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Rating: 
Summary: The Politics of a Foreigner's Paradise
Review: An overall sense of doom and nihilism permeates the novel, and Naipaul's laconic and repetitive style is just as effective in describing the drought-plauged landscape of the island nation as it is in exploring the dysfunctional relationships between the characters.Naipaul's characters have a tendency to digress into purely political exchanges that sometimes (at least to the North American reader) seem to come at the expense of character development. But this style of writing is by no means accidental. The novel is set on an impoverished Caribbean island where, in Naipaul's words, "politics...was often a man's only livelihood". The relationship between the outsiders (visiting foreigners) and the insiders (the native population) defines the novel. Meredith Hebert, a peripheral cabinet minister for the moribund ruling party, is juxtaposed against Peter Roche, an exiled anti-apartheid subversive from South Africa. Meredith struggles to understand Roche's apparent political apathy and indifference, even regarding his own torture at the hands of the South African regime. Roche's mistress, Jane, carelessly dabbles in the life and affairs of Jimmy Ahmed, the narcissistic and irresponsible leader of a failed commune and a reluctant and ineffective revolutionary. And Harry de Tunja, the wealthy local, just wants to get off of the island and is consequently branded a pariah in his own community. I was not familiar with the historical events that inspired Naipaul to write the novel, so I didn't know how things were ultimately going to turn out. Perhaps it was partly for this reason that I found the ending particularly gripping and well written. The final chapter is a convincing description of the subtle lunacy that ultimately characterizes all human tragedies. This book is not an easy read, but at the same time it is not an overly complicated work. Overall, I found it to be a great introduction to Naipaul's writings and I would highly recommend it for anyone that is lucky enough to have a week at the cottage.
Rating: 
Summary: It isn't my favorite Naipaul novel
Review: I have to admit that I was rather disappointed when I read "Guerrillas". V.S. Naipaul is one of my favorite writers of all time, but I didn't care for this particular novel. (As I matter of fact, I didn't even finish it, but found a synopsis.) "Guerrillas" does not compare with Naipaul's other marvellous works, such as "A House for Mr. Biswas" and "An Area of Darkness". The prose is much too labored and his descriptions are lengthy and tedious. "Guerrillas" does have an interesting character in the person of Jimmy Ahmed and Naipaul's psychological delineation of him isn't bad, but other than that I can't see much that makes this book any different from your typical run-of-the-mill popular fiction. However, I HIGHLY recommend Naipaul's other works, fiction and non-fiction. He is an amazing and extremely gifted writer whom I would even recommend for the Nobel Prize.
Rating: 
Summary: A la Dostoevsky
Review: Pair this sometimes graphic novel with Dostovesky's Demons (The Possessed, The Devils) -- dramatic exposures of the association of privileged but sick-souled fellow travelers with revolutionaries. As with the Dostoevsky novel, although there are flashbacks the main narrative recounts just a few days, with much conversation and some near-monologues of the principal characters, lies, rumors about the past of the revolutionary leader's behavior abroad, movement of characters here and there between just a few main locales, arson fires breaking out in the city, and murders. Strengths of Guerrillas include the sensory precision of its drought-stricken island setting, and the rendering of anxiety, fear, manipulation, resentment, and vanity throughout the book.
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