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June 2009: Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children

It wasn't too long ago when I read Midnight's Children. I still remember it quite well. It's unlike anything I've read. I found Rushdie's style of writing, and use of language to be quirky. Very original.

Did I like it?

I did enjoy it somewhat. I was very aware as I was reading of the art of Salman's skill. I appreciate and respect his intelligence, and the story was often intriguing. However, it didn't keep me captivated the whole way through. I guess I felt like it took effort to stay within the realm of the story at times. That's not to say I didn't like the book however. I did like it. It just failed to move me emotionally, and get me thinking. I love a novel that provokes me to ask questions and gets me thinking philosophically. Midnight's Children didn't have that impact on me.
 
I've been stalled out at the end of the Methwold chapter (page 117 in my edition) and am not sure I will have the gumption to keep going.
 
midnights children

Ive just received my copy,(25th anni,ed) Slamans introduction to this edition has got me already, i hope the book is as good! im worried after reading your comments so far libra.
 
goldcoast said:
Ive just received my copy,(25th anni,ed) Slamans introduction to this edition has got me already, i hope the book is as good! im worried after reading your comments so far libra.
Click to expand...

It's all me...lol ,I am in a rutt, not giving up though.
 
I was thinking about the story and it feels like you are in an over populated city with sounds ,voices,so many things going on around you that it is very hard to concentrate on one specific thing.The authour tends to stray a bit from one story and goes to another ,then back again.

Getting used to the names and who's who is easier now,but he continues to deal with too many issues at the same time which is tiring.The stories seem to be spreading out more as it goes along.
 
Ive just reached under the carpet. Yes i agree libra so far its been a little confusing,but im loving the sense of humour, but not enjoying the way he just switches around. I found that when Aziz whent into the house of Ghani for the first time,his discription of what was running through his mind was hard to fathom,How would any one know what kind of itch venereal desease would make,(if any) unless one has experienced it?
 
There is alot more of that sense of humor and the narrators wife is losing her patience with him too,jumping from one story to the other.

Now I know why he is all over the place,he's a telepath.It's interesting to see how everything comes along by the end.

"Midnight's Children is a loose allegory for events in India both before and, primarily, after the independence and partition of India, which took place at midnight on 15 August 1947. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinai, a telepath with an extraordinary nose."



and about The Partition of India.
Partition of India
 
Don't give up on it people,it gets better.
Tick Tock chapter is very good,he talks about his inheritance from the past and brings all these confusing stories to the point and some shocking surprises too.
 
You guys should follow through with this one. It was awarded the "Booker of Bookers", the best book to have won the Man Booker Prize. All the elements that seem fartfetched or unreal are deliberate. Like I said, it's original and it's inventive. It's kind of like a grown-up's version of a childrens fable, except with a political subtext. It can seem a little overwhelming because of the fast pace, but it's a good book. It's weird though, I felt the same way you're feeling Libra while I was reading it, and when I was done I was relieved. But when I was done I was also glad to have experienced it.
 
I am halfway done,I could not put it down over the weekend.The sense of humor continues throughout and the stories of the characters have you glued in the book.
 
I'm almost halfway done too. I'm liking it very much. It's hard to keep track of so many characters and stories, but the way everything is connected is wonderfull. It's definetly a book I want to re-read some day and hopefully be able to glue the pieces of the puzzle better...
 
It's like Marquez's One Hundred Years in Solitude,where some of the details are fantasy or unbelievable.For instance the ice bucket comments,where they remained frozen like his assets.Hysterical.

In the begining where they told Amina about the "two heads" and "knees and nose" it was the two boys born at the same time,and when Knees was commenting on his father taking the hammer,that was awful,scary,but I believe it happens in real because of the poverty and that thought was even scarier and painful to think about.
 
The prophecy was typical of the way he reveals things to his readers. I think he loves to tease the reader, hinting at something important to his story and and waiting until later in the book to fill you in.
 
I like the way India's story was simultaneously told with his story.There is so much in this book to quote,when I have the time I will sit and write my favorite parts.
 
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