1. Salman Rushdie Life, Works and Achievements 2. A Detailed Chapterwise Critical Analysis 3. Major Themes and Issues 4. Art of Characterization 5. Major Characters 6. Minor Characters 7. Narrative Techniques 8. Style, Trope and Symbol 9. Critical Reception of Midnight's Children 10. Some Model Questions Select Bibliography Index
The #1 New York Times and Indie bestseller! From Dan Gemeinhart, the acclaimed author of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, comes an extraordinary story about a family of runaways who take up residence in a small town, and the outcast boy who finds his voice and his people—perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Kate DiCamillo. "Dan Gemeinhart’s best yet and that’s saying something." —Padma Venkatraman, Walter Award-winning author of The Bridge Home In the dead of night, a truck arrives in Slaughterville, a small town curiously named after its windowless slaughterhouse. Seven mysterious kids with suitcases step out of the vehicle and into an abandoned home on a dead-end street, looking over their shoulders to make sure they aren't noticed. But Ravani Foster covertly witnesses their arrival from his bedroom window. Timid and lonely, Ravani is eager to learn everything he can about his new neighbors: What secrets are they hiding? And most mysterious of all...where are the adults? Yet amid this shadowy group of children, Ravani finds an unexpected friend in the warm and gutsy Virginia. But with this friendship comes secrets revealed—and danger. When Ravani learns of a threat to his new friends, he must fight to keep them safe, or lose the only person who has ever understood him. Full of wonder, friendship, and mystery, The Midnight Children explores the meaning of "home," what makes a family, and what it takes to find the courage to believe in yourself. * "A story of fierce friendship, bravery, loyalty, and finding—or making—a place to belong." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Equal parts Kate DiCamillo and Shirley Jackson, this book is unlike anything else I've ever read—you will love it." —Jonathan Auxier, New York Times-bestselling author of Night Gardener and Sweep: the Story of a Girl and her Monster
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.
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.
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.
Many non-Indian readers find the historical and cultural references in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children demanding. In his close reading of the novel, Neil ten Kortenaar offers post-colonial literary strategies for understanding Midnight's Children that also challenge some of the prevailing interpretations of the novel. Using hybridity, mimicry, national allegory, and cosmopolitanism, all key critical concepts of postcolonial theory, ten Kortenaar reads Midnight's Children as an allegory of history, as a Bildungsroman and psychological study of a burgeoning national consciousness, and as a representation of the nation. He shows that the hybridity of Rushdie's fictional India is not created by different elements forming a whole but by the relationship among them. Self, Nation, Text in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children also makes an original argument about how nation-states are imagined and how national consciousness is formed in the citizen. The protagonist, Saleem Sinai, heroically identifies himself with the state, but this identification is beaten out of him until, in the end, he sees himself as the Common Man at the mercy of the state. Ten Kortenaar reveals Rushdie's India to be more self-conscious than many communal identities based on language: it is an India haunted by a dark twin called Pakistan; a nation in the way England is a nation but imagined against England. Mistrusting the openness of Tagore's Hindu India, it is both cosmopolitan and a specific subjective location.
In the arenas, the Campton kids have won their ‘citizenship’ of the In-Between-World’s strange society. Now free to come and go as they please, they’ve left town for the mountains, following Dodzi without really knowing why. When the young boy explains to them that he is in fact trying to discover whether he is the herald of Evil – the Midnight Child – a violent dispute ensues. Meanwhile, hidden nearby, the soldiers of the First Families await an opportunity to attack...
Intended To Serve The Academic Needs Of The Students Of English Literature, The Companion Is An Ultimate Literary Reference Source, Providing An Up-To-Date, Comprehensive And Authoritative Biographies Of Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Journalists And Critics Ranging From Literary Giants Of The Past To Contemporary Writers Like Peter Burnes (1931-2004), Anthony Powell (1905-2000), Patrick O Brian (1914-2000), Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), Grace Nicholas (1950- ) And Douglas Adams (1952-2001). Over The Last Few Decades English Literary Canon Has Become Relatively More Extensive And Diverse. In Recognition Of The Significance Of The New Literatures In English, Special Emphasis Has Been Given On The Writers Of These Literatures. In Addition, The Indian Writers Writing In English Have Been Given A Prominent Place In The Book, Thereby Making It Particularly Useful For The Students Of Indian English Literature. The Companion Is Unique Of Its Kind As It Gives A Broad Outline Of The Story And Not Merely A Brief Account Of The Plot Structure Of A Literary Work So As To Enable The Students To Have A Fairly Good Idea Of The Story. Likewise, Before Getting Down To The Writings Of An Author, The Companion Provides An Invaluable And Authoritative Biographical Note Believing That An Author S Biography Facilitates Proper Understanding Of His/Her Contributions.On Account Of Its Clear And Reliable Plot Summaries And Descriptive Entries Of Major Works And Literary Journals And Authentic Biographical Details, The Companion Is A Work Of Permanent Value. It Is Undoubtedly An Indispensable And Path-Breaking Handy Reference Guide For All Those Interested In Literatures In English Produced In The United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, Australia, Africa, The Caribbean, India And Other Countries.
Contemporary works of art that remodel the canon not only create complex, hybrid and plural products but also alter our perceptions and understanding of their source texts. This is the dual process, referred to in this volume as “refraction”, that the essays collected here set out to discuss and analyse by focusing on the dialectic rapport between postmodernism and the canon. What is sought in many of the essays is a redefinition of postmodernist art and a re-examination of the canon in the light of contemporary epistemology. Given this dual process, this volume will be of value both to everyone interested in contemporary art—particularly fiction, drama and film—and also to readers whose aim it is to promote a better appreciation of canonical British literature.
Rushdie Has Put Behind Him The Political And Religious Controversy That Surrounded Him In The Aftermath Of The Appearance Of The Satanic Verses. These Two Volumes Endeavour To Continue The Literary-Critical Study Of His Works By Bringing Together Some Of The Best Critical Essays Written In The Post- Verses Controversy Period. The Essays Present An Honest Assessment Of Rushdie S Works By Creatively Engaging With The Issues Each Of Them Raises.
