Midnight's Children

By: Salman Rushdie

Narrated by: Lyndam Gregory

Length: 24 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Man Booker Prize Winner, 1981

Salman Rushdie holds the literary world in awe with a jaw-dropping catalog of critically acclaimed novels that have made him one of the world's most celebrated authors. Winner of the prestigious Booker of Bookers, Midnight's Children tells the story of Saleem Sinai, born on the stroke of India's independence.

©1981 Salman Rushdie (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Burgeons with life, with exuberance and fantasy . . . Rushdie is a writer of courage, impressive strength, and sheer stylistic brilliance.” (The Washington Post Book World)

“A marvelous epic . . . Rushdie’s prose snaps into playback and flash-forward . . . stopping on images, vistas, and characters of unforgettable presence. Their range is as rich as India herself.” (Newsweek)

“Extraordinary . . . one of the most important [novels] to come out of the English-speaking world in this generation.” (The New York Review of Books)

Midnights Children

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a good book...if you can get by all the twists and turns to understand what is going on.I love Rushdies books but this one left me wonder 'WHAT was that about' long after reading it.

What about Lyndam Gregory’s performance did you like?

The narrorator was great!

Any additional comments?

Out of all his books I wonder how THIS one got picked to be a movie.

Ugh.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Most everything.

Would you ever listen to anything by Salman Rushdie again?

Nope. Maybe Satanic Versus, but it would be a long shot. When I read the Satanic Versus in college, I thought maybe I was missing something of Rushdie's profundity because I was unfamiliar with Islamic history. Now that I'm more familiar with that history, I could be persuaded to give it another go. After listening to Midnight's Children, however, the persuasive effort would need to be profound. It's an interesting idea--telling the story of place or ideology through fictional characters and absurdist exaggeration--but it's too much and too silly to be considered profound. I'd much rather just read the history.

What does Lyndam Gregory bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Accents.

Did Midnight's Children inspire you to do anything?

Like what? Start a revolution? Work on my mystical powers? Read more? Ask stupid questions? No. I don't think the book is supposed to be inspirational, is it?

A Wonderful Surprise

I was not familiar with Salman Rushdie's work. I leaped to the conclusion that Midnight's Children would be a dark, serious book because of the title of Rushdie's Satanic Verses and his being the target of a death threat. Was I surprised when I started listening to this imaginative, funny, whimsical book!

The narrator is amazing. I know some reviewers have complained that his pronunciation of certain words isn't correct, but I wouldn't know if it is or isn't. All I can say is that he is an amazing actor. He nails the accents, uses different intonations for various characters' voices, and enhances my comprehension and enjoyment immeasurably. I'm having a great time with Midnight's Children.

I wish they had a proper Indian actor reading it

What did you love best about Midnight's Children?

One of the most enjoyable audiobooks I have heard happens to be Samantha Bond's reading of DH Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. This bok could have reached similar heights if only the publisher had hired a proper Indian actor like Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher, or Sayeed Jaffrey to read it. This version of the audiobook is read by an English actor with immaculate British accent who mangles most of the Indian names and sounds distinctly uncomfortable in the trade mark Rushdie English, where characters develop through the nuances of Indian idiom and diction and what is locally known as Bombaiya hindi. Imagine a British actor reading EL Doctorow's Ragtime or Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer !!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Saleem Sinai, of course, for his transformation as the book progresses.

How could the performance have been better?

Hire any good Indian actor to read a book about India called midnight's children. I am not talking about hiring another British-born Ox-Bridge accented Indian.

If you could rename Midnight's Children, what would you call it?

Ragtime for India. Rushdie did what EL Doctorow did to US history in his novel, Ragtime.

Any additional comments?

Any chance we can get a good reader with proper regional Indian accents to redo this book as well as Rushdie's short stories "East West" and Satanic verses into decent audiobooks ? This can be a good movie tie in with recent release of the movie of Midnight's children.

This is Why I Join Book Clubs

I have avoided this book for 25 years. I was sure I would either hate it or fail to understand it. When my reading group selected it, I cringed. Now that I have finished it, I must include it in my very short list of lifetime favorites. It is a worthy rival to Love in the Time of Cholera for #1 on this list.
Rushdie's crystaline writing and Gregory's superb performance join in an alchemy that produces pure gold.
Do not miss this!

magical

Midnight's Children is difficult to read, but absolutely fantastic in the audible form.
After I listened to the whole book, I still revisit snippets to feast on the language.

A personal reading of history

Rushdie tells the story of the birth of modern India and Pakistan through the eyes of a child born at the moment of partition. Great mixture of history and magical realism.

Beautiful rendition, but...

Listening to books is an unforgettable experience, especially the books one loves. "Midnight's Children" is one of my favorites, and continues to be in audio form as well. Lyndam Gregory does a beautiful rendition of Midnight's Children. He gives each character a unique voice that makes them come alive. As the listener, you can see the characters in your mind. Gregory has the ability to evoke the essence of each character. Most importantly, he delivers the high drama of Rushdie's book. But... the only thing that was a bit of a put-off was the pronunciations of the names of the characters. Gregory does an excellent job with various kinds of Indian accents - it is obvious that he has really worked at it. However, he is not quite able to pronounce names, i.e., the proper nouns. Every time he says "Parvati" it sounds like "poverty", and "Nizam" always comes out as "Nazim", and so on. I would still highly recommend this audio book - it is a wonderful companion on a long drive.

Great book, not a fan of fake indian accent

What did you love best about Midnight's Children?

This book is very good and as reviewed by many, it stands as Salman Rushdie's best.

What did you like best about this story?

This is an awesome and fantastical account of India's birthing and growing pains. Some of the really important historical moments are told in a way I have never heard them before. The pain and suffering of all those years is hidden in plain sight by way of Rushdie's whimsical writing.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was good in parts, but, I can't stand that fake Indian accent. I am an Indian and I implore all the Narrators to stop doing that. I get it, we don't speak like you do but please stop over emphasizing those "t"s "d"s and "r"s. It is really jarring!!!

Rushdie's Epic

A sweeping novel of Mid 20th Century India told with fantasy and humor. Rushdie is a brilliant writer who shows the history of India through the eyes of Salim, one of the children born on the stroke of midnight that heralded India's independence from Britain. This book is not an easy listen - one that you can listen to while doing other things. There are multiple characters and for someone not real familiar with Indian names, it is difficult to remember who everyone is, especially when you hear but not see the written names of people and places. I would recommend reading this instead of only listening to get the most out of the novel and if you are not familiar with post-independence Indian history, then you should check out some other sources. I have a cursory knowledge, but found myself not knowing who the author was referencing at times. I will probably get the book to read as this is a novel that can be read many times.

I liked the narrator very much, although I understand that he is using more a British than Indian accent. His voice was pleasant to listen to and his female voices were good.