Posted by Guillermo Maynez
on 11/9/2009, 15:20:51
189.239.86.118
I finished "Midnight's Children" yesterday. I liked it, it was fun to follow the history of modern India (which seems to have been the country of 2009 at ReadLit) through the life of Saeed Sinai, possibly Rushdie's alter ego even if the novel is not autobiographical at all. I can't say Saeed was exactly likable, too freak for that, but I did root for him throughout his difficult and tormented life. The literary idea to link every important historical development to his personal troubles and adventures was ingenious, and many of the other characters were interesting as well. However, I still find it kind of annoying that almost every epic story from "underdeveloped" countries, especially Latin American and Asian, has to sound like the authors really need to dwell on the sordid and escatoligical in order to convey... what, I don't know, possibly the "different life" lived in these countries, possibly to underscore the "exotic".
Rushdie is certainly a capable writer and some sentences were memorable, like "The most important things in your life happen in your absence".
Did anyone read it now or in the past?
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