The Enigma of Arrival

The Enigma of Arrival is a 1987 novel by Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul.

Related Topics:
1987 - Novel - Nobel laureate - V. S. Naipaul

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Mostly an autobiography, the book is composed of four sections which reflect the growing familiarity and changing perceptions of Naipaul upon his arrival in various countries after leaving his native Trinidad and Tobago.

Related Topics:
Autobiography - Trinidad and Tobago

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Most of the action of the novel takes place in England where Naipaul has rented a cottage in the countryside. On first arriving, he sees the area surrounding his cottage as a frozen piece of history, unchanged for hundreds of years. However, as his stay at the cottage where he is working on another book becomes extended, he begins to see the area for what it is: a constantly changing place with ordinary people simply living lives away from the rest of the world. This causes Naipaul to reflect upon the nature of our perceptions of our surroundings and how much these perceptions are affected by our own pre-conceptions of a place.

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He re-examines his own emigration from Trinidad to New York, and his subsequent removal to England and Oxford. Naipaul's narration illustrates the growing understanding of his place in this new environment and the intricate relations of the people and the land around them.

Related Topics:
New York - Oxford

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The final section is written by Naipaul from the 1984 Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas where he is working as a correspondent. From the vantage point of the preceding places of the book, Naipaul expounds on Houston and how his realizations in England have changed the perceptions with which he arrives in a new place.

Related Topics:
1984 Republican National Convention - Houston, Texas

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