A Bend in the River (1979)

A book about displaced people; people living in foreign lands, villagers living in urban areas with no retrievable past or conceivable future and all the futility and frenzy that creates. ( )

This book is about a man who moves from the east coast of Africa to the interior to open a store at a bend in the river during unsettled times.
It got me wondering what it takes to leave everything behind and start again somewhere remote. What kind of faith or courage is needed or is it just being open to where life leads you?
(This is not necessarily what the book is about- but I really could not stop thinking about this as a concept) ( )

I stopped reading this book as it became more and more hopeless and depressing. My life is too short ot burden myself with the travails of post-colonial African development. Sorry. ( )

The story is so-so, it is the strength of Naipaul's writing which carries it up to two stars. Maybe two and a half. It falters often, but on occasion will come across as perceptive and wise of the world.

I'm skeptical and wary of Naipaul's outlook and politics, although he cloaks them well enough that it's hard to tell the exact perspective he is coming from. Also, talk about depressing. There isn't a moment of true joy to be found. Just anxiety, estrangement, fear of the future, resentment, paralyzed inaction, exploitation, and so on. Times of uncertainty can reveal the nature of people. Some will see the potential for good and positive change in the space which has opened up, others will predict dark things. Naipaul likely falls into the second camp, although I suspect he'd argue it as being realistic instead, not jaded. ( )

This is a book for lovers of language. Naipaul creates characters and worlds that breathe and bleed from the pages, and the stories are what they become in the background. For those reasons, I fell into this book and enjoyed it, and would recommend it. At the same time, as much as this may be one of Naipaul's most well-known books, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed a number of his other novels. Something about the story itself felt more detached--it was too easy to enjoy the book as a book, but not get so engaged as to be truly impacted. It felt, in other words, like it was lacking the power of some of Naipaul's other novels, though I'm glad to have read it.

So, yes, I'd absolutely recommend it, but if you're new to Naipaul, I might recommend starting with one of his other great works. ( )