There are no mirrors in a washing-chest; rude jokes do not enter it, nor pointing fingers. The rage of fathers is muffled by used sheets and discarded brassières. A washing-chest is a hole in the world, a place which civilization has put outside itself, beyond the pale; this makes it the finest of hiding-places. In the washing-chest, I was like Nadir Khan in his underworld, safe from all the pressures, concealed from the demands of parents and history…
Last Week | Reading Schedule | Characters | Further Resources
Welcome to Week 5 of a slow read of Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. I am your guide, Simon Haisell, and this is Footnotes & Tangents, a book group and reading community where we take our time to live inside great stories.
Each week, I offer you my footnotes and tangents. And then you can join the discussion in the comments to let us know what caught your eye and ask the group any questions you may have. And if you’ve tumbled down a rabbit hole or taken your reading off on a tangent, please share where you have been and what you have found.
This week, we are reading the chapters “Accident in a washing-chest”, “All-India radio”, and “Love in Bombay.” On my website, there is a reading schedule, with bookmarks designed by Lex Knowlton, a list of characters and a page of further resources.
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