[Dragaera] Catching up with the messenger

[Jerry Friedman]

Since Philip posted a while back about narrative that
pretends the reader's time is the same as the character's,
here's something from the chapter "A Public Announcement"
of /Midnight's Children/ (1981), by Salman Rushdie:

"Two men in business suits, one in pajamas, ran through the
narrow gullies of the Muslim muhallah to the taxi waiting
on Chandni Chowk. [snip about 60 words] Lifafa Das was
rattling his drum and calling: 'Come see everything, come
see everything, come see!  Come see Delhi, come see India,
come see, come see! Come see, come see!'

"But Ahmed Sinai [the man in pajamas] had other things to
look at.

"[snip about 300 words on nicknames for feuding families in
the muhallah and for Ahmed Sinai with his poor sense of
direction] ...But that's enough for now, because I've given
the three businessmen time to reach the industrial estate."

Jerry Friedman