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A Bend in the River
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A Bend in the River Paperback - 1989

by V. S. Naipaul

A reissue in trade paperback format of Naipaul's bestselling work, a novel about exile and the tumultuous Third World.


About this book

A Bend in the River is set in an unnamed postcolonial Central African country and narrated by Salim, a shopkeeper. Naipaul explores the chaos and violence suffered after independence and how a power vacuum can quickly lead to the tyranny of dictatorship.

Perceived by some to be written in defense of European colonialism, Naipaul admitted that he in fact knew very little about the region when he started writing the book. Despite this, the novel immediately won praise from critics for its poignant brilliance and was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1979. In 1998 the Modern Library ranked A Bend in the River as one of the 100 best English-language books of the twentieth century.

From the publisher

A "brilliant novel" (The New York Times) from the Nobel Prize-winning author that takes us deeply into the life of one man--an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation.

Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.

First line

HASH(0x10abd3c0)

From the jacket flap

In the "brilliant novel" ("The New York Times) V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man--an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.

First Edition Identification


Alfred A. Knopf published the First US Edition, First Impression in New York, 1979.


Andre Deutsch published the First UK Edition, First Printing in London, 1979.


Details

  • Title A Bend in the River
  • Author V. S. Naipaul
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: Repri
  • Pages 279
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Vintage, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 1989-03-13
  • ISBN 9780679722021 / 0679722025
  • Weight 0.47 lbs (0.21 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.1 x 5.18 x 0.64 in (20.57 x 13.16 x 1.63 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: African
    • Demographic Orientation: Rural
    • Demographic Orientation: Small Town
    • Ethnic Orientation: Indian
  • Library of Congress subjects Political fiction, East Indians - Africa
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 79022317
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

"For sheer abundance of talent, there ca hardly be a writer alive who surpasses V.S. Naipaul." —The New York Times Book Review

"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." —Walter Clemons, Newsweek

"The sweep of Naipaul's imagination, the brilliant fictional frame that expresses it, are in my view without equal today." —Elizabeth Hardwick

Citations

  • Newsweek, 02/04/2008, Page 9

About the author

V.S. NAIPAUL was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession. His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now. In 1990, V.S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 2018.
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A Bend in the River
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A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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ISBN 13
9780679722021
ISBN 10
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A Bend in the River
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A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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A Bend in the River
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by Naipaul, V. S.

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ISBN 13
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ISBN 10
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A Bend in the River
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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Edition
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ISBN 13
9780679722021
ISBN 10
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A Bend in the River

A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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ISBN 13
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A Bend in the River

A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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ISBN 13
9780679722021
ISBN 10
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A Bend in the River

A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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ISBN 13
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A Bend in the River
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V. S.

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ISBN 13
9780679722021
ISBN 10
0679722025
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A Bend in the River
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A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V.s

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ISBN 13
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A Bend in the River
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A Bend in the River

by Naipaul, V.s

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ISBN 13
9780679722021
ISBN 10
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