A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A House for Mr. Biswas
Book Review: Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
I hate typing so I will just say that the sense of alienation in this book's characters is most akin to my world view.
Darkly funny and my favorite book ever!
Book Review: Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this book in 1990 in my high school literature class and found it to be amazing. It is now on my all time favourite list of literary works!Book Review: CLEANSING
Summary: 4 Stars
Expect no great literary pyrotechnics here, no awesome writing style, no innovative and groundbreaking technique, and also no keen psychological insight into the minds of the characters. What you can expect is a good old fashioned narrative that firmly drives from birth to death the life of a Trinidad Indian man who's life is filled with fear and bad choices and a chaotic and truly overwhelming family. I had heard so long about this book, and its title had catched my eyes for years, when finally at the beginning of this summer I finally checked it out from the library and started reading it. It is not as great of book as I'd like it to be, as I enjoy reading, but still there is something that holds my fancy to it, and after finishing it, I find it cleansing in that everytime I think about Mr. Biswas' poor life, his poor choices, THAT FAMILY that despite it all I have grown some attachment to, I am so thankful for my life and for the family I have. Yes, my father and mother are not perfect, where I grew up was a bit cramped with little privacy and so on and so on, but LORD that doesn't hold a light to Mr. Biswas home life!!! I was in the shower today and I couldn't help being so incredibly greatful for the family and home I was born into! So this book, like all really great literature, has revealed something in my own life, about my own reality and place in the world and has made me feel blessed and for that I am really thankful.Book Review: Good Grief This Was Bad!
Summary: 1 Stars
I am an AVID reader, pretty intelligent and read at least 1-2 books a week (more when on vacation). I have read books about all kinds of people in all cultures...and this book turned into a quest...a quest to FINISH it!!! I never stop reading a book once I start it, but I was about ready to shoot myself in order to end my distress. If you want to read a REALLY, REALLY good book about desperation in the Indian culture, you simply MUST, MUST, MUST read "A Fine Balance"...one of the best books I have ever read. It's always on my suggested reading list when people ask me for the name of a good book...along with "Life of Pi." I simply don't understand all the wonderful remarks about this book. It went on and on and on and on with the same thing happening to this man over and over...with only a change in his location. It would pick up every now and again, and I would think "now it's going to start to get interesting" but I was only entertained for a page or two before Mr. Biswas returned to his same ol' depressing self, repeating the same mistakes over and over and over and over and over and over...well you get the point. Boring, boring book. I would have given it 0 stars but that wasn't an option.Book Review: Great writing, real social criticism, so human, so much fun
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd always gone along with the bias against Naipaul due to his conservative, some would say neocolonial, politics. Big mistake. This is great writing, a fun book, and real social criticism. Though it is hundreds of pages long, this read felt bad when he finished it that there were not another 500 pages to read!He really captures the argot and ways of the East Indian commmunity in T & T, and captures the foolishness, greed, and ridiculous caste and caste striving. All of this is done in manner that preserves the real humanity of everyone involved. This is so much fun!