Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries) (Paperback)

~ Norbert Schurer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'With the first volume I was relieved. After two or three I was hooked...Highly finished and pleasantly handleable as books in their own right, they gesture accommodatingly to both worlds and words beyond.' Times Higher Educational Supplement. 'A brilliant idea - short, perceptive books which tell you what you need to know about some of the most vibrant and challenging writing around today--a bit like having a reading group in your pocket.' Ian Rankin

Product Description

This book provides an accessible and informative introduction to "Midnight's Children." It includes a short biography of the author, an analysis of the novel drawing out the most important themes and ideas, a summary of how the novel was received

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Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group (January 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082641575X
• ISBN-13: 978-0826415752
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99,761 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destiny vs Desire, October 9, 2009

By	Lorraine F. Cecil "True Believer" (Bemidji, MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Readers who like to see main characters overcome problems in their lives and the lives of their loved ones will enjoy this book. Readers who enjoy social commentary and offbeat characters will enjoy it more. Readers who revel in allegory combined with beautiful language, frequent dream-like sequences,, and a plot both outlandish and believable will be ecstatic. Rushdie, a transplanted Indian, views the independence and eventual partition of India through the eyes one of the children born at midnight when India becomes independent.

These children are blessed--perhaps cursed is a better word--with unusual understanding and gifts. His interpretation of Indian development from that point on is so complex that he borrows literary techniques from Lawrence Sterne, Gunter Grass and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to express himself. In his view these childrenf are important because "it is the privilege and the curse of midnight's children to be both masters and victims of their times...."