wargortarg 's review for:

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

4.0

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My first Rushdie novel, rather the first of his where I worked through battling his literary style. Now that I have come to the end of it with no more than a little bruises, I can spend some time putting it in perspective. As you go deeper in, you draw parallels with Forrest Gump, X-men, Cobalt Blue, Sense8 and a treasure trove of other works..and then you realize this came out in 1981, well before the rest. The narration is raw, interspersed with multiple timelines at times, so it is not easy reading at any point in time. Then there are references of historical figures around India's independence and you keep wondering who is real, who isn't. It is a tight ropewalk, reading this book but it is rewarding. I did feel if I had read "India after Gandhi" before I picked this up, I would have a better understanding of the sequence of events. In any case, Rushdie makes it as grand as the game of thrones with many characters meeting their unique fates and doesn't compromise on the storyline.