Resumo de Midnight's Children

Midnight's Children is broad in scope, ambitious in narrative technique, full of surprising characters in ordinary situations, and ordinary characters in surprising situations. The novel follows the life of Saleem Sinai, born on the stroke of midnight, August 15, 1947, the eve of India's independence. The intertwining of the personal with the political becomes a major theme throughout the book with the characters' personal lives mimicking and mirroring the struggles of the country.

Saleem is one of 581 children born on this day. By an accident of birth, this band of midnight?s children share more than a birthday; they share the burden of their country's optimism weighing squarely on their childish shoulders.

As Saleem narrates the novel, we move back and forth in time, retracing the steps of Saleem's ancestors as if their stories might enable us to better understand and accept Saleem's behavior. The narrative moves in a jerky fashion, lurching forward to reveal events, people, and places, the looping back, acknowledging that what we have just read is not the truth, but the closest he can get to the truth, then forging forward again with abandon. The narrator is obsessed with telling his story. There is a sense of inevitable decay, as if Saleem must tell us his story before he crumbles into dust like some ancient ruins.

If you know nothing about the politics and history of India, you should still be able to appreciate this novel. If you know anything about this era and region, you'll recognize references to Zulfiqar Bhutto, Indira Ghandi and other historical figures. For the knowledgeable reader, the interplay between the historical and the fictional becomes part of the story.

Rushdie also takes full advantage of India's infamous movie industry, ranging from character's who are movie directors and actors, to using the language of film-making, to presenting visual, panoramic descriptions. The notion of story telling is, in fact, part of the story: what we remember, what we perceive, and what we are willing to repeat.

Rushdie?s characters are full of secrets. Wives are concealed by sheets, husbands locked in basements, and sisters protected by veils. Names are changed and identifies are swapped. Yet all this secrecy is presented through a narrative voice that is desperate to tell the truth.

Saleem?s life are often related in a style that is far from traditional. Sometimes Rushdie abandons commas altogether, presenting scenes in a breathless rush. Names are lumped together so that boundaries between the characters blur. Occasionally, the narrator speaks to the reader directly. These surprising techniques keep the reader wondering about the relationship between the individual and the historical. The reader is never allowed to slip into traditional narrative story telling for any length of time.

All ambitious novels risk of running out of steam. When we get caught up on in novels that span decades and generations, books that take us weeks to finish, that we live we night after night ? all such books have questionable endings. Rushdie?s novel is no exception. We simply aren?t ready to be done with Saleem and Parvati-the-witch. We want to know the true fate of Jamila Singer, Aadam Sinad a book of such grand scale should close on such a quiet note does not ring false but can?t help but be a bit of a let down. The voice of Saleem is so full of pulsing energy that it feels wrong for it to be silenced.

Midnight?s Children is one of Rushdie?s early novels and is a good introduction to his scope, literary style, and interests. Next on my list: The Satanic Verses.

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