Midnight's Children

Pffiuhhh.....finally I could finish this big, thick, heavy, yet enchanting novel (689 pages) that make me deeply fall in love with. Certain facts related to this novel are:

• This novel is the 2nd novel written by Salman Rushdie in 1981. It won The Booker Prize in 1981 and then awarded the "Booker of Bookers" Prize and the best all-time Prize in 1993 and 2008 to celebrate the Booker Prize 25th and 40th anniversary.

• The story is about Saleem Sinai, who then tells his story in a fictitious autobiography way. Started by a nurse switched two babies who were born on August 15, 1947, similar with India independence day. The nurse thought that her heroic action would change India fate, that at that moment was so chaotic with religious and ethnic riot. The consequences were, Saleem Sinai, who actually a Hindu baby, was raised by a wealthy Muslim family, while Shiva, the real Muslim boy, was raised by a Hindu family in a slum area.
  

• Midnight's Children is a bright and complex text. Rushdie mixed a lot of genres here -history, fantasy, myth, tradition and classic text- and packed them in a humorous and bright way. Apart from the controversy of the author, I have to admit that this book is so rich. Every sentence is meaningful. You have to carefully read it with full concentration, otherwise you will lose the essential meaning.
  

• Already translated by PT Serambi Ilmu Semesta on August 2009. Good translation. In fact, I am amazed by Yuliani Liputo (the translator) and Anton Kurnia (the editor) work, who could transform Rushdie's writing stlye into Bahasa Indonesia, so I can enjoy reading this story and even love it *put this book in my all time favorite book list*.