"That illumination I held on to, about the unity of experience and the illusion of pain, was part of the same way of feeling. We fell into it—people like Indar and myself—because it was the basis of our old way of life. But I had rejected that way of life—and just in time. In spite of the girls i...
Empecé a leer este libro hacia 2002 o 2003. Lo dejé después de haber leído la parte correspondiente a Malasia e Indonesia y lo retomé en 2008 para leer la parte que trata sobre Irán, poco antes de realizar mi viaje a este país. La impresión que recibí en mi primer contacto con el libro es radical...
I’m quite okay with what gets termed as ‘India Bashing’ (or, if for that matter, bashing of any other country) as often it is just a veil used by powerful to suppress criticism pointed at them but my one condition is that author should actually feel concerned for the people. That she/he is frus...
Finished reading: July 31st 2014 “I had seen how deep in nearly every West Indian, high and low, were the prejudices of race; how often these prejudices were rooted in self-contempt; and how much important action they prompted. Everyone spoke of nation and nationalism but no one was willing to s...
For decades, V.S. Naipaul has played the part of sassy gay friend to the Third World. (Never mind that he’s actually straight). He’ll come swishing into some post-colonial backwater, give the place the once over, and then start in with the home truths: your society is sick, your economy is a joke...
I chose this book because of the title, not realizing that it is a sequel to HALF I LIFE which I did not read. To be fair, I can't give this a just assessment. Suffice it to say, I couldn't get all the way through it. The idea of magic seeds is based on the magic of being able to produce a racele...
Sometime in the late 90s Sir Vidia declared that the novel as we know it is dead. It has been supplanted by other forms of entertainment. And soon after he comes out with ‘Half a Life’. As someone who has admired his works. I was swept by the grace and simple beauty of ‘A House for Mr Biswas’. I ...
A revolution in a small Caribbean island exposes deviant sexuality, and gender and racial hatred among its principal characters. They truly are lost souls without hope of redemption.Jimmy Ahmed is the unlikely bi-sexual, mixed-breed revolutionary, who hates England for having made him into a play...
Buku Among the Believers (Bersama Kaum Beriman) mencatat “perjalanan Islami” V.S. Naipaul yang mencakup empat negara, yakni Republik Islam Iran, Republik Islam Pakistan, Kerajaan Malaysia dan Republik Indonesia. Pemberian nama lengkap masing-masing negara ini sepertinya diperlukan, untuk memberik...
Let no one fool you into thinking that just because this book is set in the beautiful island of Trinidad, that somehow it will pander to the stereotype of the Caribbean as being an idyllic eco-paradise filled with mirth and tranquillity. In fact, VS Naipaul's utterly bleak and ultra-realistic dep...
Recommended by my mom who thought it was great. The 3 stars is really provisional here. I feel I need to think about the stories more. I started reading the book a second time right after finishing it so I could maybe get a better grasp. I also read the reviews here and some other places on th...
The Mystic Masseur was Naipaul's first novel, and it is probably the best known of his works (a movie has been turned out by Messrs. Merchant & Ivory). The main character is one Ganesh Ramsumair, the son of an Indian immigrant to Trinidad, who seems to be blessed by fortune. Each time he is in da...
Two months ago, I’d lemmed this book in frustration and declared passionately on GR that this was the only book I’d abandoned so far with the clear intention of never picking it up. Now you can see that I’ve not only finished it in a day, but also given it a hefty 4 star rating. And that too to N...
I came to this book much as Naipaul came to the South, curious and eager to see what was in store for me. I think both of us were surprised. I was surprised that someone as worldly as I think Naipaul is would begin a turn in the South expecting racial disharmony and faceoffs. I think he was su...
ere is an interesting discovery. Not for the literary world. The man has a Nobel Prize, after all. But for me, Naipaul was an unknown quantity. So much so that (ignorance confessed here) I thought he was an Indian writer. In a way he is, I guess, his parents being Indian emigrants. (if you can ca...
Reading this early Naipaul I find it has engraved itself on the part of my reading memory that includes works such as "Our Town" or "Huckleberry Finn." --timeless, haunting elaborations of our less-than-meaningful aspirations, and our basic and base natures. Try as we writers might, the characte...