'Midnight's Children', written by Salman Rushdie is a historical fiction set in India and Pakistan, imbibed with 'magical realism'.
Saleem Sinai born at the stroke of midnight on August 14th, 1947 when India gained independence recites the story of his family starting with the story of his grandfather, while in parallel, history shapes India and Pakistan. The story travels through generations - Saleem's grandparents, his parents and then his own. As Saleem grows up he finds out that he has special telepathic powers and connects with the children born during the first hour of independence - 'midnight's children', each with special powers of their own. He also finds out about the mix up at the hospital when he was born. The child he was switched with, grows up poor, as Shiva, who is also one of the midnight's children. The premise of the plot is intriguing. The author draws a lot of parallels between what happens to the characters to what happens in the countries.
I thought I would have loved to read this book without the 'magical realism' part especially since it is historical fiction. The mysticism part, I found to be unnecessary and many escaped my mind or left me confounded. I couldn't appreciate the point of the midnight's children and their special powers. The idea, though interesting, is not brought together in cohesion. I would have liked it to be more straight forward.
The author's writing is brilliant in many ways (humorous, satirical, amusing and immensely creative) but also drawn-out and tedious in many instances. I did feel the need to ditch the book during those tedious narrations. But in the end, I am glad that I stuck with it and finished it. I liked how the story travels through history. The book draws the reader to envision the complex nature of the birth of these two nations (with an equally complex narrative) and the struggles in the early years of formalizing themselves.
Dropping of the atom bomb, end of World War II, Jallianwala Bagh, India's independence from the British, partition of Bombay into Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Indo-Chinese war of 1962, India Pakistan war over Kashmir in 1965, Indo Pakistan war 1971 which led to the birth of Bangladesh as a separate country, Indira Gandhi's emergency 1975-77 are some of the historic events through which the story travels.
I found the early history of Bombay and it's partition after independence interesting. I haven't read war stories set in India and I was unaware of the specifics of the birth of Bangladesh as a separate nation. The chapter 'In the Sunderbans' where Saleem is caught in the Sunderban forests bordering India and Bangladesh during the 1971 war after losing his family, especially was poignant.
Saleem's grandmother, Naseem Ghani's (who is often referred to as 'Reverand Mother') idiosyncracy and her catch phrase 'whatsitsname' I thought was amusing.
The book has left me wanting to hear more stories of the people during the partition how their lives were touched by that very significant part of the country's history and the wars that followed.
Saleem Sinai born at the stroke of midnight on August 14th, 1947 when India gained independence recites the story of his family starting with the story of his grandfather, while in parallel, history shapes India and Pakistan. The story travels through generations - Saleem's grandparents, his parents and then his own. As Saleem grows up he finds out that he has special telepathic powers and connects with the children born during the first hour of independence - 'midnight's children', each with special powers of their own. He also finds out about the mix up at the hospital when he was born. The child he was switched with, grows up poor, as Shiva, who is also one of the midnight's children. The premise of the plot is intriguing. The author draws a lot of parallels between what happens to the characters to what happens in the countries.
I thought I would have loved to read this book without the 'magical realism' part especially since it is historical fiction. The mysticism part, I found to be unnecessary and many escaped my mind or left me confounded. I couldn't appreciate the point of the midnight's children and their special powers. The idea, though interesting, is not brought together in cohesion. I would have liked it to be more straight forward.
The author's writing is brilliant in many ways (humorous, satirical, amusing and immensely creative) but also drawn-out and tedious in many instances. I did feel the need to ditch the book during those tedious narrations. But in the end, I am glad that I stuck with it and finished it. I liked how the story travels through history. The book draws the reader to envision the complex nature of the birth of these two nations (with an equally complex narrative) and the struggles in the early years of formalizing themselves.
Dropping of the atom bomb, end of World War II, Jallianwala Bagh, India's independence from the British, partition of Bombay into Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Indo-Chinese war of 1962, India Pakistan war over Kashmir in 1965, Indo Pakistan war 1971 which led to the birth of Bangladesh as a separate country, Indira Gandhi's emergency 1975-77 are some of the historic events through which the story travels.
I found the early history of Bombay and it's partition after independence interesting. I haven't read war stories set in India and I was unaware of the specifics of the birth of Bangladesh as a separate nation. The chapter 'In the Sunderbans' where Saleem is caught in the Sunderban forests bordering India and Bangladesh during the 1971 war after losing his family, especially was poignant.
Saleem's grandmother, Naseem Ghani's (who is often referred to as 'Reverand Mother') idiosyncracy and her catch phrase 'whatsitsname' I thought was amusing.
The book has left me wanting to hear more stories of the people during the partition how their lives were touched by that very significant part of the country's history and the wars that followed.
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