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booksinthetreehouse's review against another edition
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
2.0
I probably went into this book with the wrong mindset.
Wildly praised, on the list of -100 best English-language novels of the 20th century, I expected greatness.
I did not get it.
I thought the book was slow and somewhat rambling.
I was constantly putting it down. If I had it in me to stop reading a book, this might have been one I abandoned.
aldwynreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book must take place in a town very much like Mbandaka or Kisangani in DRC, where I lived. So many observances and realities that were put to words that I couldn't quite have stated but felt. Also just an interesting narrative of a tail. And I loved the hyacinths that kept floating on down the river, and taking on the feel of the town or the nararator's mood at any given time.
heritage's review against another edition
3.0
A young man of mixed Indian-Arab heritage living on the east coast of Africa in the early 1960s moves further inland to take over the ownership of a small general store in a town on a bend in the river.
This is my second book by VS Naipaul. The first one I read was In a Free State, which was a collection of three novellas. While I was completely engaged with the characters and their plights in that one, this one was only able to arouse a cursory interest. My feeling is that Naipaul is well suited to writing short fiction, but can't sustain a plot over an extended series of chapters. As such, much of this novel is just a collection of little things that happened to the main character as the situation builds into something else.
As far as the purpose of the novel goes, it's an exploration of post-colonial Africa. I think the protagonist could have been removed entirely and the book published as a treatise on how Naipaul sees the continent. The writing and the setting are decent, even though there were times when they did falter.
I'm surprised this book is as well received as it is. Certainly there are portions that would be criticized by today's readers as insensitive, racist, elitist, etc. But that wasn't really my issue. I recognize it as a product of its times. It's the actual lack of polish to the narrative and the way we're kept from completely understanding the character. And there are even what I felt were contradictions in both. Perhaps that's what he was trying to get at, though.
After reading In a Free State, I was curious to read more by Naipaul. After this one, my curiosity is lessened. I may try another one, but I'm not in a hurry.
This is my second book by VS Naipaul. The first one I read was In a Free State, which was a collection of three novellas. While I was completely engaged with the characters and their plights in that one, this one was only able to arouse a cursory interest. My feeling is that Naipaul is well suited to writing short fiction, but can't sustain a plot over an extended series of chapters. As such, much of this novel is just a collection of little things that happened to the main character as the situation builds into something else.
As far as the purpose of the novel goes, it's an exploration of post-colonial Africa. I think the protagonist could have been removed entirely and the book published as a treatise on how Naipaul sees the continent. The writing and the setting are decent, even though there were times when they did falter.
I'm surprised this book is as well received as it is. Certainly there are portions that would be criticized by today's readers as insensitive, racist, elitist, etc. But that wasn't really my issue. I recognize it as a product of its times. It's the actual lack of polish to the narrative and the way we're kept from completely understanding the character. And there are even what I felt were contradictions in both. Perhaps that's what he was trying to get at, though.
After reading In a Free State, I was curious to read more by Naipaul. After this one, my curiosity is lessened. I may try another one, but I'm not in a hurry.
nick_jenkins's review against another edition
5.0
I am immediately going to read more Naipaul--I have a sense that he may displace Bellow as my favorite author. (omg)
rltinha's review against another edition
4.0
Tecnicamente muito bom. Diria mesmo irrepreensível. Mas pessoalmente menos atractivo para mim, por estar pensado e "artilhado" com bons mecanismos narrativos mas lhe faltar a genuinidade do pessoal.
Há tessituras de realidades aparentemente rapinadas das vivências (reais ou hipotetizadas) numa África abstracta, feita de muito concreto particular junto.
Nada é deixado ao acaso, mas há diversos termos em branco, sendo a nota dominadora a de um malogrado iter africano, pertença ele ao negro do mato, ao mestiço do meio termo racial e geográfico, ou ao branco que vai de fora com intuito dominador ou salvador.
Há tessituras de realidades aparentemente rapinadas das vivências (reais ou hipotetizadas) numa África abstracta, feita de muito concreto particular junto.
Nada é deixado ao acaso, mas há diversos termos em branco, sendo a nota dominadora a de um malogrado iter africano, pertença ele ao negro do mato, ao mestiço do meio termo racial e geográfico, ou ao branco que vai de fora com intuito dominador ou salvador.
alexdv2019's review against another edition
This book is not for me. I was potentially interested to get a story about post colonial Africa from the point of view of an outsider, Salim, who is descended from an Indian family that previously moved to the eastern coast of Africa. What I got was instead a rambling that deals with pretty vague concepts and ideas that the author just wants you to take at face value, including how “Africans” appear to just be one big monolithic group who naturally steer towards destruction when they don’t have a towering authority over them to keep them in line. First it was the colonial Europeans, then it becomes the character referred to as “The Big Man” who becomes dictator of the unnamed country that’s supposed to be a stand-in for “the Congo.”
While I see value in reading authors with different viewpoints from my own, I admit that I let the fact that VS Naipaul won a Nobel prize in literature affect my judgement too much. They hand those prizes out all the time to people that really don’t merit them, it’s kind of a silly process when you think about it. A quick google search showed me that he was controversial during his life for allegations of domestic abuse and racist theories/views. It definitely comes clear during the book that he regards Black people in a very negative way. I stopped trying to keep reading just after Salim begins an affair with the young white wife of a European intellectual who previously tutored the Big Man. The love scene this creates really feels like the author trying to make himself sound like some kind of sexual master, he’s just so smart and so good at everything.
This really just felt like a nonstop ego fest, not a Nobel. I got this book for free from my college campus just before graduating, and I think it was previously used as a political theory or political lit class. There’s not enough meaning from this text to get much of that, in my opinion. It is all tainted by the author’s well documented high esteem of himself and skating over critical (read: any) specific details of the decolonization period, specifically in the huge context of the entire continent of Africa.
Not worth your time, and I regret putting so much of my own into it. I’m only giving it 2 stars because I got about 80 percent through my copy; there were maybe a handful of quotes or insights I genuinely found worth going back to and considering, but everything else felt like a slog the entire time and hoping it would get better.
While I see value in reading authors with different viewpoints from my own, I admit that I let the fact that VS Naipaul won a Nobel prize in literature affect my judgement too much. They hand those prizes out all the time to people that really don’t merit them, it’s kind of a silly process when you think about it. A quick google search showed me that he was controversial during his life for allegations of domestic abuse and racist theories/views. It definitely comes clear during the book that he regards Black people in a very negative way. I stopped trying to keep reading just after Salim begins an affair with the young white wife of a European intellectual who previously tutored the Big Man. The love scene this creates really feels like the author trying to make himself sound like some kind of sexual master, he’s just so smart and so good at everything.
This really just felt like a nonstop ego fest, not a Nobel. I got this book for free from my college campus just before graduating, and I think it was previously used as a political theory or political lit class. There’s not enough meaning from this text to get much of that, in my opinion. It is all tainted by the author’s well documented high esteem of himself and skating over critical (read: any) specific details of the decolonization period, specifically in the huge context of the entire continent of Africa.
Not worth your time, and I regret putting so much of my own into it. I’m only giving it 2 stars because I got about 80 percent through my copy; there were maybe a handful of quotes or insights I genuinely found worth going back to and considering, but everything else felt like a slog the entire time and hoping it would get better.
caldwba0's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mycriminalmind's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5