Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic, unpredictable tale
Review: This book is dense. Make no mistake about it. It is a tough jungle of thick, and often, obscure words. But pay the price of patience, and your imagination is in for a wild treat. You will meet snake charmers and pickle barons, you will be bombed by fruits and spittoons, you will, in short, be taken on a ride of unprcedented weirdness. I abhor giving too much of the plot away, since part of the magic of this book is the wild and unpredictable turns that constantly keeps a reader on edge. But suffice to say, it is the story of Saleem Sinai, a midnight child, born at the moment of India's Independance, and therefore, absolutely and irrevocably tied to his nation's events. He will be your guide. Follow him, if you are ready to take your imagination on an uncontrolable roller coaster of sights, sounds, and ESPECIALLY smells!
Rating: 
Summary: Rushdie's Indian Epic
Review: Saleem Sinai, born at the moment of India's independence, recounts tells his life story to Padma, a female friend. It's also the story of Saleem's family, going back to the meeting between his gradfather and grandmother in the days of the Raj. Rushdie places Saleem's personal narrative firmly within the context of India's history (and indeed that of Pakistan and Bangladesh, as the geography of the story roams over (ironically?) India as it was known prior to Partition). Saleem (Rushdie) avows that people cannot be understood without knowing the historical forces that in a large part shape thier lives. "Midnight's Children" is at times a demanding read. It starts off as a wonderfully evocative love story set in Kashmir in the early twentieth century. Thereafter, Rushdie's narrative becomes progressively more adventurous, chronology becomes more fluid, the use of Saleem as a first-person narrator is dropped and picked up again, fable and allegory are used in place of straightforward descriptive narrative. Withal, the story is a deeply personal study of individuals and at the same time political novel, for the reasons I've outlined above. There are rich rewards along the way: the writing is for long stretches a joy to read, but it needs time and patience, because when you have got used to one particular style, Rushdie flits to another different style. As with other of Rushdie's works I've sampled, I got the feeling that at times he was trying to show off rather than to please or entertain me. For that reason, less than full stars, but nontheless well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: more than a story
Review: Imagine...... a story that has existed from the beginning, has a life of its own, has its own destiny. Even then, cast a credulous cynicism that its author had only been a poor puppet, and who could impossibly be a writer of a book that is like a dream or an ineffable fable. I had imagined Midnight's Children this way and with Salman Rushdie drudging on this writing - it is quite sacrilegious to think , but pardon me, because indeed "to understand just one life, I cant easily swallow the world". No, not this one so effortlessly because the reality/history that Rushdie had created is full of flamboyant Indianess, paradox, anachronism, fibs, magic, metaphor, humor, bawdy language, and imagination that are orchestrated in such a lavish way. Rushdie who has proven himself to be a master had so far successfully transmogrified himself to be invisible as the writer (at least for me). Most of the moments that I had spent with this novel were teeming with unsatisfaction with what I really seemed to comprehend, and while I was hovering above an "illusion of understanding", the story is unheeding and unstoppable in its power to surprise me one instant, then to taunt me at another time and often really makes me laugh in its ludicrous lucidity. In the story, imagine a certain Saleem Sinai living with his life as a microcosm of the history of India. With his birth heralded by prime ministers and prophesied by wizards, and his life to be made as a template for a new beginning of an emerging nation, his life has become a fulcrum of contemplation of why what who how of a nation and its people. Saleems's life is told as a fictional autobiography with its armory of leitmotifs such as perforated sheets, silver spittoons, noses and knees, and pointing fingers. The outrageous and often fecund foreshadowing of paradoxes gyrate around the story's inevitabilities so that the whole work still maintains its serious appeal. A reader has to think beyond Saleem's life, or so to speak, has to go beyond being just kicked out of the story in order to appreciate this work or else this outrageous fiction would just amount to any ordinary melodramatic tale. Any one might be impressed about how the life-story of Saleem is being narrated in front of an ever solicitous Padma- a character-audience who goads and pulls the writery-leash that Saleem inextricably pinioned on himself and who inevitably flavors the story by her moods, and unknowingly also instills suspense and gaping interest to the story. So that what lies between fiction and history? Further, I see a lot of its parallelism to other novels such as 100 Years of Solitude, but its similarity is being put in an elegant copy. I would mostly hail this book among the other of Rushdie's works which I deem too ambitious to be true. And what about this chutnification of history? I really like this idea, and it reminds me of the "gedanken" or thought experiments that scientists use to explain a phenomenon that cant be proven by experiment, and yet can always be arrayed as truth. Midnight's Children's peculiar way of "pickling" events and then adding certain flavors and spices of perspectives had just given me a chance to meet Indian history (not from a textbook, at least) but in a quite sophisticated way.
Rating:
Summary: Intertwined with the history of a new country
Review: Midnight's Children is a flamboyant account of the history of a boy, Saleem, who is intertwined with the history of a new country, India. He is born at the stroke of midnight carrying with him powers of telepathy that connect him to the other 1001 midnight's children that our born on the birth of India. The other children also carry gifts, changing genders, witchcraft, levitation, time-travel, etc. Saleem's nemesis, Shiva, was also born at the same moment but born into poverty and has the powers to resist Saleem's telepathic powers. In the book, we witness the growing pains of a new country and the ill-conceived notion of what these talented children try to accomplish - changing India for the better. Instead we witness the fragmentation of the new country and religious boundaries being drawn between the Indian (Hindu) and Pakistanis (Muslim) and Bangladesh (Muslim). Saleem's life and family are intertwined with the history of India, as the country separates and clash, the life and family of Saleem are also destroyed. This is the first novel I've read of Rushdie's after he performed a reading at the Chicago Public Library. He is clearly a talented writer, but I wish I was more in tune with Indian history and politics; some of the symbolism was over my head. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book very much and plan on reading his new book that takes place in New York, Fury.
Rating: 
Summary: unbridled but unwarranted enthusiasm
Review: Rushdie is so in love with his own writing and condescending of his reader that he feels it necessary to explain his themes and symbols, and to periodically review the main points of the story. I admit that I enjoyed the first few chapters and some of the wordplay, but most of it is out-of-control, self-indulgent rubbish. It is very disappointing to me that this book has won so much critical acclaim.
Rating:
Summary: The Rushdie To Read
Review: Midnight's Children is the zenith of the talents of one of the greatest and most misunderstood writers of our era. Unlike most of Rushdie's other novels, Midnight's Children is almost relentlessly serious, with little of Rushdie's trademark quipping interfering with the progress of the story. And while some fans may miss it, it works, as Rushdie delves into magical realism to tell the story of children across India born at the stroke of the nation's independence in August 1947, and their telekinetic powers and ability to communicate with each other across great distances. In addition to mirroring the history of India during its first half-century as an independent, unified nation, Rushdie uses the children's "superpowers" as a metaphor for India's own erratic and often misdirected ascension as a nation-state.
Rating:
Summary: Great book - pleasant surprise
Review: I had this book around the house for years, and, frankly, was afraid to read it. For some reason, I thought that Salman Rushdie was one of those "literary" writers that could only be appreciated by English majors. I was fascinated by his life of exile and respected him, but could never bring myself to reading him. Then, my son David and my wife Mary both read the book, along with some of David's friends. They all raved about it. Since my family knows my literary tastes better than anyone and were so insistent I would like the book, I had no choice but to give it a try. Once, again, they were right. The book was a joy to read, and far more accessible, interesting, and funny than I had would have expected. The narration by Saleem Sinai is priceless. The story is told mostly chronologically with just enough tangential stream of consciousness ramblings and foretellings to stay interesting. The premise (the tale of those 1001 children born within the first hour of India's independence) was a stroke of genius. The fact that I learned a lot about Indian and Pakistani history was a bonus. The only downside was that the story began to slow down a bit at the end, but since it was essentially the story of the birth of a nation (two, actually), the author couldn't possibly be expected to keep up the fever pitch he began at. All in all, it was a great read and a great story and I, for one, will be sure to read more of Mr. Rushdie's work!!
Rating:
Summary: Magical
Review: I can't compete with all the wonderful reviews listed below. Just a few of my thoughts on the book: It's one of the very best I've ever read. It's poetry at its best. It's full of magical ideas and the first half of the book might just be the best part of a book I've ever read. I was a tiny bit disappointed with the second half which was still great but lacked a bit of the magic with which the novel started (something I've noticed in the other two books of Rushdie I've finished, The Moor's last Sigh (also excellent) and The Ground Beneath Her Feet, good but not up to par to the other two, as well)(I never got through more than 10 pages of the Satanic Verses which was too complicated for me). Try this book. Chances are you'll love it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost in the maze
Review: I enjoyed the first couple of chapters of this book immensely but got lost at the end. It flows brilliantly in some parts, and is completely confusing in others. Honestly I did not know what to make of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A roller coaster of a Book
Review: This book is truly pathbreaking. It's got pathos, tragedy, comedy, drama and 'tear-jerking' ...all in all, a totally "masala" book. Lesser writers would have floundered to paint on such a huge canvas, but not Rushdie. He straddles the past and the future, the magical and the mundane, the east and the west, history and fantasy with equal grace. If Rushdie were a filmmaker, he would be a person who could mix Manmohan Desai, Ram Gopal Verma and Ray into a lethal combination. Saleem Sinai is not however the typical potboiler hero...he's got his magical moments but the weight of power and history weighs him down. Shiva, however, is the villian like a Bollywood villian. But, reviewing this book here seems so difficult, my advice is to go read it!
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