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Midnight's Children is the story of Salim Sinai, a child born in India at the exact stroke of midnight the day they receive their independence. It is multi-generational and backs up to Salim's grandfather, through the history of his parents, and how the family traits of his past are interconnected with his auspicious birth. It's also the story of India, whose history mirrors that of the protagonist.
It's hard to describe this book or to even summarize the plot. Western writing is generally very l ...more
It's hard to describe this book or to even summarize the plot. Western writing is generally very l ...more
An insanely, convolutedly brilliant, laugh outloud version of the history of India's independence from the Raj on August 15, 1947 through August 15, 1977. Three decades of madness as related by a Child of Midnight, a magical boy born at the stroke of Midnight on that fateful day. A complete mockery of everything that transpired during those decades. Nothing is spared. Culture, religions, customs, governments. Nothing. Except perhaps,slyly, the jewel that is/was Kashmir. Kashmir remains a forever
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2025 Popsugar #5 A book with a snake on the cover or in the title (the edition I read had a snake on the cover)
I enjoyed reading this, but it is definitely not for everyone. The narrator jumps around and is often hard to follow, and it sometimes almost feels like a stream of consciousness. Then he would backtrack and try to continue on with the story with no explanation. There are so many characters that I had a hard time keeping them straight. But the book is often funny and extraordinary and s ...more
I enjoyed reading this, but it is definitely not for everyone. The narrator jumps around and is often hard to follow, and it sometimes almost feels like a stream of consciousness. Then he would backtrack and try to continue on with the story with no explanation. There are so many characters that I had a hard time keeping them straight. But the book is often funny and extraordinary and s ...more
[2004 review.] I have literally been reading this book all year, going back to it whenever I ran out of anything else to read. It's a really good book, and I started liking it a whole lot more once the supernatural came into it. I really love how the book itself, like Saleem, seems to be a symbolic parallel of India, and how rich it is with stories and interconnections, its self-awareness, its fluid, quirky writing style. The way it continually simultaneously echoes and foreshadows, so its sense
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Lexile 1120L
IL: UG - BL: 8.4 - AR Pts: 38.0
IL: UG - BL: 8.4 - AR Pts: 38.0
Jun 05, 2007
Hilary
marked it as to-read
Dec 12, 2007
Alli Hartley
marked it as to-read
Dec 02, 2008
Maggie
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
boxall-1001,
fiction,
magical-realism,
classics,
historical-fiction,
guardian-1000,
family-drama,
asian
Feb 04, 2013
Jocelyn
marked it as to-read
Jun 13, 2013
Shante
marked it as to-read
May 24, 2016
Trish
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
how-many-100-list,
book-club-bible
May 07, 2018
Idit
marked it as to-read
Oct 21, 2019
Chelsea
marked it as to-read
Aug 08, 2022
Lucinda
marked it as to-read
Aug 10, 2022
Laurii
added it
Aug 15, 2022
Maryam
marked it as to-read
