Reviews

Miguel Street by V.S. Naipaul

tawallah's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Miguel Street is a collection of interconnected vignettes of characters who had an impact on the unnamed narrator. Set in a pre-independent Trinidad, the reader is given a glimpse of life in a poor urban community. 

This was reminiscent of “ oral stories “ about strange behavior of neighbors or friends. There isn’t necessarily an obvious conclusion. Sometimes it is a cautionary tale or observation about people. This does explore the slight effect of the Second World War on the island and its relationship to Venezuela or neighbors like Barbados or Grenada. 

Most of these vignettes are forgettable. I’ll probably remember the one on B. Wordsworth, the poet who was. 

evvahoo's review against another edition

3.0

second time reading it, still okay and fun book. but not my favourite.

kfreedman's review against another edition

4.0

Portrait of the people living on Miguel Street in Port of Spain, Trinidad during the 1930s and 40s. I like the vignette style of writing, with snapshots of various people that come together to give you a sense of the place rather than a chronological plot-based style. I would have liked to have read a little more about the physical place, however, in addition to the people.

clairebrowne's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is a great work of fiction that so clearly characterizes the diverse experiences of growing up in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. There is so much humour, dark comedy and painful realities of colonial island culture and British colonial issues. 
The novel is a pleasure to read.

anetq's review against another edition

3.0

A boy's portrayal of the men in the street around him. It's probably well written, but a bit tedious to me. Self-important men who mostly live off their women and beat them as thanks. I guess there is the "charm of the eccentric slum" but I just found them all to be a bunch of assholes. Different types, but none the less... It might have been interesting to hear the women's stories, but alas, this was a manly-man book.

sushibear101's review against another edition

4.0

its a good book actually, the characters are so funny and the book is so well written, the book in general is just way different from the typical post colonial novel and I loved how we get to have a chapter for every different character. good book, although there were some boring chapters, but so does every book ever I guess.

thestoryofts's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

evanguerra's review against another edition

5.0

A must read.

j_m_alexander's review against another edition

3.25

A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say “Slum!” because he could see no more. But we who lived there saw our street as a world, where everybody was quite different from everybody else. Man-man was mad; George was stupid; Big Foot was a bully; Hat was an adventurer; Popo was a philosopher; and Morgan was our comedian.

You want a book that is earnest and enjoyable with the pace being right quick, quick? - well you came to right place. This be a collection of vignettes through the eyes of a short pants playing at being a man. It's a collection of characters, but it also be a description of a place and time - it paint a picture real good good. 

My apologies, I know I just butchered the Trinidad dialect, probably making it sound dumb and clunky, but honestly to my mind that is how it read at first. Like most books that are written in dialect though, with time you catch the rhythm, beat, and patterns, and soon you will find yourself engrossed, not just comprehending the words but hearing the earnest voices. This is the type of writing that transports the reader, using language to introduce unfamiliar culture that can be accomplished in really no other way. This book begs you to get to know the people, while not judging them; to become friendly, but never to fall in love.

This book does some amazing work in a short period. It is a shallow dive, but an enjoyable one. I think before the end you not only see the street our narrator grew up on, but you can also imagine how the appearance changed for our narrator as he aged. The writing and the characters are nothing if not colorful and vivid, but they are also brief and thus somewhat static. I can not help but think that there is also something of a staleness about the entire neighborhood by the end, a loss of hope for most of the inhabitants and yet most of the book is filled with lively activity, even if it isn't always pleasant.

ashes2003's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Incredibly written narrative expressing Caribbean childhood.