Rushdie S Midnight S Children

A classic novel, in which the man who calls himself the "bomb of Bombay" chronicles the story of a child and a nation that both came into existence in 1947--and examines a whole people's capacity for carrying inherited myths and inventing new ones.

Winner of the Booker prize and twice winner of the Booker of Bookers, Midnight's Children is "one of the most important books to come out of the English-speaking world in this generation" (New York Review of Books). Reissued for the 40th anniversary of the original publication--with a new introduction from the author--Salman Rushdie's widely acclaimed novel is a masterpiece in literature. Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,” all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts. This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Midnight’s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.

Salman Rushdie S Midnight S Children, Ever Since Its Publication In 1980, Has Been Considered An Ingenious Piece Of Literary Art And A Trendsetter In The Field Of Indian Fiction In English. The Stupendous Success Of This Novel Broke All Previous Records And Rushdie Was Hailed As One Who Engendered A Whole New Generation Of Fiction Writers That Embraced Magical Realism As A Mode For The Depiction Of History. The Variant Mode Of The Portrayal Of Historical Reality That Rushdie Adopts In Midnight S Children Is Characteristically His Own And His Fantasizing Of Facts In This Novel Inspired A Host Of Other Writers To Offer, In Their Respective Works, Their Own Blends Of Fact And Fiction.Midnight S Children Is A Multi-Faceted Novel Which Lends Itself To Analysis From Various Angles And Perspectives. Be It From The Point Of View Of Structure Or Content, The Work Yields A Richness That Has Been Variously Explored By The Scholars Who Have Contributed To This Anthology Of Essays On It.

The life of a man born at the moment of India's independence becomes inextricably linked to that of his nation and is a whirlwind of disasters and triumphs that mirror modern India's course.

The aim of this series is to provide accessible and informative introductions to the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years.

Neil Ten Kortenaar examines the key critical concepts associated with contemporary postcolonial theory, including hybridity, mimicry, national allegory, and cosmopolitanism, through a close reading of Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children'.

This Volume Brings Together Ten Essays On Midnight'S Children (1980) And An Interview With Salman Rushdie That Discuss This Seminal Novel From Different Perspectives. Rushdie'S Innovative Use Of History And Memory, His Experiments With Language And Narrative Mode, The Novel'S Status As The Paradigmatic Postcolonial Text, Its Inter-Textuality And Self0Reflevivity, The Influences On The Novel As Well As Its Influence On Subsequent Novels, The Author'S Relationship With India As An Insider-Outsider Are Some Of The Many Issues Explored By The Critics.

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 66%, University of Sussex (University of Sussex - Humanities), course: Postcolonial Perspectives, 3 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: I will not quite deal with the novel just under this focus, as the question was probably intended to be, but I will also discuss the book under the aspect of East and West, Orient and Occident ( if such separations are possible is certainly another question), and maybe make some references to Rushdie’s more recent novels the ground beneath her feet and Fury. Midnight’s Children tells the life story of two children who are born exactly at the stroke of midnight on August 15th 1947, the day India and Pakistan achieved their independence from Great Britain, in a Hospital in Bombay. They are exchanged at birth, and so the narrator, Saleem Sinai, grows up in a well-to-do Muslim family, while his later rival, Shiva, has to live in a low-caste Hindu environment. Shiva is not even raised by Saleem’s biological father, since his wife, who dies right away, has been unfaithful to her husband with a departing English colonist. Rushdie intermingles the life and family story of Saleem, who tells it, orally and in his probably dying days, to a young woman named Padma, with the history of the Indian subcontinent in his 30 years of life. Together with India, 1001 children ( see the reference to Princess Scheherezade and the Oriental, Arabian Stories of 1001 Nights) are born in the hour of midnight, who all develop special gifts, one can travel through time, the over can change sexes and Saleem becomes capable of telepathy, which makes him an omniscient narrator and, with Shiva closest to midnight and so most powerful, the possible head over the “midnight parliament”, in which he could gather all the Midnight’s Children to save the nation, but the project is not undertaken, because it would reveal Shiva, now a brutal killer and India’s greatest war hero, the truth about his parents. In this summary of the plot, which is not totally correct, I think, I have already done a little bit of interpretation, but now I will devote myself fully to the discussion of the essay question and the differences between East and West, as presented by Rushdie, and maybe point to a few developments he seems to have made in his recent novels.

A Study Guide for Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

Unlock the more straightforward side of Midnight’s Children with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, a powerful portrait of the diversity and richness of Indian culture as embodied by the eponymous “midnight children”, all of whom were born at the moment India became independent and who therefore possess magical talents and an innate connection to their homeland and to each other. However, two of these children, Saleem and Shiva, are even more closely connected than they know, and their rivalry will eventually lead all of the children to their doom... Salman Rushdie is a British Indian writer whose distinctive writing style blends historical fiction and magical realism, often through the perspective of an unreliable narrator. His writing has often sparked controversy, and he was the target of a failed assassination attempt in 1989 as a result. Midnight’s Children is his second novel. Find out everything you need to know about Midnight’s Children in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

The original stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, winner of the 1993 Booker of Bookers, the best book to win the Booker Prize in its first twenty-five years. In the moments of upheaval that surround the stroke of midnight on August 14--15, 1947, the day India proclaimed its independence from Great Britain, 1,001 children are born--each of whom is gifted with supernatural powers. Midnight’s Children focuses on the fates of two of them--the illegitimate son of a poor Hindu woman and the male heir of a wealthy Muslim family--who become inextricably linked when a midwife switches the boys at birth. An allegory of modern India, Midnight’s Children is a family saga set against the volatile events of the thirty years following the country’s independence--the partitioning of India and Pakistan, the rule of Indira Gandhi, the onset of violence and war, and the imposition of martial law. It is a magical and haunting tale, of fragmentation and of the struggle for identity and belonging that links personal life with national history. In collaboration with Simon Reade, Tim Supple and the Royal Shakespeare Society, Salman Rushdie has adapted his masterpiece for the stage.

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1, University of Kent, language: English, abstract: The ‘inexorable ticktock’: as soon as Saleem’s narration starts, the countdown is set off and will not come to an end until the final full stop of Midnight’s Children (MC 82). Throughout the story, Saleem, being a ‘child of ticktock’, is remorselessly rushed on (MC 533). Towards what, one might ask. His childhood memory of a ‘fisherman’s pointing finger’, on a picture hanging on his bedroom wall, haunts Saleem throughout his narration as a reminder of his ‘inescapable destiny’ (MC 167). More precisely, the fisherman is pointing towards a letter send by India’s first Prime Minister on the occasion of Saleem’s birth which coincided with the birth of India as an independent nation. With this letter, Nehru proclaims that Saleem’s life will be the ‘mirror’ of the life of all Indians (MC 167). From his birth, Saleem thus carries the burden of being a reflection of his country and its people. With this enormous responsibility imposed on him, he is pushed on through his narrative. Literally, Saleem is racing against increasingly destructive cracks that threaten to destroy his body. On a metaphorical level, he is fighting against a force beyond his power, a force that ultimately, is going to win: time. Saleem’s narrative is drenched with a sense of fatalism, of it being ‘too late’. The race is already lost, but at least he must resist his defeat as long as he can, that is, until he has brought his narrative to an end. And all the way through, we hear the threatening tick tock, always aware that the final point zero is approaching fast and could surprise us, along with Saleem, at any moment. Interestingly however, where conventional story tellers build their narratives up towards one big countdown, one decisive climax, Saleem provides us with numerous countdowns. The first one leading up to Saleem’s birth, coinciding with India’s independence and partition, followed by a countdown leading up to Saleem’s amnesia. The birth of his son and his final annihilation constitute the two last countdowns. However, these countdowns do not grant his narrative any disclosure or release, but they seem to be endlessly renewed. Once a countdown is up, a new one begins; each promising a final purpose and meaning, but each time leaving us unsatisfied.

The Booker Prize-winning Midnight's Children (1981) marked a decisive commercial and critical upturn in Salman Rushdie's career as a novelist. The instantly recognisable face of postcolonial literature, Rushdie now finds himself in a unique position in global culture, following the fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini on publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988. This novel has brought down the weight of fundamentalist politics on a writer regarded as a paradigm of postmodernism, and become the very real embodiment of a multitude of debates at the heart of contemporary criticism. In this Readers' Guide, David Smale traces the critical reception of this fascinating writer by examining the changing responses to his two best-known works. As a novelist and icon, Rushdie has embraced both 'popular' and 'high' culture; reflecting this, the Guide brings together both academic criticism and journalism to investigate the passions and preoccupations of Rushdie's many critics, steering the reader through the inflamed debates and rhetoric surrounding this much admired but controversial author.

Presents a variety of new essays on Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.

Literary criticism of Rushdie's work outside of special journals and periodicals.