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jgard816 's review for:
Midnight's Children
by Salman Rushdie
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There's quite a bit to digest in this book. It's very bound up in the story of India's independence and the partition of India and Pakistan, of which I have only a cursory historical knowledge. I do think that Rushdie does a good job of making it clear which parts are historical and which parts are invented for the most part, but without the requisite background knowledge I did have to guess a few times. The nuances of the politics went completely over my head. I'd be interested in pairing this with a nonfiction book that goes over some of the historical events that this book runs in parallel with.
The writing style is overwrought, but that does match with the narrator's perception of his own story--it's not distracting, but it is a way to characterize the narrator. While the events are presented in chronological order, more or less, the framing device of the narrator recounting his story to a companion means that he's often alluding to future events, foreshadowing in a way that feels natural and conversational.
The writing style is overwrought, but that does match with the narrator's perception of his own story--it's not distracting, but it is a way to characterize the narrator. While the events are presented in chronological order, more or less, the framing device of the narrator recounting his story to a companion means that he's often alluding to future events, foreshadowing in a way that feels natural and conversational.