Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British writer whose allegorical novels examine historical and philosophical issues by means of surreal characters, brooding humour, and an effusive and melodramatic prose style. His treatment of sensitive religious and political subjects made him a controversial figure. In 1983 Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the UK's senior literary organisation. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States. He was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University in 2015. Midnight's Children is a 1981 novel that deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British India. The story is told by its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai and his memoir, written during his thirtieth year, and is set in the context of actual historical events. Saleem Sinai is an ugly man with a huge nose who believes that he controls the fate of India. His nose grants him the power to read minds, but he doesn't use it much, and when his parents take him to the doctor to get his sinuses fixed, he loses his power. His whole family dies during the first Indo Pakistani war, and he loses his memory. It doesn't return until the second Pakistani war. After that, he lives in the slums with magicians and takes up making pickles at a pickle factory… You can listen online to free English audiobook “Midnight's Children” by Rafael Sabatini on our website.
