Salman Rushdie earned another feather for his cap with his book winning the best of the best award. However, the decision for the award has also faced stray criticism, because the option was limited to just six nominees.

The felicitation comes as a gesture to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the world’s most prestigious literary honours. Midnight’s Children, which had won the Booker Prize way back in 1981, has been chosen as the pick for the best-ever literary work in English fiction that defines a classic example of literary genius.


Rushdie, who is an Indian-born writer, was the most ’suitable boy’ for the award decided upon by people in an online poll.

The iconoclastic author was in America on a book trip. Unfortunately, he could not be present in London to cherish the tempting moment, but he described the breaking news as “marvellous!”


He put it as, “I am completely thrilled and would like to thank all those readers across the world who voted for the novel.”


Victoria Glendinning, chief of the jury who drew up a shortlist commented, “the readers have spoken in thousands. And we do believe that they have voted for the correct choice.” However, the decision for the award has also faced stray criticism, because the option was limited to just six nominees.


Jonathan Ruppin, promotions manager at Foyles bookshop opined that it is an artificial exercise as the general public got to pick from only six of the previous winners. Readers have not been able to vote for some of their most compelling novels, among others, Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things.”


The organisers told mediapersons at the launch, “nearly 8,000 people from across the globe participated in the online poll, and Midnight’s Children won 36 per cent of votes. At least half the voters were under the age of 34, and the largest age group was 25-34. That indeed reflects the ongoing interest in creamy fiction amongst readers of all ages.”


Midnight’s Children is a fine example of Rushdie’s magical realist style. It follows Saleem Sinai who is born on the stroke of midnight on the day of India’s Independence in 1947 and whose life casually parallels the fortunes of his emerging nation.


The other nominees included literary stalwarts like Nobel Prize winners Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee (both South Africa-born). The entire list comprised Rushdie, Pat Barker for The Ghost Road; Peter Carey for Oscar and Lucinda; JM Coetzee for Disgrace; JG Farrell for The Siege of Krishnapur and Nadime Gordimer for The Conservationist.


Interestingly, Coetzee and Carey have won the Booker Prize two times.


The literary honour, Booker Prize rewards the best novel every year by a novelist from either Britain, Ireland or a Commonwealth nation.