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Midnight's Children: A Novel | |||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Catalog: Book Release date: 2006-04-04 Media: Paperback Number of pages: 560 Ean: 9780812976533 Book Isbn: 0812976533  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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Written on July 26, 2007 Summary: Over-baked, but fantastic "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie is called a 'Great Book of the 20th Century" and "a modern classic," and rightly so. This novel is one of the most interesting and memorable of the 20th century, and one of the best novels by a living writer, at least that I have read. Rushdie weaves a semi-historical, semi-mythical portrayal of the newly formed nation-state of India. Throughout the book, I kept thinking that the protagonist was actually Rushdie himself; or, perhaps the protagonist represents Rushdie's generation, since he was born in Bombay in 1947. The plot is interesting indeed, which I won't get into because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Let's just say that the protagonist relates the life of himself and his immediate ancestors in such a way to make Rushdie the "Indian mythmaker." The writing is often too much in some places, and I feel that Rushdie over did it in a few places. I do like how Rushdie would refer to his own metaphors throughtout the book to keep the reader focused, because the reader can indeed get lost in the plot if one is not careful. This novel is often put next to "One Hundred Years of Solitude" because of its style. I might agree to that to some extent, primarily because each of these two novels have a different purpose. They are both written in the style of magical realism, but again, each novel has it's own purpose. If Rushdie had kept his writing focused on India in his subsequent novels, I believe that he would be to India what J.M. Coetzee is to South Africa. However, Rushdie's scope is much broader than one country or even one culture. Anyway, that's another topic. Overall, if you have never read Rushdie, this is a great place to start.  Written on June 14, 2007 Summary: One of the Ten Greatest Novels Ever Written The thing that really surprised me about Midnight's Children, by the end of it, was its generally sardonic attitude towards the magical symbolism and omens that are so central to the plot. So much is made of the mystical connections relating to the main character (Saleem Sinai), so much promise is set up in the story, that it's surprising when the abuse starts being heaped on Saleem with almost sadistic relentlessness. By the end of the story Rushdie has portrayed a startlingly pessimistic view of the "potential" of the innocent. And, with the obvious parallels between the life of Saleem Sinai and the development of modern India, Rushdie also exhibits a pessimistic and fairly depressing forecast for the future of one of the world's most populous nations. But amidst all that is an epic; a collection of stories that seems almost like "A Thousand and One Nights" in its scope. The magical realism style Rushdie employs is far less confusing than that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: where Marquez's rambling, stream of consciousness writing serves largely to (intentionally) disorient the reader, Rushdie (through a liberal use of semi-colons) gently guides the reader through narrative leaps spanning both time and distance. Astonishingly descriptive, Rushdie is almost more a painter than a writer in this book: the near 550 pages pass by with a very economical use of dialogue, and it is the scenes and descriptions that provide the meat and memories of the novel. Those who are fans of Tolkein and other authors who write lavishly detailed stories simply cannot miss this novel. "Midnight's Children" plays out like an Oscar-winning film or a very vivid, elaborate dream. Written on May 8, 2007 Summary: The Booker of Bookers It's no wonder that this book won the 1993 Booker of Bookers. It is amazingly written and the story is hugely engaging. The narrative is delicious, Rushdie paints his book with the skill of a real artist. An amazing read, and highly recommended by me.  Written on April 28, 2007 Summary: Terrible Book Rushdie's book Midnight's Children is unbearable. The book is extremely repetitive and boring. Rushdie attempts to avoid this criticism by being "unique" and using a stream of consciousness technique that infuriated me consistently during the reading. The book is filled with supposedly "deep" metaphors, which are actually incredibly superficial and annoying. Rushdie's arrogance and narcissism is reflected by the main character of the book, Saleem, who spends the majority of a 500 page novel complaining about how life hasn't treated him fairly. Prior to reading the novel I was disgusted by what I knew of Indian tradition in general, particularly the caste system and pervasive racism in the country. This novel did little to enlighten western readers to some redeeming quality in their society, and left me, a staunch liberal, reconsidering how bad colonialism actually was. Since I realize that colonialism was one of the most immoral actions perpetrated by any group of people in history, it only goes to show you how negatively Rushdie portrays what should be a vibrant culture. Since this seems to be the only reason to market this novel towards western readers, I am forced to conclude that this novel is a complete failure. Written on March 11, 2007 Summary: dumdum 25 dollar toiletpaper had fair expectations. rushdie spends too much time being cutesy and obnoxiously witty. read a book on indian history instead. |
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| Price comparison |
 Midnight's Children: A Novel |
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| Our price | $10.17 | $12.80 | $17.16 | $10.17 | $8.40 | $7.95 |
| List price | $14.95 | $16.00 | $26.00 | $14.95 | $14.00 | $14.00 |
| Lowest used price | $7.99 | $9.28 | $7.19 | $0.01 | $7.39 | $7.82 |
| Lowest new price | $8.84 | $9.29 | $8.39 | $4.69 | $7.35 | $7.09 |
| Collectible price | $150.00 | $26.00 | $25.00 | $14.95 | - | - |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2006-04-04 | 2008-03-11 | 2008-05-27 | 1998-05-06 | 2008-10-14 | 2008-09-02 |
| Media | Paperback | Paperback | Hardcover | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback |
| Number of pages | 560 | 576 | 368 | 336 | 304 | 352 |
| Ean | 9780812976533 | 9780812976717 | 9780375504334 | 9780060977498 | 9781416562603 | 9781594483295 |
| Book Isbn | 0812976533 | 0812976711 | 0375504338 | 0060977493 | 1416562605 | 1594483299 |
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