Midnight's Children. Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children was published in 1981 and soon won the Booker Prize and a number of other prestigious literary awards. This book brought the writer wide popularity and world recognition. The main character of the novel, Salim Sinai, was born exactly at midnight on August 15, 1947 - the moment of the proclamation of the state independence of India. His arrival into the world was greeted by fireworks, the triumph of the street crowd and even a personal letter from the country's Prime Minister. But, growing up, Salim, endowed with extraordinary, almost magical powers, gradually learns about the sinister consequences of this coincidence. His every action is reflected and repeatedly exaggerated in the events and fate of the multinational country; his health and well-being are inextricably linked with the existence of India. And the most important of his abilities is the telepathic connection that connects young Selim with a thousand other “midnight children” who were born in the country almost at the same time as him and are also endowed with various supernatural gifts.

This novel is at the same time a fascinating family saga, a striking panorama of the revival of a huge country and its people, and a brilliant embodiment of a universal human comedy. In general, this book is about the birth of a nation, so it will certainly resonate with the heart of every Ukrainian. Even today, forty-five years after its first publication, “Midnight Children” remains an epochal work of art, belonging to the pen of one of the best artists of our time.