Hey! It’s another novel written by a living author!
Midnight’s Children, published in 1981, was written by Salman Rushdie. It’s one of the more famous novels of the 20th century and has received a slew of awards.
I started this novel a month or so ago but put it on pause to read Go Set A Watchman. Now, it’s time to get back to the list.
Let’s take a look at a few quick facts about Midnight’s Children and Salman Rushdie:
- Midnight’s Children won the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981. That’s kind of a big deal.
- It was also awarded the “Booker of Bookers”–in other words, the best of the best–in 1993 and 2008.
- In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi brought an action against the novel, claiming defamation. The case was settled out of court when Rushdie agreed to remove the offending sentence. We’ll look into this more in the coming weeks.
- A film based on the novel premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012.
- Rushdie is, perhaps, most known for having written The Satanic Verses–a controversial novel in the Islamic world because what is seen to be an irreverent depiction of Muhammad.
- In 2004, Rushdie married Padma Lakshmi–whom you might know from Top Chef fame.
- He currently lives in New York City and is employed by Emory University in Atlanta.
Wait a minute, this guy married Padma Lakshmi?
I could write a whole post about that. Hey, maybe I will write a whole post about that!
More to come on Midnight’s Children in the coming weeks.