Brain Pain discussion

This discussion covers Book Three, The Shadow of the Mosque thru Abracadabra, p. 536 – 647, and, Conclusion and the book as a whole.

Parvati-the-witch tries her best to get Saleem in her bed, but in the end, he only makes her pout. Ganesh arrives after the union of Parvati and Shiva; Saleem is amused. During the national Emergency, Midnight’s Children go under the knife. Back-to-Bom! Mary shares her pickles with her baba and Padma gets her trip to Kashmir.

Haha, you're summaries always make me smile, Jim!

I finished this, finally, last week. The latter part of the book lost me a bit...my interest started waning once the family moved to Pakistan. I am not sure why. I think that perhaps the 'magical' aspects worked best for me when the characters were (mostly) children. Something changed in the tone. It became so dark. And I was disappointed with the fate of the MCs (i guess I anticipated a dramatic climax of some kind).

But I did finish it and I'm glad I did. Such a rich, layered book. I loved the strong focus on India's history / politics. The writing is really quite astonishing in scope and complexity of story lines.

Jen wrote: "Haha, you're summaries always make me smile, Jim!

I finished this, finally, last week. The latter part of the book lost me a bit...my interest started waning once the family moved to Pakistan. I a..."

The Pakistan part is at the heart of the whole partition issue and the extreme antagonism between Hindus and Muslims. Much less fun than the activities of the MCC, but necessary for understanding the chaos and violence of those years. I was certainly horrified by much of what went on, especially since it was likely even worse than what Rushdie put in the book.

Saleem was a witness to the birth of modern India and I loved the device of having Padma, the illiterate pickle-maker with the big arms, sitting with him and goading him to get on with the story. It made the history immediate and human, and commented on the oftentimes fictional nature of remembered histories.

There was an affinity with 100 Years of Solitude in terms of family histories and proclivities, as well as how the common person has to deal with the chaos of civil strife and brutal police actions. Overall, an amazing novel and one I would recommend to anyone.

Well put, Jim. This is one of those reading experiences where I can clearly experience the greatness of the work but my enjoyment of it doesn't quite match up. I enjoyed it very much, but didn't love it.

The chaos of the years surrounding partition was brilliantly conveyed. I still felt, though, that the story line of the MCC was built up and up, and then deflated.

I also loved Padma - both as a device, and character!

Jen wrote: "The chaos of the years surrounding partition was brilliantly conveyed. I still felt, though, that the story line of the MCC was built up and up, and then deflated...."

Absolutely, and I think Saleem/Rushdie set us up for that deflation by frequently commenting on the epidemic of optimism amongst the Indian people and the apparent potential of the MCC to create a beautiful new society. The death and castration of the MCC members becomes the death and castration of the hope the people had for their independence. Kind of made me want to spit on Indira's grave...