Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

India: A Wounded Civilization

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 470 ratings · 46 reviews

In 1975, at the height of Indira Gandhi’s “Emergency,” V. S. Naipaul returned to India, the country his ancestors had left one hundred years earlier. Out of that journey he produced this concise masterpiece: a vibrant, defiantly unsentimental portrait of a society traumatized by centuries of foreign conquest and immured in a mythic vision of its past.

Drawing on novels, new...more

Paperback, 176 pages

Published April 6th 2003 by Vintage (first published December 12th 1976)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

The Caribbean 101

203rd out of 297 books — 35 voters

The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor

India on My Mind

32nd out of 106 books — 15 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 914)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 20, 2013 Devraj Dutt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have just finished chapter six of this book. Being somewhat interested in science and technology/research, I connect with this chapter the most. The author speaks about the lack of scientific inclination, the lack of humility that encourages learning and experimentation with due diligence (which is replaced by a nonchalant arrogance behind a veil of age or seniority) and of an "intellectual parasitism" that has hampered India's forays in research and development of new technology. I cannot sto...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 24, 2008 D.W. rated it 3 of 5 stars

I started this book expecting to enjoy it for the same reasons other readers had criticized it: Naipaul's "negativity" and his willingness to question a culture that's not his own. I do believe that an outsider can, under the right circumstances, offer a valuable perspective on a foreign country. Unfortunately, as he acknowledges in the introduction, Naipaul has a complex relationship with India that largely prevents him from treating it without bias or, it seems, anything other than smug hostil...more

6 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2012 Andy rated it 5 of 5 stars

“It seems to always be there in India: magic, the past, the death of the intellect, spirituality annulling the civilization out of which it issues, India swallowing its own tail.”

Naipaul’s “India A Wounded Civilisation” is the second of a trilogy of non-fiction books on India. It is an angry book, written as a reflection on the 1975 State of Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi. The anger is spat out in all directions: at the Indian political leadership (or lack thereof), at the crisis of the Ind...more “It seems to always be there in India: magic, the past, the death of the intellect, spirituality annulling the civilization out of which it issues, India swallowing its own tail.”

Naipaul’s “India A Wounded Civilisation” is the second of a trilogy of non-fiction books on India. It is an angry book, written as a reflection on the 1975 State of Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi. The anger is spat out in all directions: at the Indian political leadership (or lack thereof), at the crisis of the Indian intellectual tradition, at the ordinary people who accept the status quo, at the Westerners who fail to think deeply enough about the issues at stake.

But Naipaul stays dispassionate enough to delve into murky territory. Much has of course changed in the last thirty years, but there are some truths that still stand. There is a devastating and painstaking deconstruction of the role that Gandhi has played in forming the Indian psyche where he exposes the truth of the underlying cruelty at play even today in Indian society. Naipaul writes:

“Gandhi had given India a new idea of itself, and also given the world a new idea of India. In those eleven years [1919-30] nonviolence had been made to appear an ancient, many-sided Indian truth, an eternal source of Indian action. Now [in 1975] of Gandhianism there remained only the emblems and the energy; and the energy had turned malignant. India needed a new code, but it had none. There were no longer any rules; and India – so often invaded, conquered, plundered, with a quarter of its population always in the serfdom of untouchability, people without a country, only with masters – was discovering again that it was cruel and horribly violent.”

There are parts that are dated, but not many. Naipaul’s special skill (as a novelist and a writer of non-fiction) is to find the universal in the particular. The book is full of incisive and contrarian thinking, and it is this – along with the beautiful prose – that makes the book so exciting and stimulating to read.

Highly recommended.

(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 Ensiform rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, india

Naipul explains India, sort of. A horribly critical book, quite racist (in the sense of making broad, derogatory generalizations about an entire people, using small amounts of evidence or even just hearsay), bordering on the vitriol of a KKK pamphlet. And yet, a lot of what Naipaul points out seems correct. He's an extremely sharp observer and doesn't have to make a big production out of how absurd some Indian policies are; he makes their absurdity come across by just describing them. So he does...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 26, 2009 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This collection of V.S. Naipaul's essays on India was finished in 1976, almost thirty years ago. Much has happened in India since then. For one thing, the economy has expanded rapidly, and India will soon supplant Japan as the world's third largest economy. Naipaul has continued to write about India, and this reviewer must now to on to read his more recent offerings. Still, as a scathing critique of India at a particular moment in time, when the Gandhian political tradition still continued to de...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 18, 2010 Irwan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, finished

A wounded, well-written prose about a wounded civilization.

This text was finished written in the month that I was born. Almost three decades later I had the chance to visit India, his "wounded" civilization. But it was not the wound that had drawn me to India. It was something that I understood as a breath of hope. Something I, probably a little naively, perceive as a hope that can be shared and learned for my own country, Indonesia. I am talking about the flourishing business of IT outsourcing...more A wounded, well-written prose about a wounded civilization.

This text was finished written in the month that I was born. Almost three decades later I had the chance to visit India, his "wounded" civilization. But it was not the wound that had drawn me to India. It was something that I understood as a breath of hope. Something I, probably a little naively, perceive as a hope that can be shared and learned for my own country, Indonesia. I am talking about the flourishing business of IT outsourcing which is concentrated mostly in Bangalore, and in the lesser degree in Hyderabad - the city in which I briefly stayed.

Why do I think Indonesia can learn something from India? Because the countries share many similar social economic problems such as poverty and immense population - just to name a few. Since I am not equipped with social science background or of political inclination - I am an IT practitioner - I thought Indian experience with the IT "success" can be something workable in Indonesia, and certainly something within my reach to consider about.

However, this "wounded" book has put light on things I overlooked. It shows me the scale of the thing I thought similar about the two countries. As school pupils we were told that Indonesia has suffered 350 years of external occupation by the Dutch. And I thought the parallel is the British occupation for 150 years. But the author added the previously 500 years occupation by the Muslims. This occupation results in the author observation that "no civilization was so little equipped to cope with the outside world; no country was so easily raided and plundered".

One of the things I learned from my research was, India becomes the major destinations of software work outsourced from the developed countries, more than other countries aspiring for this type of business, is because, among others was the high availability of English-speaking IT engineers. Yes, "english speaking". So if India was seen as "a little equipped to cope with the outside world", then how about my country? Please, excuse my introspective mood. Then again, decades have passed since this book was written. Aha, then on the positive side one might argue, if the previous assessment of the author was accurate, than it takes only a few decades to change, to have more hopes!

Another interesting point is the description of the internal psyche of the Indians which the author argues are very much confused by the traditions and religions. The lack of individual, independent thinking due to the minutely regulated life by the social/group code. Or what is called "instinctive life", I supposed he insinuates the opposition to a logical, based-on-reason, life.

I am not sure how much exaggeration the author has put in this assessment, but it does make me think about my country and my people again. Are we leading "instinctive" life? How much has this "instinctive-ness" dominated our life individually or collectively?

But anyway, no matter how troublesome, I still don't see my country as "wounded". Hopefully I will always have the reason to it.

(less)

like · see review

Jun 28, 2012 Jamyang Phuntsok rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For anyone who enjoys the India of Discovery Channel and Lonely Planet guidebooks, who claims to see 'beauty' in her chaos and find 'meaning' in the apparent diversity and disorder, this is a deeply provocative and disturbing book. Naipaul's views are highly critical and negative but only a fool would dismiss them without a thought. This book sets a very high standard for a travelogue combined with cultural analysis. I have read this book three times, first time way back in 2007 and quite unders...more For anyone who enjoys the India of Discovery Channel and Lonely Planet guidebooks, who claims to see 'beauty' in her chaos and find 'meaning' in the apparent diversity and disorder, this is a deeply provocative and disturbing book. Naipaul's views are highly critical and negative but only a fool would dismiss them without a thought. This book sets a very high standard for a travelogue combined with cultural analysis. I have read this book three times, first time way back in 2007 and quite understandably, I remember nothing from that first reading for this is not a very easy book as travelogues go.

Naipaul returns to India during Indira Gandhi's Emergency for his second visit and straight away he launches into his devastating verdicts, " There was always a contradiction between archaism of national pride and the promise of the new; the contradiction has at last cracked the civilization open." From his reading of RK Narayan's novels, his tour of the ancient city of Vijayanagar, of Bundi in Rajasthan, he finds in India a civilization that has been left depleted by a thousand years of foreign invasion externally and whose religion, Hinduism, had reached a dead end, allowing it only to make itself archaic again, intellectually smaller and always vulnerable.

The claims of a glorious past, the ancient India and its thoughts, the Hindu ideals of non-attachment and non-violence, taken to its greatest height by Mahatma Gandhi - these are the ideas that can still win millions of votes today in India, but for Naipaul these are what has gone into the making of this civilization which is finding itself unable to move forward in modern times, after Independence, which has 'given men no idea of a contract with other men, no idea of the state.' In Bombay, Naipaul visits chawls where dwell the factory workers of the city, unwanted but necessary, with their allegiance to Shiva Sena and their committees. In them, Naipaul finds a people who have broken away from a past which holds no hope for them and who are making 'a new claim on the land'. This is perhaps where Naipaul is least pessimistic about India for everywhere else Naipaul finds people just barely surviving, without a want for more, in complete acceptance of their karma. This is ' the distress of India' , her 'holy poverty' romanticised by Gandhianism, which Naipaul finds impossible to accept.

Not just the substance, Naipaul's style is equally sharp and devastating ('Through generations of idle servitude they had grown to specialise only in style' he writes of Indian princes) There is hardly a superfluous sentence in the book. It is not very easy to accept all that he has to say about India, but his critical vision and views surely equip one with a better way understand a culture, be it foreign or one's own.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 25, 2013 Jag Rao added it

Its Ok. It gives an honest review from an outsider, naipaul is an outsider though of indian origin. he doesnt have romantic view of India. What he wrote on vijayanagara empire was very cruel, even chinese visitor wrote about abundant wealth during those days and thriving trade in spices, gold and pearls.
But waht he said in some sense was correct, but literature was given importance during this period, he only talked about negatives and never mentioned positives. Its good book though, he gave the...more

like · see review

Apr 10, 2012 Cecilia W Yu rated it 4 of 5 stars

VSNaipaul..this book!!!..what can I say? I was in some tedious british colonial hunting lodge that the english stole from what was once some Indian aristocrat's private palace ground. The hotel was left over from when Gandhi chucked the english out. I was a teenager in Jaipur. There was a really annoying guy in the gift shop who only had 4 english books that he kept wrapped up in plastics. He drove me mad by refusing to BARTER...who on earth in India REFUSES to Barter? After 40mins and a break f...more

like · see review

Oct 11, 2010 Anand rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is book written by Naipaul during his visit to India during the Emergency period..it records his opinions and impression about India, both as a country and as a civilization. Being an person of Indian descent and born/brought up outside India, he simultaneously looks at India both as an insider and as an outsider. Some of his observations are truly astute and nuanced, especially about Gandhi.. and some of his comments can be considered brutal.. I think he is correct on the most part.. he sc...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 24, 2012 Tracy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yea, it was good-okay. Like, Naipaul is obviously super intelligent and writes incredibly well, but for me, it's hard to get through it. It's incredibly dense, and he gives a lot of description of landscapes and environs, which I tend to space out on after awhile. I need more action and dialogue to keep me in it. But, these are just personal preferences.

He does come off as quite critical of Indians and how they've handled crises, setbacks, and run-of-the-mill problems. And he explains all of it...more

like · see review

Mar 04, 2012 Rohan Dixit rated it 2 of 5 stars

V S Naipaul’s second book much acclaimed, but rarely understood India Trilogy -India : A Wounded Civilization comes from Don Vidia’s experience post the Emergency Years of Indira Gandhi where individual freedom was brutally suppressed and views -whether political,social or almost of any kind were subverted to suit the whims of the state .I bought the book pure on the author’s reputation having been graced by a friend on how the man has an almost radar-like precision in his views on whatever subj...more V S Naipaul’s second book much acclaimed, but rarely understood India Trilogy -India : A Wounded Civilization comes from Don Vidia’s experience post the Emergency Years of Indira Gandhi where individual freedom was brutally suppressed and views -whether political,social or almost of any kind were subverted to suit the whims of the state .I bought the book pure on the author’s reputation having been graced by a friend on how the man has an almost radar-like precision in his views on whatever subject he chooses to focus his almost Zen-like attention on.Naipaul has never made any secret of the disillusionment with the country of his birth ; he fidgets and then almost resolutely declines to call it his home before and even after.all the more is reflected in his writing where he murders and dissects everything that is associated with India ; leaving the carcass to rot in the sun without any pangs of guilt.Why does his choose to annihilate India in this short-travelogue is not difficult to understand.His ancestors were forced migrants and you do tend to harbor a particular distaste for a country which hasn’t been too kind on your kin.This comes out to be the greatest undoing for this book for you are surprised that in all his travels in the country Naipaul couldn’t find anything even to sympathize, leave alone pleasurable.

The book starts with a semi-historical account of the Vijayanagar kingdom with Naipaul making his first incision by concluding that the kingdom was,in his view the last remnant of Hindu civilization in India .Although he makes a marked observation when he points out that plunder in the region has caused the human resource drought that has plagued the region for almost 4 centuries .Naipaul also recounts of his meetings with R.K. Narayan ;the creator of Malgudi with zest but his enthusiasm for India has already taken a beating by the end of second chapter.He almost ,complains that he found Narayan’s characters in his books far too removed from the ground .Taking examples from R.K’s novels like Mr.Sampath Naipaul borders on mocking the Hindu view of life which takes deeper contemplation before any action as its primary responsibility.However,to even out things a bit he credits Vijay Tendulkar and his plays Sakharam Binder and The Vultures to be more nearer to his almost cynical vision of the country. I have been a bit caustic until now so let me refrain from going the Naipaul way.The language has been Naipaulishly simple ,yet effective; you can conjure up the thoughts pretty clearly with limited cranial capacity usage.Naipaul has almost ,every time, refrained from letting the language hold sway over his thoughts and ideas; something which his more ‘sensational’ contemporaries are more visibly seen indulging in.

Although I would again go back to where we started -In an almost quizzical error Naipaul chooses to describe the Indian state as comical,aimless and Russian something which the narrative bears a close resemblance to when the aforementioned words come about.The intensity of criticism however makes a return when N chooses to distance himself from the North and Focus on Mumbai -Bombay at that time .Indian Diaspora,especially those concerned with engagements in liberal arts have found Bombay as a romantic companion in their Indian journey .Mr N is no exception.However Naipaul gives very little of his time and attention towards the Gateway of India ; Instead he chooses to focus his attention on the narrow bylanes and chawls of Mumbai which I assume were the precursors of an Indian image for the outside world .

It has already become clear by now that the emergency was the sole reason for Naipaul’s visit to India.Indeed ,the timing couldn’t have been better.It is evidenced in the book that Indians themselves were not involved in the Emergency as such .this becomes clear from the imprisonment of JP and Morarji Desai ; former being the best Statesman India has ever produced and latter the first PM post the incumbent Nehruvian era .This is the best portion of the book although it doesn’t last for long .Then comes the most unforgiving part of this book where Naipaul focuses more on criticizing everything Gandhian ;Gandhi the man,his values ,his way of freeing India ,the perception of Gandhian values today which to a certain degree I would agree have lost their relevance today .I would rather be led to believe that Sir Vidia gave away to sensationalism here and this is not his actual opinion .Although this looks more like a guerrilla attack on the very first false impression Naipaul has of India.He opines that the Gandhian policy of self-renunciation ,celibacy,civil disobedience are mere attempts to bring out the Hindu,the Indian way of life were suffering of any kind is held in the highest order .For a country which was under the fist of British empire very strongly for almost 70 years (post 1857 ) and had shown no signs of fighting back,the tiniest act of picking up a fistful of salt held great symbolism and significance for an impoverished Indian mass ;the poverty of ideas ,opinions ,viewpoints and actions and a horrific famine some 15 years later on .But VS chooses to discredit this altogether .Instead he chooses to denounce the Salt March belittling the act itself.Naipaul views Gandhi himself as more of a Hindu caricature a person imprisoned in his own ideas of meat and alcohol avoidance ,trying very hard tacitly to preserve his very fragile Hinduism .The flogging of Gandhi does not stop here.Instead ,it moves on to one of the world’s most read and inspiring autobiographies.Naipaul finds that Gandhi has not given his sufficient attention to detail of his environment pervading around during his tenure in England and South Africa ,choosing to ignore the fact that Gandhi was not a wordsmith at any point of time in his life ;still he has left behind a treasure of experiences from his eventful life chronicling more his mistakes in all humility and grace and leaving the readers with lessons he learned from them and deliberately choosing not to focus on his achievements.

As I trudged on towards the end of the book I became convinced that I had never been far off from where we started.the cynicism remained the same,there was a paucity of ideas with some refreshing interjections ,the collective failure of India as a nation and Hinduism in protecting the heritage of this country which as I write this is undergoing the biggest transformation in its 5th year of superannuation.I found that there were merely selected examples from India ;here and there which are bound to happen in a vast nation and which could be given some leeway.But to assume that everything is dark ,morbid,repugnant and revolting would be stretching things a bit too far.I was not very satisfied with the great author’s view on my Country and I would spare no chance in inviting him for a visit to do a rain-check.This review although comes after a second and a very patient read of the book.I hope Sir Vidia obliges .
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 17, 2012 Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you are an Indian with a national pride, I would be surprised if you get through this book with your pride still afloat. Naipaul literally rips through the Indian psyche in an uncompromising and practical manner. Every aspect of India, its education system, its mindset, its administrative setup, political and religious beliefs have been ridiculed and I am not angered as the logic is telling in most occasions. Even though, this book was completed in 1976, I can see that not much has changed as...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 03, 2011 Sean Mccarrey rated it 4 of 5 stars

At first glance this book is basically the author, (VS Naipaul) complaining about Indian nationals he meets at dinner parties in 1975. On second glance, this book is an explanation of the character or India, during one of its darkest hours in recent memory. While I'm not sure this book wasn't a bit overwrought, it explained much of the Indian state-of-mind to me, (if Naipaul's opinions can be trusted) and displayed how one of the world's largest and oldest civilizations refuses to enter the futu...more

like · see review

Mar 16, 2009 Sandhya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Among the three books Naipaul has written on India (Area Of Darkness, A Wounded Civilisation and third, A Million Mutinies Now), this one has to be the most scathing of them all. While the other two are travelogues in nature, A Wounded Civilisation is more of a critique - an analysis.
Since the book is so academic in nature, it's really difficult to absorb everything he says in one reading - this most certainly needs to be revisited to analyse clearly the various points the author raises.
As expe...more

like · see review

May 05, 2013 Hrishikesh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

V. S. Naipul has chosen a plump moment to write about India. Extraordinary times have spawned extraordinary views.

While I disagree with several of his views - they seem too restrictive and localized - it cannot be denied that Naipul has grasped (his own particualar interpretation of) the essence of India.

I concede that I am far too young, far too ignorant, inadequately well-read to appreciate this book in its entirety. On occasion we cone across books we know we are not equal to.

What has shocke...more

like · see review

Nov 10, 2011 Shruti Kasarekar rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am not sure how I feel about this book. Naipaul: pessimistic - yes, anglophile: yes, unreasonable: yes. Being an Indian myself, I tried to be as rational as possible. However, couldn't help but notice Naipual's bias and unbalanced opinions. I was hoping to get a good perspective of a westener who has first hand experience and also cultural associations with India. But overall quite disappointing. On a good side, I was pleasantly surprised with Naipaul's travels and talks with indigenous writer...more

like · see review

Jul 26, 2012 Shiva Shetty rated it 4 of 5 stars

July 27 2012.

Having now read the Trilogy that this book is the 2nd of, I have this very weird thought that this is the kind of book that would be written by a acerbic reporter trailing Hari Sheldon during the dying days of The Empire of the Foundation trilogy. Parallels are haunting. Or a bitter Roman scribe writing during the waning years of Pax Romana. I have been a resident of India since birth for 34 years now and I 'get' Naipaul's supposed smug hostility. Anyone who has been living here c...more

like · see review

Apr 28, 2013 dely rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 0-india

Naipaul fa una critica feroce dell'India e della mentalità indiana. Dà la colpa dell'arretratezza del paese all'impoverimento intellettuale degli indiani dovuto al forte legame che essi hanno con la religione e la mitologia del paese. Per colpa dell'accettazione della legge del karma e del sistema delle caste l'indiano non cerca di migliorare la propria situazione né quella del paese perché accetta il male che gli sta intorno come frutto delle vite precedenti ormai immutabili.
Naipaul consiglia...more

like · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Cbj rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: terrible-honesty

I have never thought of A WOUNDED CIVILIZATION as depressing or pessimistic. I found it to be enlightening, but yes, it is hard hitting stuff. The analysis of R.K.Narayanan's novel and Gandhi's writings offer a lot of interesting insights into the Hindu psyche. Naipaul says that Gandhi traveled to the UK but never noticed anything because of his anxiety. Sudhir Kakkar gave a nod to Naipaul's analysis of Gandhi in one of his books about Indian sexuality. I don't know whether Naipaul's concept of...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 02, 2012 Praveen rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very Different perspective and a commentary on the phenomenon called "India" , Nobel Prize winning Naipaul gives a thought provoking narrative that reference several travel experiences that he undertook through out the country to understand the Enigma of India, its cultures , its attitudes, its systems etc. though he paints a dark image of the country , the perspective is fresh and allows the reader to appreciate India in a new light.

Praveen.

like · see review

Oct 20, 2007 Rajiv Devanagondi rated it 3 of 5 stars

In a concise but powerful essay, Naipul outlines the decay he sees in 1970s Indian society. His identification of a pervasive, introspective, backwards-looking mentality within this society, and its role in contributing to societal decay, is a little ambitious. I have trouble believing any "Indian mentality", however broadly defined, can apply to a population of more than one billion people and still have any descriptive power.

Interestingly, Naipul wrote this essay during a rather dark time in...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 03, 2011 Geetanjali Tara Joshi rated it 2 of 5 stars

not the best among the India trilogy, I liked 'India: A Million Mutinies Now'better than this one and the Area of Darkness..written during and about the Emergency its typically a political work, slightly boring but very informative..and again Naipaul sounds very stereotype to me..

like · see review

Oct 11, 2010 Ilaria rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was written in the middle of the Emergency, during Indira Gandhi’s dictatorship. It talks about India’s contradictions in the 70s but it’s still covering current affairs. Interesting even in the short essay form.

http://www.developingreport.com/Revie...

like · see review

Apr 21, 2012 Prasad GR rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is hundred pages too long. And Naipaul's prose is laboriously repetitive. But the critical mirror he holds to India of the 70's is still relevant to a large extent. This could have been a fabulous 30-40 page essay..

like · see review

Feb 03, 2013 Praharsh Chandra rated it 2 of 5 stars

Intriguing at parts, but a bit too negativistic on the whole. In the end, the absence of any hope is the only sort of hope the author can come up with for a country he mentions he has a "complicated" relationship with.

like · see review

May 11, 2012 Amy D rated it 4 of 5 stars

feeds my absorption into my past, is directly pointed and true for what I have seen in my family and in India myself.

like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 Kiran Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dont agree completely with his views but unique observations from Naipaul. Especially on Gandhi

like · see review

Jul 15, 2012 Rimjhim Singh added it

just read the introduction and i have been pulled into it...its beyond a plain old review,which for the record i am not even that adept in writing.A must read for anybody who gets the title.i adore it.

like · see review

Apr 09, 2011 Lynn Silsby added it · review of another edition

Well I suppose it's really not my place to say that wow, dude seems to be struggling with some self-hatred issues. I need to learn a lot more about India before I can comment intelligently, but this book reads like that yucky but unavoidable middle phase of culture shock where you're just offended and annoyed at the foreign culture you find yourself in. And so I take this book with a grain of a salt because usually there's a phase after that where you become more accustomed to the differences an...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 30 31 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (12)

More editions...

Genres

Cultural > India

24 users

Non Fiction

17 users

Travel

13 users

History

7 users

Asian Literature > Indian Literature

5 users

Nobel Prize

2 users

Cultural > Asia

2 users

Politics

2 users

See top shelves...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About India: A Wounded ...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: India: A Wounded Civilization
avg rating	preview: India: A Wounded Civilization Goodreads rating: 3.57 (470 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5847.India?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320438479l/5847.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5847.India?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]India: A Wounded Civilization by V.S. Naipaul[/url]

India: A Wounded Civilization

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (12)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About V.S. Naipaul

Books by V.S. Naipaul

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About India: A Wounded ...