Midnight's Children: A Novel
by Salman Rushdie
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Book Reviews of Midnight's Children: A Novel
Book Review: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Summary: 5 Stars
Midnight's Children centers around the protagonist, Saleem Sinai, recounting the story of his life to his lover one night. In his life is the entirety of Indian post-independent history; in and on his body are the markings and symbols that relate to his country. He is a member of a group of people born the evening that Indian was freed from British rule, each person born with special powers elevating them from the rest of the population. This story at its core is of the parallels that Saleem (and his friends) shares with India, and what a most unusual story it is. This book is 560 pages of complete storytelling mastery. It is an epic of magical realism, fully deserving its comparisons with "The Tin Drum" and "One Hundred Years of Solitude." Rushdie writes to the edges of the page and beyond, filling every sentence with originality and crazy invention that (wildly) has the control never to veer off into complete farce, which is indeed a gift. It is highly intellectual and complex, but written with deep humor and pathos, told by a narrator that continually holds the reader's hand to get them through the tough spots. The places that this book goes and the experiences it offers the reader could not be properly encapsulated in any review, so just note that it is worthy of all its praise and is easily one of the best books of the last century.Book Review: at times captivating, but too self-indulgent
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an extremely ambitious book. Rushdie attempts to weave together so many different ideas and threads, that it's hard to imagine conceiving of such a thing, let alone writing it. There is ample talent and brilliance and inspiration to be found, but ultimately Rushdie simply makes the reader work way too hard. You must juggle so many things at once, in order to keep it going, and it's exhausting.
The chronological leaps, the ceaseless foreshadowing (you must constantly ask whether some new piece of information will be elaborated later, or if you must re-read a passage to figure it out), the liberties taken with punctuation, the "Hinglish" language challenges, the historical/cultural references, the magical/fantasy elements... all of these things are great on their own, but collectively it's just too damn much.
Glad I read it, but can't recall another book where I was so glad to be done. It's hard work and the payoff is not quite there in the end, even tho I love Indian culture and history.
Book Review: SR's ego trip
Summary: 1 Stars
I was really looking forward to this book. The subject, the repercussions till today ... I have lived a very long time in this geographical area and have therefore a deep interest.
Rushdie's book reminded me of so many visits of locals where at the end you were asking yourself, what was the purpose and what were we talking about? These instances and the book have one thing in common: a complete waste of time. And Indians, as well as Nepalis, are very good at that.
In Midnight's Children it seems that SR's ego - and boy, so called Indian intellectuals do sport quite some ego - simply went haywire. The book is an exercise in overtwisting a twist, in being oh so very clever or as the Germans say it approaches the subject 'from the back through the chest and into the eye'.
Book Review: Well-constructed framework bloated with anecdotes and words
Summary: 3 Stars
Clever idea. Politically correct book. Historical fiction. An educational book for the uninformed western observer. Despite all these positives, there is little that drives the narrative, and much like the magical realism of Love in the Time of Cholera, the story is overly weighted by anecdote after anecdote and by the seeming inevitability of a trite conclusion. Rushdie's language is at times inventive and rich, and at moment's stirring. But overall the story is bogged down by inconsequential details, overly repetitive motifs and structure, and the lack of a really compelling and immediate story. As a middle-aged man, in general I no longer find novels highly engaging, so you can take that with a grain of salt as well.Book Review: Midnight's Children
Summary: 5 Stars
Do they have exclamation points in Hindi?
Or is it just understood that everything in India
should be said with an exclamation point?
I just finished Midnight's Children.
It is the masterpiece of Salman Rushdie.
And now I want to end every sentence I write about
this author, this book, with an exclamation point.
Midnight's Children!
A masterpiece!
Salman Rushdie!
Brilliant!
My husband and I went to see Salman Rusdie Friday night.
He talks just like he writes.
He speaks in beautiful metaphors
that seem to flow from his mouth
as naturally as rain from dark clouds.