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)

Good listen

Midnight's Children isn't an easy book to listen to first time around; and it certainly took me many hours of listening before getting a grip (that, too, somewhat tenuous) on the story line, which is full of twists, and exceptions, and clarifications, and which jumps back and forth in time and points of view.

Nonetheless, it is a really funny story. I must have laughed out loud at least few times. The text and the narration easily capture the irony and hypocrisy one finds in India (and Pakistan).

As to the narration, well ... I think Lyndam Gregory has put in a lot of effort to get it right. To bring the text to life. Unfortunately he didn't succeed. He simply couldn't pronounce any of the Indian names or terms properly. At times I had to refer to the text (which, thankfully, was available for download online) to understand what was being read.

I plan to listen to again.

Booker of Booker – twice! Magical offering.

Quite a story! Unbelievably funny and yet poignant, this book is a must read/listen. This is a true modern day classic in every possible way. I can believe that in the future, book lovers will adopt this masterpiece in a similar fashion to works from Dickens, Austen, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, or any other great author.

Saleem Sinai, the boy with the elephant nose captured my imagination from the onset. Born at midnight on India’s dawn, swapped at birth, possessing telepathic smarts, he takes us on a life journey filled with amazing experiences in a crowded landscape of eccentric people. Mr. Rushdie outdoes himself with his mystical and magical prose in this remarkable novel.

As I read this book, I wanted transport myself to Methwold's Estate, home to Saleem in Book 1, and greet every individual of this crazy community. Once you start the journey and immerse yourself in the pages, you will love each character, even the large kneed Shiva, Saleem’s enemy. Who wouldn’t want to meet Saleem’s grandmother, Reverend Mother, or Pia the beautiful aunt, with whom he has a hilarious sexual encounter? So many colorful, humorous, and tragic characters line the pages within this book. Mr. Rushdie has a great imagination.

The narration of this book is simply marvelous. The best I have ever heard. Do not miss this.

Great Book; Outstanding Narration

What did you love best about Midnight's Children?

This is a fabulous, ambitious book, magnificently written. The narration is also well-done, if sometimes a little bit too flamboyant; because the story is so thick and complex, a more measured narration may have been better, but the narrator has done a fabulous job of highlighting Rushdie's fantastic prose, and bringing the characters to life by his performance. This is the magic of a good audiobook: the marriage of a fine performance and first-rate prose. The only drawback to this recording is that the recorded chapter breaks do not mirror the actual book chapters. So, it makes it difficult to switch back and forth from the written text and the audiobook, which some readers like to do.

Something different

This books is like nothing I have ever read before. It does not neatly fit into fantasy or realistic fiction. What it is is something unique. The midnights children taught me more about the subcontinent than all my schooling.

A master piece

Would you consider the audio edition of Midnight's Children to be better than the print version?

Yes
Midnight’s Children – A Book Review
It is really challenging for me to review and sum up this massive, multi-layered, multi-dimensional book. I would like to say also that this is the most complex book that I have read in the few past years. Was it a great book? The answer is “YES”! Would I read another book from the same author? “YES”.
The plot revolves around Saleem Sinai’s birth and life. Saleem, the narrator and protagonist of the novel, is born on the stroke of midnight at the exact moment when India achieved Independence. This accident of birth gives him (and other children born during that magical midnight hour), unique, special gifts. Saleem’s gift is his “nose” that allowed him at first to go into people’s heads and know what they are thinking. He is also able to telepathically communicate with the other midnight children forming a kind of “ham” radio link of sorts with the rest of the children. Now after an eventful life, he is breaking into pieces, literally falling apart, and he wants to narrate his story to his lover before he dies. His identity, however, is switched at birth. As a result, he is raised by a prosperous family in Bombay, while his counterpart and future rival, Shiva, is raised in poverty.
The book is about Saleem, but it is also about India because for some magical, inexplicable reasons, Saleem and India destiny are intertwined with each other. The book opens up with Saleem’s grand parents in Kashimir, and then his parents and finally Saleenm and other midnight’s children.
I won’t say too much because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but keep in mind that there are layers upon layers of fantasy/historical dates and moments etc.
Reading this book was like watching both a fantasy movie combined with an historical movie. I really loved it. It was hard to start off the book and get into that but after the first 200 pages I started to enjoy it and therefore was unable to put it down. There are so many characters walking in and out of the story. The book is overly detailed you might get lost, but no worries about each small detail just keep going and at the end you’ll see everything will fall into place and be clear in your mind. This is definitely a book I highly recommend for those of you who likes both fantasy/historic.

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

Everything!!!!!!He makes it the characters sound real

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Saleem's parent find out that Saleem is not theit biological son. I felt so sorry for the mother.

Style versus story

Would you consider the audio edition of Midnight's Children to be better than the print version?

I would not have read this book. The only thing that kept me interested was the fact that I was listening to it.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Less style more story

What about Lyndam Gregory’s performance did you like?

Well read. His voice was clear and he used variety in the characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Any additional comments?

The style elements often overtook the story telling. If I was reading this I probably would have stopped, but as an audiobook, it was good.

Whew!

A great book, but quite the challenging read/listen...A pantheon of larger than life characters populate the magical and real worlds of Saleem...The lyrical writing of Rushdie reminds you of Garcia-Marquez or Vonnegut...

Excellent. Innovative. Hilarious.

Magnificent historical fiction with bouts of magical realism. Just superb. An innovative narrative structure scaffolds a hilarious, sweeping, romp filled with colorful and memorable characters. Wonderfully narrated by a gifted actor.

An oriental rug of a book. Magnificent!

I will return to this book again and again to discover its many wonders and play in Rushdie’s ideas. Irreverent and joyful in its appreciation of the complexity that is life. I love it. Thank you, Salman Rushdie!

Masterfully crafted!

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The story is one for the ages!