Midnight's Children

One of the late twentieth century's most acclaimed literary achievements, Salman Rushdie's story of personal and national identity recounts the enchanted and tumultuous life of Saleem Sinai, born at the stroke of midnight at the dawn of India's independence. This rich allegory delves into India's complex and mystical culture, and focuses on its recent political history as seen through Saleem's eyes. Lyndam Gregory's enthusiastic narration mostly succeeds at corralling the fictional capers. The bevy of eccentric characters, with their ever-compounding predicaments, at times nearly overwhelms Gregory, but, given the complexity of the text, this is understandable and forgivable. Aptly delivering incarnations of the many Indian dialects, Gregory provides a strong and engaging narration of this award-winning work. A.P.C. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine