Why people recommend it
Midnight's Children is a celebrated novel by Salman Rushdie that explores the magical realist history of India from its independence and partition onward, touching upon regional themes such as Kashmir. On The Book Review, Salman Rushdie discussed the publication and success of his seminal 1981 novel, noting how foundational that period was for his career. In the same podcast series, Dwight Garner compared The Old Drift to Rushdie's work, observing that the magical realism comparisons are quite accurate. Ayad Akhtar also mentioned the book on The Book Review, describing an interaction with his aunt who assumed he was reading Rushdie's famous title. Additionally, Simon Winchester compared Susan Barker's book to Midnight's Children, praising it as a vivid portrayal of a nation coming into independence akin to Rushdie's description of India. On The Ezra Klein Show, Rushdie reflected further on the book while discussing his extensive writing about Kashmir. Conversely, not every reader found the dense narrative accessible; on On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Chelsea Handler admitted that Midnight's Children was the one book she never finished because she struggled to understand its direction and setting. Despite such rare reader hurdles, the novel remains a cornerstone of postcolonial literature, frequently cited by critics and authors alike for its sweeping scope, linguistic inventiveness, and profound cultural footprint across generations of readers globally.
Who recommended it
- Salman Rushdie Discussed
- Dwight Garner Discussed
- Ayad Akhtar Discussed
- Simon Winchester Discussed
- Chelsea handler Discussed
Salman Rushdie — 3 mentions
“because it began in 1981 with the publication and success of midnight children which was important to me for a number of reasons first of all because”
“I mean it was actually a very good decade for me because it began in 1981 with the publication and success of Midnight's Children which was important to me for a number of reasons”
“and I've written a lot about Kashmir I wrote about it in Midnight's Children I wrote about it in shalomar the clown”
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
“there's a bit of magical realism in the novel people are comparing it to and I think these comparisons are pretty accurate to Salon rushy Midnight's Children”
Ayad Akhtar — 1 mention
“uh sometimes in my my own family in the book I have an aunt who is a professor at Yukon and she's delighted when I tell her that I'm reading rushy because she thinks I'm going to tell her that I'm reading the Midnight's Children”
Simon Winchester — 1 mention
“as someone compared it to saying it's a Chinese version as it were of Midnight's Children as Vivid a description of China as Salon Rashi described India the coming to Independence”
Chelsea handler — 1 mention
“there was the one book that i've never finished with salman rushdie midnight's children because i couldn't i didn't understand where the hell the man was”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I wrote about it in Midnight's Children I wrote about it in shalomar the clown”
“and I think that what is interesting about that is that there have been a lot of naysayers who said for years oh all of his best work was pre fatwa people sight Midnight's Children”