Book Review: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Am I allowed to review fiction? I’m not sure how interested you political types will be in Rushdie’s work, but Midnight’s Children is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. And, like all good fiction, it illuminates reality at every turn.
Saleem Sinai, Rushdie’s protagonist, was one of 1001 children born on the stroke of midnight as India achieved independence from Britain on August 15, 1947. All of the children have magical powers, and Saleem realizes that he is able to communicate with them mentally, although he has never even met most of them. The reader is taken through realistic and magical incidences in Kashmir, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh until she no longer knows what is, or could possibly be, real. The result is a masterful picture of India’s new-found freedom, social unrest, and the consternation left behind by the departing British. For example, Saleem’s family is proud to purchase the home of an ex-British officer in Delhi. However, in order to secure the extraordinarily good deal on this house, the officer quirkily requires them to observe the “cocktail hour.”
Saleem’s entire life seems to track with India’s own development. He claims that his body is cracking into tiny pieces, just as India is partitioned into India and Pakistan, and then Bangladesh. As a small child, he happens to have personal run-ins with figures such as Indira Ghandi and Ayub Khan. He also believes that the sole reason behind the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was the annihilation of his family.
Rushdie explores in some depth one of modern fiction writers’ favorite themes: the manipulation of reality. He writes, “Memory’s truth, because memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, its heterogeneous but usually coherent versions of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else’s version more than his own.” Does that remind anyone else of our current political climate?
Midnight’s Children, although written in a Gabriel Garcia Marquez-like style of magical realism, perhaps presents as true an account of India’s colorful history as any textbook. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in India and Pakistan, religious or political conflict, history, or just a good (nay, great!) read. There are still a few precious weeks left to read what you want before school starts up again.
You should most certainly review fiction here. There is little more political than fiction. I’ve not read much Rushdie (except what is required for Brit. Lit 2) but I did write a paper last semester using his notion of Imaginary Homelands. He believes that first generation immigrants (those who were born in, but have left) can offer a unique, accurate, but fractured view of their homeland.
My paper focused Rushdie’s idea in relation to the work of Hanif Kureishi as a second generation Pakistani living in London.
Rushdie’s thought gives an interesting idea as to why American modernist ex-pats wrote so wonderfully about the state of America at the time.
Indeed, we should definitely review fiction. I would have, had I not embarked upon my journey into the Heart of the Lion.
Good, concise review of the book, Karie. Although I haven’t read any historical fiction explicitly over India/Pakistan/Bangladesh, I did read a few biographical and political pieces over the region. One rather lengthy two-part series about A.Q. Khan by William Langewiesche (in The Atlantic) and a couple of chapters out of Fareed Zakaria’s new book “The Post American World and the Rise of the Rest.” I think the study of East Asian political, social, and literary information will be increasingly important as the “post-American World” approaches. Note: To really understand the “post-American World” label, I highly recommend reading Zakaria’s recent writings about it.
Would you recommend this book to a Pakistani citizen (American green card holder) who is looking to better understand the political and social history of his people? The reason I ask is that I work with a Pakistani who is always curious for insight about the political perception of his country (both American and Regional).
Steve– I definitely would recommend it to your Pakistani colleague. Large sections of the book are set in Pakistan, and Rushdie never really lets his protagonist take sides in the Indo-Pakistani conflict. Rushdie comes from a rather unique position in that he is Indian-born, London-educated, and fled to America to escape the Fatwa, so he can legitimately speak for many kinds of people.
Ian– I like your notion of the Amer. ex-pats. I’ll be thinking on that one for awhile. And if all that you’ve read is “The Prophet’s Hair,” drop everything you’re doing and read a novel immediately!
I don’t know that I’ll drop everything, but I’ll get around to it.
I may gently take issue with you having said that Rushdie can legitimately speak for many people. I think he has a unique perspective, but I doubt that even he believes he can speak for people. (Even Gayatri Spivak doesn’t believe she can speak for Indian women.)
I would highly recommend that you read Rushdie’s essay “Imaginary Homelands.” I know that it can be found in a collection of non-fiction by the same title and it is surely available through JStor or some similar databases.
I look forward to more fiction reviews here!!
I’ve read bits and snatches of Imaginary Homelands, actually. It was a source for a paper a couple of years ago. But you’re right– I should get back to it and read the whole thing.