In the "brilliant novel" (The New York Times) V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man — an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.
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"For sheer abundance of talent, there ca hardly be a writer alive who surpasses V.S. Naipaul." — The New York Times Book Review
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." — Walter Clemons, Newsweek
"The sweep of Naipaul's imagination, the brilliant fictional frame that expresses it, are in my view without equal today." — Elizabeth Hardwick
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." — Walter Clemons, Newsweek
"The sweep of Naipaul's imagination, the brilliant fictional frame that expresses it, are in my view without equal today." — Elizabeth Hardwick
From the Back Cover
"For sheer abundance of talent, there ca hardly be a writer alive who surpasses V.S. Naipaul." — The New York Times Book Review
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." — Walter Clemons, Newsweek
"The sweep of Naipaul's imagination, the brilliant fictional frame that expresses it, are in my view without equal today." — Elizabeth Hardwick
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." — Walter Clemons, Newsweek
"The sweep of Naipaul's imagination, the brilliant fictional frame that expresses it, are in my view without equal today." — Elizabeth Hardwick
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Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Randy Keehn
Format:School & Library Binding
I started this book at a fairly busy time in my life. I found myself only able to devote short periods of time to read it. It was amazing how much I was able to get out of even two or three pages read at a time. The author, through his main character covers so much about so many things in such a short number of pages (278). There is a plot and there is an overall message but there are so many things that weave themselves in and out of the story that I am sure that this book will mean different things to different people.
The main character is an individual of Asian background whose family has lived elsewhere in the African continent. He moves to a remoter part of Central Africa after purchasing a store in a community of modest size. The country is in a time of political strife. The political perspective of the book is certainly an interesting one. There is a relationship with a woman that becomes the focus for awhile until it ends in a most deplorable way. Ultimately our narrator must leave.
I came away from this book with an appreciation for the perspective of an outsider living in a different culture. It was, perhaps, that perspective that give the narrator such a detached view of the world. He interacts with all but seems to truly care about no one. Others may disagree, but I felt the detachment more than any other aspect of the book. Based on this introduction to V S Naipaul, I am anxious to read more by this recent Nobel winner.
Format:Paperback
What a great novel this is! It tells the story of Salim who left his family home on the coast to start a business in central Africa at a town on the bend in the great Congo River. The inhabitants of the town, natives and expatriates, are described with empathy and an eye for detail.
Naipaul also narrates the history of the town as it is connected to the ups and downs of history, with great detail. His writing style is compelling and elegant, while the plot and characterization are superb. In many ways, the book illumines the post-independence history of those Africans that are of Indian descent.
Most of them were traders and many of them went into a second diaspora after the tumult and political upheavals in Africa of the 1960s and 70s. I was particularly impressed by Salim's first experience of the voice of Joan Baez, when a record of hers was played at a party in the academic suburb next to the old town.
Naipaul's extraordinary talent comes through in every flowing sentence and in every well-chosen word. I'm not a great lover of fiction, but this book has enriched my mind. I highly recommend it to readers of serious fiction and to historians alike. I also recommend the travel book North Of South by Shiva Naipaul, the record of a journey through Africa that ties in very well with A Bend In The River.
Naipaul also narrates the history of the town as it is connected to the ups and downs of history, with great detail. His writing style is compelling and elegant, while the plot and characterization are superb. In many ways, the book illumines the post-independence history of those Africans that are of Indian descent.
Most of them were traders and many of them went into a second diaspora after the tumult and political upheavals in Africa of the 1960s and 70s. I was particularly impressed by Salim's first experience of the voice of Joan Baez, when a record of hers was played at a party in the academic suburb next to the old town.
Naipaul's extraordinary talent comes through in every flowing sentence and in every well-chosen word. I'm not a great lover of fiction, but this book has enriched my mind. I highly recommend it to readers of serious fiction and to historians alike. I also recommend the travel book North Of South by Shiva Naipaul, the record of a journey through Africa that ties in very well with A Bend In The River.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Salim travels and returns to the city at the bend in the river. He ignores the good advice of those who have lived there and moved on, he ignores the clear signs that he should cut his losses and get out. He seems detached from everyone, even his mentor, even his lover. In the process, a different perspective of a developing African state is revealed to the reader. One senses the hopelessness conveyed by Salim's passionless actions, a habit of his Muslim family ancestry, who do not change with the times. His relationship with Metty, his servant, seems mutually condescending as is their tradition. His relationship with Ferdinand, the son of one of his most intriguing trading customers, is ultimately and unpredictably uplifitng. So there is much to learn from this novel, if not much to enjoy.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to finish
Set sometime, somewhere in Africa this tells the story of third generation Indian immigrants in Africa and post-colonialism when the blacks in many areas rebelled and expelled all... Read more
Published on May 27 2002 by Gail Moore
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Africa has no future"
Naipaul in one of his typically politically-incorrect interviews said these very words about the continent. Read more
Published on Feb 17 2002 by "michaeleve"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Naipaul�s other Masterpiece
Published in 1979, A Bend in the River tells the story of an unnamed town in an unnamed African country. Read more
Published on Jan 22 2002 by suetonius
4.0 out of 5 stars
A continent of change
V.S. Naipaul's "A Bend in the River" is the story of the transformation of a Third World nation from old to new, a sort of rebirth. Read more
Published on Dec 26 2001 by A.J.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good epic, Although a bit detached.
I suggest readers make a comparative read about "Big River Bend" and "Poisonwood Bible". Read more
Published on Dec 6 2001 by Sen Peng Eu
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good epic, Although a bit detached.
I suggest readers make a comparative read about "Big River Bend" and "Poisonwood Bible". Read more
Published on Dec 6 2001 by Sen Peng Eu
3.0 out of 5 stars
Men Without A Country
_A Bend In The River_ is Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul's effective, if at times ponderously written, study of major disruptions faced by non-black inhabitants of post-Colonial... Read more
Published on Nov 6 2001 by IRA Ross
3.0 out of 5 stars
Political travalogue
"A Bend in the River" reminded me of a travelogue: heavy on description, light on feeling. While the prose flowed and the pages flew by, I felt too much the politics and the... Read more
Published on Nov 2 2001 by Jay Stevens
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fine Work, More Relevant Than Ever
This novel is a poignant and psychologically penetrating study of the complex relationship between the personal and the political. Read more
Published on Oct 17 2001 by Alma Marceau
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Bend in the River
The book made grand statements about modern Africa and the human condition by an important and talented writer. It's structure seemed to lack cohesion, though. Read more
Published on Sep 27 2001
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