Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Approaching midnight

About 3/4 of the way through Midnight's Children and it is thoroughly excellent. Often I'd heard of it, the "Booker of Bookers", and thought, can it be that good? Can any book be that good? Well, unless we're heading for a turn in form and style that even Devon Loch would be ashamed of, then yes, yes it is.

It's not just that the writing is so ornate, so lavish, lush and beguiling, it's that it's full of intricate plot details, clever set pieces that drive this plot, full of identifiable feelings and emotions, and also replete with magic realism, far out ideas, historical references and world-altering events.

Usually I can read a 400 page book in about a week (no boast, just true), but such is the rich, vivid detail of this book, that I am only now reaching the final 100 pages after three weeks. And yet I am relishing this, enjoying every turn of the page, every new location, character and plot foreshadowing that Rushdie ushers in.

Much like Hoare's Leviathan from last year, this is a book that is causing me to almost miss my tube stop both on the way to work and, more impressively, on the way home too, so engrossed am I in each page, each paragraph, sentence, word.

Recommended.

2 comments:

Alexandra Sheppard said...

Right. After that review, I'm going to reread Midnight's Children.

Once I'm done with A Short History of Nearly Everything, that is.

Unknown said...

re-read? crikey.

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