Talk:Midnight's Children

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[edit] wrong year for its release given in the opening

1980 is the wrong year given for its release. my father bought the novel in 1978 from the alleys of Delhi for Rs. 10. even though he wasnt a known name by that time.

1980 may be the release year in UK, but definately not the release date of novel. so i m changing the date now, if anyone has better information do share.

nids 09:30, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

I hate to contradict your personal memories, but according to Rushdie himself, he did not finish writing it until 1979, and it was published in 1981.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,923-2111362,00.html

Eilif 16:39, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

It might have been released in UK in 1981. May be he released a pre-version in 78 and edited it further to re-release it in 1981. But the date of 1978 that i am giving here is not based on mere speculations. I told you here that it was bought in 1978.nids 17:14, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Since i have not found any reliable source for its pre-1980 release, i am reverting it back to 1980. nids(♂) 22:50, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrect quote (from similarly incorrect source)

Major Themes said: "'Once upon a time,' Saleem muses, 'there were Radna and Krisna, and Rama and Sita, and Laila and Majnu; also (because we are not affected by the West) Romeo and Juliet..." It should be *unaffected*, which rather matters for the purposes of this quote; I've made the change. The original source at qub.ac.uk (footnote 2) is wrong; I've mailed the maintainer of that page.

[edit] Major Themes

Telling the story: I got the sense that Saleem is not orally telling the story to Padma. He's either writing or typing it, and Padma is reading it over his shoulder. Padma's interruptions into the story are as he's writing; Saleem just notes them. Saleem is actually writing his life story for his son to have (which I'm vaguely recalling is a literally style--Marilynne Robinson's Gilead is like this as well). There are also at least two points in the narrative where Padma is not present while he's writing (in the middle when she temporarily leaves Saleem out of frustration--upon her return Saleem "stops" so she can catch up on the back reading--and at the very end when Saleem is prognosticating the future).

Also, religion in general is a theme, and Hinduism should be referenced somehow. British India was split into Islamic Pakistan and Hindu India, and many elements of Hinduism are intertwined in the story (e.g. Shiva and Parvati are both Hindu gods).Hooperswim 02:33, 23 March 2007 (UTC)