Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Where to begin? This book is epic in scale and tale. It takes place over 50ish years of Indian history, from the late colonial period, through the partition of Pakistan, Indian independence, Indo-Pakistani war, war between East and West Pakistan, and through the "Emergency" of Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. The story takes place all over the subcontinent, from Bombay to Karachi to Kashmir, and many, many other places. Further, the cast of characters is enormous. Just a few from memory: Saleem Sinai, Parvati-the-witch, Amina Sinai, Mary Pereira, Alice Pereira, Ahmed Sinai, Picture Singh, Mian Abdullah, Padma, William Methwold, Aadam Aziz, Naseem Aziz, Hanif Aziz, Jamila (Sinai) Singer (aka The Brass Monkey), General Zulfikar, Shiva, Wee Willie Winkie, Tai the boatman, Pia Aziz, Nussie-the-duck, Eyeslice, Hairoil, Cyrus-the-great, Evie Burns, Glandy Keith, Commander Sabarmarti...need I go on? There are many more and frankly, it's difficult to keep them straight. However, to Rushdie's credit, there seems to be a purpose to all of the characters.

Essentially, it is the story of Saleem Sinai, born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the precise moment when India threw off the yoke of British colonial rule. But, as you can tell from the above, it's much more than that. Saleem's struggles are a microcosm of the struggles of the new nation. It's also a story of the role of the individual in history, in a family (and does nature or nurture make a family?), and in a nation. It's also a story of colonialism and post-colonialism. A story of a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilinguistic culture. So, you have all that, then throw in some magical realism: Saleem is a telepath with a preternatural sense of smell. So, in short, the book is extremely complicated, but also extremely rewarding.

Book One is the backstory of Saleem's family. Book Two is Saleem's and India's coming of age story. Book Three marks then end of the power of Midnight's Children and hands it off to a new generation. This is paralleled in India with the repressive measures of Indira Gandhi's Emergency. How to tell more without giving anything away? It's probably impossible, so I won't try to tell any more, other than that it's just a wonderful book.

Rushdie's writing is exceptional and his dropping of breadcrumbs to keep the reader interested in what's coming next is just amazing. He does this without patronizing the reader's intelligence, but certainly stokes the reader's curiosity to turn the pages to find the resolution to all these threads of the story. Rushdie is a master weaver of tales.

I learned so much about India and it's peoples (from the lowest to the highest) from this book. I realize it's historical fiction, but even having read Kim earlier in the year, I never realized what a vibrant multi-cultural jumble India is. It's certainly whetted my appetite to learn more.

Midnight's Children ranks in the top three of the books I read on my list this year. I would find it hard to rank it better or worse than Beloved or The Naked and the Dead, but that's lofty company to be in.