Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001, Trinidad born Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, and his chronicles of life and travels. Enjoy the 5 Best Books of V. S. Naipaul!<\/p>\n
This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n Heart-rending and darkly comic, V.S. Naipaul\u2019s A House for Mr Biswas has been hailed as one of the twentieth century\u2019s finest novels, a classic that evokes a man\u2019s quest for autonomy against the backdrop of postcolonial Trinidad.<\/p>\n Mr Biswas has been told since the day of his birth that misfortune will follow him \u2013 and so it has. Meaning only to avoid punishment, he causes the death of his father and the dissolution of his family. Wanting simply to flirt with a beautiful woman, he ends up married to her. But in spite of his endless setbacks, Mr Biswas is determined to achieve independence, and so he begins the gruelling struggle to buy a home of his own.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n Much has changed since V. S. Naipaul\u2019s first trip to India and this fascinating account of his return journey focuses on India\u2019s development since independence.<\/p>\n Taking an anti-clockwise journey around the metropolises of India \u2013 including Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, and Delhi \u2013 Naipaul offers a kaleidoscopic, layered travelogue, encompassing a wide collage of religions, castes, and classes at a time when the percolating ideas of freedom threatened to shake loose the old ways. The brilliance of the book lies in Naipaul\u2019s decision to approach this shifting, changing land from a variety of perspectives: the author humbly recedes, allowing the Indians to tell the stories of their own lives, and a dynamic oral history of India emerges before our eyes.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n Salim has spent most of his life on the east coast of Africa, living and working with his family. When he sets out to build a new life for himself, moving to an unnamed country in the heart of the continent, he believes he is doing so to fulfil his duty as a man. He buys a small shop in a sleepy town, at a bend in the river, where he sells sundries to the locals.<\/p>\n First published in 1979, A Bend in the River is V. S. Naipaul\u2019s vivid exploration of post-colonial Africa at the time of independence. Serving as a microcosm of this changing world, his bend in the river is a scene of chaos, violent change, warring tribes, ignorance, isolation and poverty. And from this rich landscape emerges one of the author\u2019s most potent works \u2013 a truly moving story of historical upheaval and social breakdown.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n Among the Believers is V. S. Naipaul\u2019s classic account of his journeys through Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia; \u2018the believers\u2019 are the Muslims he met on those journeys, young men and women battling to regain the original purity of their faith in the hope of restoring order to a chaotic world. It is a uniquely valuable insight into modern Islam and the comforting simplifications of religious fanaticism.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n Miguel Street, V. S. Naipaul\u2019s first written work of fiction, is set in a derelict corner of Port of Spain, Trinidad, during World War Two and is narrated by an unnamed, precociously observant neighbourhood boy. We are introduced to a galaxy of characters, from Popo the carpenter, who neglects his livelihood to build \u2018the wild thing without a name\u2019, to Man-man, who goes from running for public office to staging his own crucifixion, and the dreaded Big-Foot, the bully with glass tear ducts. As well as the lovely Mrs Hereira, in thrall to her monstrous husband.<\/p>\n5 Best Books of V. S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n
A House for Mr Biswas<\/h3>\n\n
India: A Million Mutinies Now<\/h3>\n
A Bend in the River<\/h3>\n
Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey<\/h3>\n
Miguel Street<\/h3>\n