V.S. Naipaul
1987
Around 400 pages
I haven't been the biggest fan of V.S. Naipaul, so I wasn't particularly excited to read his fictionalized autobiography. However, since this focused so much on Naipaul's culture shock after leaving Trinidad and Tobago, it managed to be somewhat interesting. Somewhat.
Most of the action of the novel takes place in England, where Naipaul has rented a cottage in the countryside. At first, he sees the area as frozen in time, but as he works on another book, his view of the place starts to shift. Naipaul then reflects upon our perceptions of our surroundings and how much these perceptions are influenced by our own prejudices.
I always find Naipaul's novels long and dry, so if he has good stuff that is buried in there, it's stuck under long drawn out passages and slow pacing. But he did have profound takes on travel and our own nationalist assumptions, so that's something.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Naipaul's landlord is modeled on his real-life landlord Stephen Tennant (1906–1987), a 1920s socialite and a "bright young thing" who is also the model for the Hon.
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