A Bend in the River

A Bend in the River (ISBN 0844666319) is a 1979 novel by Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul.

Related Topics:
1979 - Nobel laureate - V. S. Naipaul

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Set in an unnamed African country after independence, the book is narrated by Salim, an ethnically Indian Muslim and a shopkeeper in a small, growing city in the country's remote interior. Though born and raised in another country in a more cosmopolitan city on the coast (likely Mombasa) during the colonial period, as neither European nor fully African, Salim observes the rapid changes in his homeland with an outsider's distance. Thought Salim never identifies the country where he lives, its events closely parallel the Belgian Congo's transformation into Zaire under Mobutu Sésé Seko (the novel's "Big Man").

Related Topics:
Africa - India - Muslim - Mombasa - Europe - Belgian Congo - Zaire - Mobutu Sésé Seko

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The first sentence of the book is considered emblematic of Naipaul's world view: "The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it."

Related Topics:
Emblematic - World view

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A Bend in the River was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1979.

Related Topics:
Booker Prize - 1979

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