A Bend in the River

Rating:
Summary: an important book in my life
Review: I read A Bend in the River when I was interviewed for a teaching job in 1993. I was very moved by it, particularly by two aspects, the view of the past and the image of ants at the beginning of a chapter. The book changed my view about the past and the relatiohsip between the individual and the community. I do not entirely agree with the book's view, but I was shaken by it and my life was changed by it. Ever since then, this book has been a model for me, namely that I want to write books that can affect readers, at least to make the reader feel slightly enriched when he or she puts down my books.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: A great book of travel into the `other' with evocation of fear, change, violence and the works. Although based on Idi Amin's Uganda, it represents the situation in other third world countries as well. As also the third worlds that lie embedded in the first worlds.

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Summary: It paints an accurate picture of development even today
Review: What is so fascinating about this book is that reading it today, years after it was first published, not much has changed in terms of development. The names of places may change, but most development around the "third world" has begun as Naipaul described. It is an excellent read!

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Summary: Surprisingly funny
Review: Re-reading Bend in the River after almost 20 years I was struck by the humor this time. Although this book has many other interesting and enjoyable facets, don't miss the subtle, but laugh-out-loud funny aspects, such as the "unpublicised pilgrimmage", the diplomatic job interview, the twisted Latin quotations and so on. Even in the dry and dusty town at the Bend in the River, there is a wicked sense of humor snaking through the bush...

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Summary: V.S. Naipaul really writes down the facts as they are
Review: Naipaul makes sure that the true reality is portrayed across to the reader without any discrepancies. The amazing aspect of the story is that Naipaul does not give any solutions to the problems he puts forth. Overall, it is quite horrifying as it depicts how helpless the African people are to the prevailing governments. What is so fascinating about it, is Naipaul's characters get as real as modern day people do. --Khurram Ahmed Taji

Rating:
Summary: Classic tale of the Journey one must make through life.
Review: This is a classic tale of the journey we all must make to get through life, replete with trials, tribulations, ordinaryness and some joy. Only the location and the time are updated, to recent history in Africa. Excellent descriptions of places, events, and characters. You cannot come away from this book without feeling moved by what life has us experience, and by seeing our abilities to overcome and to enjoy the varieties of these various happenings. Highly recommended. Can also be read, on a simpler plane, as a kind of adventurous story.

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Summary: A novel of Change
Review: A novel full of wisdom and experience, 'A Bend In the River' is a novel of change. Naipaul conveys the politics, attitudes, currents, and atmospheres of a developing country through the feeling eyes of a young and inexperienced foreigner who has just begun a new life. The mystery and revolution of the Third World is brought to life in emotion and understanding that captures the reader in a world many do not know exist. An excellent work of contemporary literature sure to become a classic

Rating:
Summary: One for the ages - outstanding "true" fiction
Review: This story has all the hallmarks of great fiction: moving, thoughtful prose; exotic setting (a post-colonial African country); fascinating storyline; tragic characters; grand themes. This was the first Naipaul story I have read, and now I know what all the fuss is about.

I found the writing very full, every sentence very active, moving the story forward in a staggeringly complete way. Salim is an Arab-African of Indian descent. He moves from the east coast of Africa to a town situated on a "bend in the river" in a central African country, presumably the former Belgian Congo, ostensibly to run a rudimentary general store, but more likely to delay finding what his real objectives in life are. He wants to experience the so-called "European" colonial culture of the town, and gets involved in the Hellenic Club, pursues an affair with the wife of a prominent political figure, and mentors his family servant Metty, and a young African, Ferdinand. In both these latter characters we see the symbolism of the "new" Africa, and the struggles in asserting identity, manhood, authority and organization. We get a glimpse into the sham intellectualism surrounding the educated elite, a world that Salim is drawn into but ultimately rejects. We see a man go from a kind of hope to a lazy idealism, then inertia, failing to change his life or make key decisions while the world around him is changing. The struggles of the country under its new leadership and the resistance from within all occur in the backdrop until they take center stage; this same pattern describes Salim in his approach to it all. He does not confront the emerging chaos until it is almost too late.

We see the country and atmosphere change dramatically: "This piece of earth - how many changes had come to it! Forest at a bend in the river, a meeting place, an Arab settlement, a European outpost, a European suburb, a ruin like the ruin of a dead civilization, the glittering Domain of a new Africa, and now this." The "this" he is referring to is the decay of the idealistic "Domain" which is a kind of centre of learning, symbolic of the emerging sophistication of the African mind - it has become overrun with weeds and collapsed, seeming to revert to its more basic, tribal incarnation.

I am sure Naipaul has had his share of criticism for his portrayal of race, slavery and women. That has always struck me as an unfair assessment of any fiction writer, as if there had to be an agenda or belief system underlying a writer's writings. I find the best fiction is usually where there is no agenda or motive, just a representation of real people and their idiosyncratic lives. I don't believe that he was necessarily trying to create a sympathetic character in Salim, just a realistic one. We live with a character who appears to be blown to and fro like a reed in the wind, making human choices but also steadily procrastinating.

At the end of this story, I felt as if I had been to central Africa, lived Salim's life, and had seen first hand the desolation and anarchy that overtook the once ideal-sounding "bend in the river". This is a book you can devour and then will chew on for long afterwards.



Rating:
Summary: Classic Masterpiece
Review: I had read a number of essays from VS Niapaul but this was my first full novel and was blown away. He is truly exceptional. As soon as I began I felt almost as though I needed to sit up straight as I clearly had the work of a master in my hands and should show the respect it is due. I read this book several years ago actually and it started an interest in learning more about Africa. It has been a fascinating journey but even after reading many other wonderful books, I keep coming back to the ideas, emotions and and profound insights that began with this remarkable work. Other writers may fill in some detail of related areas but VS Niapaul's novel stands alone and complete, fiction or non.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading!
Review: I am a huge admirer of Naipaul's works, but this is one of my particular favorites. His style is very descriptive and direct, and often leaves me gasping. "A Bend in the River" is essentially a simple story with a rather predictable outcome, but you'll be completely breathless the whole time you're reading. Naipaul possess such an absolute understanding of human characteristics and personalites that it's really quite amazing, and his writing is so descriptive as to give an excellent feel of certain times and places. I would say what I appreciate most in his style is the feeling I get from his words. He causes one to feel a certain a way and gives one a certain state of mind. His books are always a pleasure to read and give the most valuable, in-depth looks into another time and place far removed from all I am familiar with.