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notthatcosta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I kinda went all over the place with this one - I was dreading starting it because it's so damn long (the longest book I've read, in fact) and to be honest I remain unconvinced that this book (or any book for that matter) has any right being over 600 pages.
I tend to struggle with first person narration at the best of times, but when it's this indulgent, tangiential and scattered as this it became a slog to try and follow the plot. With a story as expansive, there were also a lot of characters (many having multiple names) which also made it hard to know which threads to pay attention to. Even our narrator often switched how he referred to himself...
While I would say Gabriel García Márquez's 100 Years of Solitude is a far better execution of a similar story (and even provided a graphic to help you follow the family tree), I really enjoyed book 2 because of its focus on the family and its dysfunction, which is always a winner for me in a novel. When it was meandering preamble about ancestors who you don't get much time with or our antihero being kind of awful, I was less invested.
On the positive side, it has a great premise and most of the plot is pretty riveting despite the execution being spotty. I can see why it's so beloved, because it's a remarkable work of fiction despite my critiques.
I tend to struggle with first person narration at the best of times, but when it's this indulgent, tangiential and scattered as this it became a slog to try and follow the plot. With a story as expansive, there were also a lot of characters (many having multiple names) which also made it hard to know which threads to pay attention to. Even our narrator often switched how he referred to himself...
While I would say Gabriel García Márquez's 100 Years of Solitude is a far better execution of a similar story (and even provided a graphic to help you follow the family tree), I really enjoyed book 2 because of its focus on the family and its dysfunction, which is always a winner for me in a novel. When it was meandering preamble about ancestors who you don't get much time with or our antihero being kind of awful, I was less invested.
On the positive side, it has a great premise and most of the plot is pretty riveting despite the execution being spotty. I can see why it's so beloved, because it's a remarkable work of fiction despite my critiques.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Classism, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Incest, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Body horror, Pregnancy, Racism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, Animal death, Colonisation, Incest, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Torture, Infidelity, and Body horror
nannahnannah's review against another edition
2.0
Whew, I love Salman Rushdie's other works, but this one just didn't work for me. Maybe it went over my head, maybe I'm just not it's target audience, or maybe it's just not for me, but in any case I found myself counting down the pages for it to end.
And yeah, the content warnings hit nearly everything that makes me extremely uncomfortable, and if not for the fact I had already read over half the book already (and the fact that this book is HUGE) I would have given up on it.
Midnight's Children is a huge novel about the births of Saleem Sinai (the protagonist and narrator) and also India herself at midnight, August 15, 1947. In the style of an autobiography, Saleem covers the life of his father and his father's father before he comes to his own life and India's independence, talking about what makes you you and how your shape your life (and what it means for his country as well).
It's not done there, though, because as a side-effect of being born on midnight of India's birth, Saleem has become a "Child of Midnight", something that's granted him supernatural powers, and also granted 1001 other children born within the hour similar powers. For Saleem, it's the ability to read other people's minds.
All this in one book. Albeit one massive book, but one book nonetheless.
The beginning half was interesting, and I loved an inside look into what India was like, but once the narrative turned to the protagonist himself, Saleem Sinai, I lost interest. He has to be the most conceited, vain, and just annoying protagonist I've ever read, even absolutely convinced the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 solely happened to purify him of sin. That things happened in the world just because and for him. I couldn't wait for the book to be over just to be rid of him and his story!
I think part of a book's appeal is the main character, and that's why the latter half (which is huge) just left me wanting this to be over. I just couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I'm so sorry, because I do love this author and I know how much this is a "classic masterpiece". :S But it just wasn't for me.
And yeah, the content warnings hit nearly everything that makes me extremely uncomfortable, and if not for the fact I had already read over half the book already (and the fact that this book is HUGE) I would have given up on it.
Midnight's Children is a huge novel about the births of Saleem Sinai (the protagonist and narrator) and also India herself at midnight, August 15, 1947. In the style of an autobiography, Saleem covers the life of his father and his father's father before he comes to his own life and India's independence, talking about what makes you you and how your shape your life (and what it means for his country as well).
It's not done there, though, because as a side-effect of being born on midnight of India's birth, Saleem has become a "Child of Midnight", something that's granted him supernatural powers, and also granted 1001 other children born within the hour similar powers. For Saleem, it's the ability to read other people's minds.
All this in one book. Albeit one massive book, but one book nonetheless.
The beginning half was interesting, and I loved an inside look into what India was like, but once the narrative turned to the protagonist himself, Saleem Sinai, I lost interest. He has to be the most conceited, vain, and just annoying protagonist I've ever read, even absolutely convinced the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 solely happened to purify him of sin. That things happened in the world just because and for him. I couldn't wait for the book to be over just to be rid of him and his story!
I think part of a book's appeal is the main character, and that's why the latter half (which is huge) just left me wanting this to be over. I just couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I'm so sorry, because I do love this author and I know how much this is a "classic masterpiece". :S But it just wasn't for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, and Pedophilia
re: incest:
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