A Bend in the River

A Bend in the River

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75  ·  rating details  ·  5,236 ratings  ·  371 reviews
'Brilliant and terrifying' "Observer "

"I had to be the man who was doing well and more than well, the man whose drab shop concealed some bigger operation that made millions. I had to be the man who had planned it all, who had come to the destroyed town at the bend in the river because he had foreseen the rich future. "

'Salim, the narrator, is a young man from an Indian fam...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published May 10th 2002 by Picador USA (first published 1979)
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Community Reviews

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Sunil
I always find it difficult to talk about the books I really like. Especially so if it is a Naipaul book. I read The Bend again this year and found it much more ensorcelling than first time around . I guess what is so appealing about the book is its sense of diligence, a discipline which attempts to faithfully reflect the emerging world in Africa, as it is. No more no less. Perhaps, this is why, even after half a century and million more theses written on Africa, it still reflects the essence of...more
Dave Russell
This is a lousy boring book. Naipaul seems very interested in telling us How The World Works, or at least how it works in Africa (he does know Africa is a continent and not a country, right?) The problem, though, is that this is ostensibly a novel and not a work of non-fiction, and Naipaul isn't a very good storyteller. He mostly narrates rather than dramatizes. There are long, long passages where there is no dialogue, which would be all right if something interesting actually happened in those...more
K.D. Oliveros
Jun 17, 2010 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006 to 2010)
Shelves: 1001-core
My copy of this book is a POB (previously owned book). There are a lot of scribbles using different colors of highlighters (pink, yellow and green). In one of the pages is a name: Danielle Sidari. I googled her name yesterday and one of these days I will invite her to be my friend in Facebook. Who knows?

Anyway, it is my first time to read a book with a lot of scribbles. Danielle is not a bad reader. Rather her comments and the phrases she underlined seem to indicate that she is smart. There is j...more
Raghu
This is my most favorite novel from V.S.Naipaul. In fact, the novel's setting and progress is such that when one reads it many years it was written, which is what I did, one can realize how prophetic and perceptive it is about Africa and its future after colonialism ends there. Naipaul is analytical and thoroghly unsentimental and consequently, he is rather pessimistic about Africa's resurgence with the end of colonialism, contrary to what many liberals believed. The story is absorbing, tracing...more
Kate Z
I was going to read Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. I really really was. But even though I have really liked most of the recent books I've read I feel like I've become this read-bot just reading all these indie bookstore picks by American authors. I just had to jump out of my rut and read something ELSE. I read Half A Life a few years ago and enjoyed it in that "I like anti-colonialism literature" kind of way and I've had A Bend In the River sitting on my shelf since then. It promises to be nega...more
Joe Dyer
Life and times of a shopkeeper in a rural outpost in tumultuous post-colonial central Africa. Naipul provides insights and wisdom about the complexity of race, ethnicity, and nationality in Africa and spins a damn good yarn at the same time.
Ami
Naipaul, despite being so highly revered, is quite possibly more of an ass than Ernest Hemingway. Character flaws aside, this book was a bit slow and I didn't see the significance it promised.
David Lentz
I suppose it's inevitable that readers will compare Naipaul's view of the bush to Joseph Conrad's. Naipaul portrays an ancient African civilization coming to grips with the intrusion of modern society thrust by economic boom into its midst. So the merchants and business traders take the steamer up the river to a bend where the New Africa is emerging. However, deep and primitive aggressions always seem to surface perhaps because they are so imbedded into man's warrior instincts. And the New Afric...more
Blair
I read this book in Central Africa, during my Peace Corps service. I maintain that it is the best, most accurate depiction of Central African society - a broad term, believe me, I know, but still - that I have read.

I found this novel engrossing and moving, and it inspired me to begin collecting Naipaul's other works; all of which are good, albeit not as good as this one.

Naipaul has been criticized for denigrating third world countries and societies. Strange, since he comes from one - he was born...more
Daniel
I read an article somewhere about a man in Africa who made his living as a river guide. He was bemoaning the loss of the colonial days where as brutal as the ruling regimes could be, at least there were factories, schools, roads and hospitals set up by the oppressing foreigners. As his country since has descended into anarchy, war and poverty, it seems that the loss of freedoms was a small price to pay.

When I read A Bend in the River, I got the feeling that there was some of the same kind of fe...more
Geek Lee
this was quite an enjoyable read. i believe the author meant to write an unbaised fictional account of a post colonial african country and succeeds. most of the time. still, the occassional empirialist thought was not enough to keep me from liking this book. its is a slow read but doesn't really lag. the author uses language wonderfully and is quite a colorful character himself. i look forward to reading some of his other works.
Chris
Very well written, but a little slow to start. I didn't really get into it until "The New Domain." Up to that point, the book focuses mainly on the town and the events that have (and are) shaping it. I really bogged down in this part because I didn't particularly feel a motivation to keep reading. The narrator seems detached; he describes everything, but he doesn't really seem too concerned about anything. However, once you get to "The New Domain," the focus shifts more towards the characters. S...more
Jenny Zhang
Apr 02, 2007 Jenny Zhang rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: self-loathing colored person, a benignly racist white person, those who appreciate beautiful writing
I'm so so glad that I'm crystal clear on Naipaul's unwavering, eternal hatred for all colored peoples, all marginalized people around the world. His hatred and disgust for himself and the communities he is loosely tied to truly never ever withers. Yes, Africa's doomed, Asia is doomed, let's bleach our skin and drink tea with the blue eyed Europeans, and thank you Naipaul for writing paragraph long sentences and describing the rivers and trees of Africa with simultaneous greater love, respect, wo...more
Hashi
Just as reading "A Fine Balance" made me glad I wasn't born in India, this novel made me grateful that I don't live in Africa. The rise and fall of various power groups -- Presidents, armies, tribal groups -- makes it impossible to have a life one can hold onto. The insecurity, while described calmly and precisely, is palpable in the pages. How can one move forward when it could all be taken away at any time? Millions upon millions of people in the world live this way; it is good to have my eyes...more
Leon

'Brilliant and terrifying' Observer Set in an unnamed African country, the book is narrated by Salim, a young man from an Indian family of traders long resident on the coast. He believes The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it. So he has taken the initiative; left the coast; acquired his own shop in a small, growing city in the continent's remote interior and is selling sundries -- little more than this and that, really -- to the

...more
Robert Wechsler
I read this soon after Naipaul won the Nobel Prize (2001). It didn't make me think, Wow, that's why he got the prize; in fact, it surprised me, because the novel is not a political allegory about Africa, or at least it's a lot more than that. What made it so special is how personal it was, how Naipaul seemed to be fighting against the usual way people have of making Africa symbolic, full of dread, or in some way political.

There is politics in the background, and toward the end it invades the for...more
Becky
I've wanted to read V.S. Naipaul for awhile because of his reputation as a novelist. But, I must say that my first book of his was very difficult for me.

Salim, the narrator, is from a family of Indian-Muslim traders who live on the coast of Africa. When a family friend offers to sell him a store in a village at "the bend in the river" in central Africa, he goes.

The book describes the complexity of Africa with its history, different ethnic groups, religions and traditions. The story takes place...more
Al

'Brilliant and terrifying' Observer Set in an unnamed African country, the book is narrated by Salim, a young man from an Indian family of traders long resident on the coast. He believes The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it. So he has taken the initiative; left the coast; acquired his own shop in a small, growing city in the continent's remote interior and is selling sundries little more than this and that, really to the nativ

...more
Arukiyomi
Another Naipaul down. Not as good as In a Free State which I read earlier this year and which I thought was excellent, but nevertheless a hard-hitting, thought-provoking exploration of the impact of the colonial legacy.

The focus is Salim and the entire book is narrated by him. Starting on the east coast of an (unnamed) East African nation, he migrates inland to a town on the eponymous bend in the river to take over a small shop. From the vantage point of this interior settlement, Salim describes...more
Nick Jones
There are people whose opinions I respect (Derek Walcott, Edward Said) who can’t abide V.S. Naipaul. I don’t know if this antipathy is just due to Naipaul’s character and politics or to his writing as well. I know little about Naipaul, although he does seem to inhabit some lofty domain from where he can look down on the rest of the world. He seems to be a man who doesn’t suffer fools gladly and a fool is defined as anyone who disagrees with him. But we don’t have to agree with an author’s views...more
Ben
Men who believe they are nothing, become nothing. Funny enough, it's Salim is developing into nothing or at least a realization of it. His hiding, neutrality, first experiences with affection, and the idea of moving from home would magically change his life, all add to a static or blindness that he can't quite awaken too. He is waiting for the tidal wave to fall on top of him. In some sense, this book is not just about Africa, but the idea that a unrealistic identity is crushing to all people. T...more
Riley
Disillusionment is the underlying theme of this book, and it offers many layers of it. I'm not sure if I agree with V.S. Naipaul's seeming nostalgia for colonial Africa, but I enjoyed the novel nonetheless.

Here's one passage, which gives a sense of the hopes dashed that dominates the work. It is told by Yvette, who is having an affair with the narrator and whose husband was close to the nameless African leader who is a key figure in the novel's progression:

"'The President invited us to dinner re...more
Smcleish
Originally published on my blog here in November 1999.

Many parts of Africa in the seventies must have been bewildering, terrifying places to live. The driving forces for instability were very strong, based partly on the conflicting feelings of the recently independent nations towards the former colonial powers: hatred of what they had stood for, jealousy of their wealth, and a desperate desire to be as "advanced". The need for the West to provide the status symbols the new nations desperately wa...more
Simon
I'd long wanted to read this book, and the expectation did nothing to diminish the pleasure. It's utterly compelling. Naipaul shows us real human beings, acting out against historical and social circumstance, often revealing their ugliness. The very people we might be tempted to romanticize, Naipaul shows to be imposters.

Line to line, the book is rich with detail and insight. We are transported to Uganda (we don't actually know which African country is the setting), we come away knowing the cha...more
Deb
The setting for this novel is post-colonial central Africa. Salim, the Indian/Muslim shopkeeper, was born and raised in coastal Africa, but his new business venture has brought him to a small city where he must find his place between the villagers who are his customers, the other non-African business owners, the Europeans who inhabit a nearby modern enclave, and the changing political landscape under an increasingly-nationalist African president. This is an unsettling novel; the reader can see t...more
Monthly Book Group
As is usual when a writer undertakes first person narration, there was speculation about the degree to which Salim was a self-portrait. Elements of his behaviour – misogyny in particular – were compared with aspects of Naipaul’s own personal biography. The view was expressed that Salim was in many respects an ‘empty’ character – an observer of events rather than an active protagonist. He seems predominantly passive, awaiting events or developments that will show him how to lead his life. In this...more
Brad
The news that V.S. Naipal had won the Nobel Prize for Literature came shortly after the shocking events of 9-11. The Wall Street Journal hailed the news and editorialized that Naipal was especially worthy as a third world author who embraced the values of the west. Quoting A BEND IN THE RIVER, the Journal argued that Naipal's message is that men in the third world should be judged by the same standards as men in the industrialized west.

For some reason, the Journal's assessment of A BEND IN THE...more
Valentina
By personal upbringing and sheer talent, Naipaul can talk about far-away lands and people of mixed origins and nomadic lifestyles like nobody else. Here, with his typically honest and sometime ruthless eye, Naipaul takes the reader to the heart of Africa, to a town that sits by a bend in an unnamed river (which is thought to be the Congo). He zooms on the life of Salim, the narrator, an Africa-born Indian Muslim who moves from the east coast to the interior in the hope of finding fortune and, in...more
Becca The
I don't have a lot to say about this book since I did not enjoy it very much. It was alright, but getting to the end felt kind of like a chore. It reminded me of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter because it seemed a lot like something you would read in school. I don't know why they always think these kinds of books are so great. I suppose it did a good job of depicting a certain place and time (i.e. Africa in the 1970's), but all the characters seemed depressed, sad, and kind of nihilistically hopele...more
Andy Beveridge
"The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it."

This aphorism part of which serves as the title for Patrick French's biography of Naipaul sums up both Naipaul's understanding of the Congo, and his own relationship to the wider world beyond Trinidad.

His horrific personal life and the way he related to others, including his first wife, his mistress and Paul Theroux, as well as his incredibly withering view of third world countries, as do...more
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A Bend in the River (Paperback)
A Bend in the River (Paperback)
A Bend in the River (Paperback)
A Bend in the River (Paperback)
A Bend in the River (Paperback)

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Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad "V. S." Naipaul was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories."
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“The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.” 34 people liked it
“After all, we make ourselves according to the ideas we have of our possibilities.” 15 people liked it
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