Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie · b. 1947 · India / England
Why it matters
Saleem Sinai, born at the stroke of India's independence, telepathically bound to his thousand and one midnight twins. It won the Booker of Bookers: magical realism wired to the subcontinent, and the English novel permanently rewired.
At a glance
magical realismpostmodernhistorical fiction
Difficulty 8/10medium pace533 pagesDigressive, unreliable narration and dense allusive wordplay across a sprawling cast.
Deep dive
Why Saleem insists he's 'handcuffed to history' while quietly admitting he's an unreliable narrator of his own life, and what that says about who gets to own India's story.
Where to go next
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Salman Rushdie · 1990Haroun and the Sea of StoriesLvl 2Fast paced
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Arundhati Roy · 1997The God of Small ThingsLvl 7Slow burn
Gabriel García Márquez · 1967One Hundred Years of SolitudeLvl 6Medium pace