Reclamation
Salman Rushdie on the writing of Midnight’s Children:
Midnight’s Children, a book which repeatedly uses images of land reclamation, because Bombay is a city built upon reclaimed land, was itself an act of such reclamation, my attempt to reclaim my Indian origins and heritage from my eyrie in Kentish Town, and by far the best thing that happened to it, and to its author, was its reception in India, where people responded not to the magic but the realism; where Saleem’s narrative voice felt to many readers - as it had to its author - like their own; and where the book was so heavily and successfully pirated that the anonymous pirates started sending me greetings cards. “Happy Birthday from the Pirates.” “Happy New Year. Best wishes, the Pirates.” These, perhaps, were the ultimate compliments.
