Reading For Book Group: India

For my Midtown (Atlanta) Book Group, which has been another sanity-saver this summer, I am reading Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. It is a challenging book to read, because you really have to pay attention. The writing is very complex and textured, layered with the past, present, and foreshadowing of events in the future, all within the historical context of India's independence in 1947. Midnight's Children are the children, and specifically the main character and narrator, who were born in India at Midnight on 8/15/1947, the precise moment when India was "born," or became independent from British rule. The writing is brilliant, the narrative style is unique, very personable. I have learned a lot about India in reading this summer, which has been fascinating:

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri - 1st generation Indian-American experience
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - Modern-day Indian village life amid revolution
-- Inheritance of Loss was Midtown (Atlanta) Book Group Selection - June 2007
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Exploration of tragedy & caste in India
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - Independence from British Empire
-- Midnight's Children is Midtown (Atlanta) Book Group Selection - Sept 2007