Review: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Book 1)

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie is a two time winner of the Booker Prize and just a little intimidating (to me at least).  I started the book last year and, although captivated by it, I also found it tough going at times.  So, when I heard about a read-a-long hosted by Arti of Ripple Effects and Bellezza of Dolce Bellezza I thought this would be a great way to break the book down into small parts and finish it. The novel is broken into three "books" which divides nicely for a read-a-long.  First up,  

Book One:
In book one, we meet our narrator Saleem Sinai who tells of his birth on August 15, 1947  - the day India gained its independence from Britain. The novel parallels the history of India and many pivotal moments in the book, such as Saleem's birth, coincide with great moments in world or Indian history.  After recounting the story of his birth, Saleem takes us back to the story of his grandfather, Aadam in Kashmir.  Aadam falls in love with Naseem and their bizarre courtship takes place through a hole in a sheet (this, of course, has symbolic meaning). Saleem continues with the story, at the urging of his wife Padma, and fast forwards to 1942 when his grandparents are living in Agra with their five children.   Three of the five children are girls and are pursued by suitors.  Ahmed Sinai marries Aadam's daughter Mumtaz and she will ultimately give birth to Saleem on the birthday of modern India.

I have significantly skimmed the storyline in the summary above essentially only providing a sketch. The book is multilayered and the stories so fantastic it is impossible to get into too much of the plot without making a summary confusing.  Suffice it to say, there is a lot going on in Book One.  Saleem tells his story in an unedited style and it seems rushed at times - almost as if he needs to get the story out.  This style lends itself to a lot of detail and jumps forward and backward in time.  It does take some getting used to but by the end of Book One I have adjusted to it.

Overall, I am impressed by the many threads Rushdie has weaved together in the story so far and am looking forward to seeing what happens to those threads as we move into Book Two.  The image below of an Indian wall hanging reminds me of this novel - rich with detail and deeply layered.

Source

 You can read more recaps of Book One from the read a long participants at Arti's or Bellezza's blogs.  Book Two will be covered on April 30th.

Have you read Midnight's Children or anything by Rushdie?