A Bend in the River
- Author V. S. Naipaul
- Narrator Simon Vance
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 1 September 2004
- Run Time 10 hours and 47 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Fiction: general and literary.
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What to expect
This incandescent novel chronicles both an internal journey and a physical trek into the heart of Africa, a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions. Exploring political and individual corruption, it expresses skepticism about the ability of newly decolonized nations to forge independent identities.
Salim, a Muslim Indian merchant, opens a store in a sleepy small town at a bend in the river, whose inhabitants include a Belgian priest, a witch, and a white intellectual named Raymond. The president of the new country is a demagogue called the Big Man who hires Raymond as his speechwriter. Salim loses control of his store to the commercially inexperienced Citizen Theotime, who hires Salim to manage it. Gradually, the town's veneer of civilization begins to crumble.
Critics Review
“Austere and brilliant…Naipaul has mastered the gift of creating an aura of psychic and moral tension…A novelist has to be faithful to what he sees, and few see as well as Naipaul.”
“In a vigilant style, which has been deservedly admired, [Naipul] transforms rage into precision and allows events to speak with their own inherent irony.”
“Confirms Naipaul’s position as one of the best writers now at work.”
“Vance delivers the detached ferocity that won Naipaul the Nobel Prize.”
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