Exploring themes of identity, division, and magical realism in Midnight’s Children

In the penultimate episode of the current part of our Fictions series, David explores Salman Rushdie’s 1981 masterpiece Midnight’s Children, the great novel about the life and death of Indian democracy.  How can one boy stand in for the whole of India?  How can a nation as diverse as India ever have a single politics?  And how is a jar of pickle the answer to these questions?  Plus, how does Rushdie’s story read today, in the age of Modi?

Next time: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Coming next week on PPF: The Ideas Behind UK General Elections

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