Mitternachtskinder (1981)

I don't know enough about the history of India to fully appreciate this, but the story was fascinating. I never knew what to expect next, and there were so many turns and beautiful characters. However, with an unreliable narrator and incoherent ending, I was left a bit lost as to what *actually* happened (which, I suppose, is the whole point...). For a book of its size (it's a big boy), I certainly never grew tired or frustrated with the story. ( )

Why 3 stars for what is widely considered a masterpiece? My ratings are based on personal enjoyment not perceived literary merit. While I can see the rationale for the acclaim it has received, it was not a particularly enjoyable reading experience.

Saleem Sinai is born at the moment of India’s independence, the stroke of midnight of August 15, 1947. The title comes from the one thousand other children born on the same day. Saleem can telepathically communicate with these other children. He believes his actions directly impact the course of India’s development as a nation. Now, whether or not he is delusional, or this is really the case is a matter for the reader’s interpretation. He is either a mirror or a megalomaniac. It is, after all, written in the style of magical realism. Rushdie’s writing is erudite and, in this case, filled with long flowing sentences and an almost frenetic pacing.

Protagonist Saleem tells one story after another. I did not count them but would not be surprised if they total 1001. He tells us these stories are true, with one notable exception. He covers a great deal of India’s history, along with his family’s history. While I was somewhat familiar with the general progression of India’s post-independence events, I had to look up a good number of names and places. It took me a long time to read, not solely due to its length, almost 700 pages.

I found it compelling enough to never be tempted to give up, but it was a chore. I have read other books by Rushdie, which I much prefer to this one, probably due to the fact that I enjoy more straight-forward storytelling. My personal favorite fiction that tells a story of India’s 20th century history remains A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.
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Rich, layered, extremely well-written, Midnight's Children is an intricate and ambitious novel that intertwines a childhood with India's history. Rushdie's writing is lush and dense, often meandering, and sometimes a difficult read, but very worth the time. I felt as if every word was carefully chosen, his sentences finely crafted to perfectly contain the meanings and subtleties he intended. It's very challenging to read, as the narrator often makes references to people, places, things, that haven't come up in the story yet, and Rushdie's obsessive attention to detail meant it became difficult at times to keep track of all the things that had happened. It was a great read and definitely worth rereading (think of all the details you might have missed the first time!) and I only wish I knew more about India's history and politics so I can appreciate Rushdie's genius more.

One thing I found interesting: The copy I read had an introduction written by the author in 2005, 25 years after the novel was first published, and in it he notes that Westerners seem to approach the novel more as a fantasy whereas Indians say it's very realistic. ( )

I bought this book over a year ago planning to read it to notch up another read from the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list but other books kept leaping into my hands. Then Salman Rushdie was attacked in August 2022 presumably in an attempt to carry out the fatwa the Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced in 1989. I was "shocked and appalled" and I realized it was time to read this book.

August 15 1947 at midnight is when the countries of India and Pakistan were created after Britain reliquished power of the subcontinent. It is also when Saleem Sinai and another male child were born in a maternity hospital in Bombay. Saleem's parents were relatively well off and he was raised with every privilege. Unfortunately he was endowed with a very large nose that was constantly stuffed with mucus and dripped. He was also telepathic and could communicate mentally with all the other children in India that had been born between midnight and one am. The other child born at the same time, Shiva, was raised in poverty with only a father as his mother died in childbirth. In time Saleem's nurse admits that she switched the babies but by then Saleem's family were used to Saleem as their own child and he continued to live with them. Saleem sees himself as responsible for much of the significant events that take place on the Indian subcontinent. He also believes that anyone who loves him will die, which certainly seems to be the case. He moves frequently: from India to Pakistan to what will become Bangladesh and back to India. For a time he loses his memory and is in the Pakistani army as a human sniffer dog. When he regains his memory he has been found by one of the other Midnight's Children, Parvati-the-Witch. She spirits him from Bangladesh to New Delhi and is obviously in love with him. Saleem is unable to make love to her so Parvati has an affair Shiva and becomes pregnant. Saleem marries Parvati and raises her son as his own. Saleem is writing his history in the office of his pickle factory with one of his employees, Padma, acting as the first reader. Padma is in love with Saleem and she may be the person who can break his string of bad luck

I found this book much funnier than I thought it would be. Obviously, there are tragic issues but they are leavened with a wit that I loved. I also didn't mind the magical realism that Rushdie employs although I am generally less than impressed with that device. I can see why it won the Booker Prize in 1981 and then was picked as the "best novel of all winners" twice, for the twenty-fifth anniversary and the fortieth anniversary. ( )

This one was tough to get through. I picked it up as a spiritual support for Mr. Rushdie after the horrible fatwa stabbing he experienced. The writing is undoubtedly impressive, perhaps a bit showoffy, but I could not engage with the story or the characters (a cast of grotesques). This is the second Booker prize winner that I've read that has disappointed: is it me or the Booker? ( )