I returned and finished reading Midnight's Children, the second novel by Salman Rushdie, that brought fame and confidence to the author. His first novel, Grimus, "was universally trashed, sold less than 900 copies and was remaindered," said Mr. Rushdie when he won the Booker Prize in 1981.

I had little knowledge of India's independence before reading the novel. With the story unfolding, I began to understand the context, although the style of magic realism made the story somewhat surreal and efforts must be made in order to appreciate what was real. Nevertheless, the elements of imagination are what I like the most in this book.

An unexpected benefit of reading the novel is that it becomes a topic when I converse with my Indian classmates. I assume that most of them read or know about this book, and apparently they do.

• A NOVEL OF INDIA'S COMING OF AGE by Clark Blaise @ The New York Times (19810419)
• Books of The Times by John Leonard (19810423)
• 'Midnight's Children' Wins Special Booker Prize by John Darnton (19930921)
• The birth pangs of Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie @ The Times (20060401)
• Full Interview and Clips of Bill Moyers Conversation with Rushdie in 2006 on PBS