters he has created with historical events of the period: from the early part of the twentieth century to the late 70s, when the book was completed. It’s just a shame that because of their sheer number we don’t get to know some of them better. But maybe that’s inherent in Rushdie’s method; he himself has acknowledged his debt to Charles Dickens, and I guess one should no more expect to probe the depths of Nussie the Duck’s or Parvati-the-Witch’s psyches any more than those of Mr. Micawber or “Barkis is willing”.

Remarkable book and off course well deserving of not just Booker but Best of Booker. What this literary masterpiece does is it tells the story of a country (India) since 1947, intertwined by a child born, coming to age and adulting along with the new country; and one begins to wonder is it the story of the country and its people or of these individuals. This book falls into the category of historical fiction; blending history and fiction seamlessly. It tries to summarize millennia’s of thoughts and ways of being from the subcontinent in the characters of the book. The book has ability to transport you to time and places in a way the words actually paint the scene. It’s captivating, it’s a page turner, it’s crude sometimes and welcomed, and it’s comic. Lyndam Gregory did amazing narration in the Audible/ Audiobook version; it’s award worthy in itself.It’s unfortunate books and authors are banned; this book has nothing as controversial as its projected, or the political elite Congress / Nehru - Gandhi dynasty mustn’t endure as a price of being a ruling class; people who are offended the most do so without even reading it. And what’s in that book that any Indian wouldn’t have thought already. Honestly, I don’t really see why anyone gets bent out of shape about this book; at worst it makes fun, a parody of all of us; even better, atleast someone knows to self critique and laugh at themselves.Regardless, you will not regret reading this one especially if you are from South Asia or are curious / infatuated by South Asia.I hope there is ultimately a sequel to this book. I have so much respect for the author Salman Rushdie.“What cannot be cured, must be endured!”.

Not finished yet but I find much of this book humorous but at times very hard to read being in such a different world ( and character names ) than I was brought up in.

Brilliant. Absolutely a masterpiece. In every chapter, I have been overwhelmed by Rushdie's storytelling excellence. Foreshadowings Twists…Hilarious as well. You will be able to trace the history of modern India with a lovable protagonist, Saleem.