A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul

278 Pages Paperback - Fiction - 1980

My wife and I both wanted to read a book together and this was chosen. I had never heard of the author or the book, but was interested in reading it. It is occasionally on the "top 100 books to read" lists. I have grown to appreciate a lot of the Indian writers I have had read. I was pleased to be starting another.

The book follows a man named Salim. He is of indian heritage, but lives on the coast of Africa. It is never revealed where he actually is in the books other than some place in Africa, though he does travel to other countries/continents for part of the story.

Salim starts the story by buying a business in a small town at "a bend in the river" in another country. He travels through the middle of Africa and finds himself in a sparsely populated town with a run down building and a hodgepodge of things to sell. He establishes himself and does moderately well. He takes on a customers boy as a boarder so that he can attend the local school. Eventually, Metty, a house slave, now free, from his home comes to join him. He works at the shop as well. 

The conflict within the story seems to be the small town vs the outside world. At first it is just this collection of buildings in the middle of the bush. At one point it had been modernized, but everything has fallen to ruin and no one takes care of anything they don't live in. Huge piles of garbage pile int eh streets. There is a rebellion and it is squashed by mercenaries. Soon "The Big Man", the president takes notice of the small town as it has become a place of local trade. The bend in the river gets an update with a section of town known as the "State Domain". It seems to be a way to show how Modern the state can be, even turning small downs into a great modern place to be.

I think that Naipaul writing is clear and precise. It was easy to imagine the places and I can see myself in this hot place in the middle of nowhere. Though the main protagonist is likable he never really does anything exciting. The book seems to be a portrait of middle Africa at the time. It's like the backdrop of his life, the town, the people, and the country is what the book is really about. As it went on it felt almost like a social/political commentary on Africa at the time. The fact that none of the major places in the book are named implies that you could be most anywhere in Africa and this would hold true. I personally don't know enough about it to fully understand all the implications of the comparisons to real life. But at the same time the characters are very real. They have worries, and love and hope and sorrow and that all is delivered with solid writing.

3 Emotional/Intellectual - I liked the characters in the book. It did jump around in focus and certain characters such as Ferdinand's Mother and The Priest were not in the book enough.

3 Style/readability - I thing Naipaul is a very good writer. If I was more aware regarding the political aspects of the book, I would probably be even more impressed.

3 Long Term Impact - The book is still break top 100 lists over 30 years later. It already has had major impact. 

I give it a 9 out of 13. I can't say I am disappointed in the book, but I can say I overly liked it. I can appreciate the writing, but it just didn't do it for me. If you are looking for other Indian writers try Rushdie or Arundhati Roy.