Midnight's Children will keep you up much later. Review on Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

Rushdie is a well established author who proves his ability yet again in Midnight?s Children. My first experience with him was with Haroun and the Sea of Stories (great book ? I reviewed that too). That made me fall in love with him as an author and this book has solidified those feelings. I read this book three years ago, but it is still vivid in my mind.

Midnight?s children is set at the time right before and after India?s independence. During the hour before independence all the children born have a special gift. One child can fly, one can change gender, and there are a host of different abilities?.1,001 to be exact. Yet the two most powerful gifts were bestowed at midnight to Saleem and Shiva. Saleem is the story?s narrator and Shiva is Saleem?s nemesis. This book truly is a masterpiece of magical realism. Through the character of Saleem the progressions and regressions of India as a country are examined. Not only through his storytelling, but also through parallels of his physical status. Rushdie manages to tell the same story many times in one book on so many different levels. Just for the appreciation of that craftsmanship should you read this book.

But that alone cannot make a book a fun read ? but this one is! With characters as awesome as these this book is a sort of comic set in a very real world, at a very real time. Rushdie also tells great stories. One of my favorite parts of the book illustrates how some very clever parents arrange for the local doctor to fall in love with their daughter. Keep in mind that India at this time has some very strict cultural practices including one were a woman could not be seen my men out side of her family. I won?t give this little part of the book away because it is such a good story within itself. Let Rushdie show you how great his imagination is, your imagination will thank you!