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mightymeep 's review for:
A Bend in the River
by V.S. Naipaul
I wasn't gripped by this postcolonial African tale, although I do think it probably sums up a certain mood and time in Africa. This novel was written in 1979 and attitudes and times have changed considerably since then, but perhaps not as much as we would like to think.
What is interesting is that the book is written from the viewpoint of Salim, himself considered to be an outsider, with his Arabic heritage, who has moved from the coast to the interior. We follow events through his eyes as outsiders ourselves but this is frustrating because Salim is often overcome by listlessness and inertia and is often unable to make decisions about his future in the boom and bust African town at the bend in the river. The fortunes of the town and indeed the country depend on the new President, who has forced himself into power following a brief coup. The President, with his unsettling mixture of grandiose but flawed European ideas and African heritage, has brought stability and there is money to be made, but at the end we find the President is losing control and the boom time is disolving, eventually forcing Salim to make a decision about his future.
What is interesting is that the book is written from the viewpoint of Salim, himself considered to be an outsider, with his Arabic heritage, who has moved from the coast to the interior. We follow events through his eyes as outsiders ourselves but this is frustrating because Salim is often overcome by listlessness and inertia and is often unable to make decisions about his future in the boom and bust African town at the bend in the river. The fortunes of the town and indeed the country depend on the new President, who has forced himself into power following a brief coup. The President, with his unsettling mixture of grandiose but flawed European ideas and African heritage, has brought stability and there is money to be made, but at the end we find the President is losing control and the boom time is disolving, eventually forcing Salim to make a decision about his future.