Midnight's Children
Published on 18. May 1995
Book
Paperback/Softback
672 pages
978-0-09-957851-2 (ISBN)
Description
'India has produced a great novelist...a master of perpetual storytelling' V.S. Pritchett, New Yorker
Born at the stroke of midnight, at the precise moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai is destined from birth to be special. For he is one of 1,001 children born in the midnight hour, children who all have special gifts, children with whom Saleem is telepathically linked.
But there has been a terrible mix up at birth, and Saleem's life takes some unexpected twists and turns. As he grows up amidst a whirlwind of triumphs and disasters, Saleem must learn the ominous consequences of his gift, for the course of his life is inseparably linked to that of his motherland, and his every act is mirrored and magnified in the events that shape the newborn nation of India.
It is a great gift, and a terrible burden.
Born at the stroke of midnight, at the precise moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai is destined from birth to be special. For he is one of 1,001 children born in the midnight hour, children who all have special gifts, children with whom Saleem is telepathically linked.
But there has been a terrible mix up at birth, and Saleem's life takes some unexpected twists and turns. As he grows up amidst a whirlwind of triumphs and disasters, Saleem must learn the ominous consequences of his gift, for the course of his life is inseparably linked to that of his motherland, and his every act is mirrored and magnified in the events that shape the newborn nation of India.
It is a great gift, and a terrible burden.
Reviews / Votes
A wonderful, rich and humane novel that is safe to call a classic. * Guardian * Midnight's Children is also full of such zest for every messy aspect of life that you can't help but feel inspired * Guardian * Rushdie's novel took a post-colonial "empire fights back" spirit, and a deep personal understanding of the politics of Indian partition, and exploded them into something teeming with imaginative life... He inhabits a hybrid consciousness, with a telepathic connection to the other children of midnight, and tells its stories for all he is worth. * Observer * The extraordinary alchemy of Midnight's Children was its miraculous fusion of the fantastical and the historical. * Evening Standard * A magical-realist reflection of the issues India faced post-independence including culture, language, religion, and politics... It's a truly incredible work. * Verdict * A head-spinning tale... Rushdie's masterpiece virtually invented a new language for Anglo-Indian literature -- John Walsh * Reader's Digest * Totally different to anything I'd read before: hilarious at times, frustrating at times, exploring how history is linked into our lives, plus lots of metaphors about chutney * Skinny * 'Salman Rushdie has earned the right to be called one of our great storytellers.' Observer 'Huge, vital, engrossing... in all senses a fantastic book.' Sunday Times 'The literary map of India has been redrawn... Midnight's Children sounds like a country finding its voice.' New York TimesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
487 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-957851-2 (9780099578512)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2023
Vintage Classics
€24.00
Available immediately
E-Book
09/2010
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Previous edition
Person
Salman Rushdie is the author of eight novels, one collection of short stories, and four works of non-fiction, and the co-editor of The Vintage Book of Indian Writing. In 1993 Midnight's Children was judged to be the 'Booker of Bookers', the best novel to have won the Booker Prize in its first 25 years. The Moor's Last Sigh won the Whitbread Prize in 1995, and the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature in 1996. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.