by V.S. Naipaul
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Product Description
In the "brilliant novel" (The New York Times) V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man—an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Thoughts on the Migrants of the World, 2008-11-29
A Bend in the River concerns the fate of Salim, a Muslim tradesman from India who has arrived in an inland outpost of an unnamed African country. Salim's station in life, at this outpost on a "bend in the river" represents the second migration in his family's history. Several generations ago, his forefathers arrived in the coastal metropolis on the western shore of the Indian Ocean. Now he has scattered again.
This is a book about Africa, about migration, and about the quest for people to make a home in their lives. When Salim catches up with Nazruddin, the previous owner of his shop, now living in Europe, he discovers that he probably cannot flee from Africa without starting over.
This is a great book. Even if you differ from him on globalization or economics, Naipaul will entertain you with his descriptive power. He is exact, culling the dimensions of something like a miner scrapes off a diamond from the silt in a river.
Salim's life demonstrates the strictures of the migrant. He is made vulnerable but his outsider status in the new community. He feels his difference first as a matter of his faith, then in his lack of African status when the nation's president exerts a new strain of patriotism into domestic life. The new strain provokes fear and the expectation of violence.
Salim is a merchant. He sells goods brought upriver from the big city, usually to other merchants who then resell them in "the bush." He bought the store from Nazruddin, another migrant merchant who leaves the country in a rush.
Naipaul spends some time revealing class structure. Salim cares for Metty, a former slave who remains appended to him even after he leaves the coast for the city. There is the transcendent Ferdinand, who arrives in Salim's home as a student. Ferdinand is African and educated. In a few years returns from the capital as a powerful government official, and Salim is soon forced to seek his pity.
A lot of people say this is hardly fiction. I suppose that is a fair statement, although much that is written as fiction is certainly meant to be about the affairs of our current world. It is just that this book is so obviously hewn to events in the real world. The President appears to be inspired almost literally by President Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire, both for his fetishes, his use of the Army, and the rejection of modernity for something African. The life of Salim and his river town are soon caught up in the same turbulence that, at least from the inside pages of the A section of any American newspaper, appears to be so constant as to not be newsworthy.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Pessimistic Africa..., 2008-01-21
The first half is engaging, optimistic and full of potential. The second half is a slog, loses it's optimism and, takes too many side journeys that add nothing to the overall story.
Overall this leaves a rather pessimistic view of Africa.
Naipaul maintains location anonymity, giving a mildly Kafka-esque feel.
Worth reading, although I preferred Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart".
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
the Indian experience in Africa at the beginning of Big Man Rule, 2007-11-25
This is one of the best books I've read in the shortest number of pages. The sparse prose and spot on characters make this book a reflection of 60s Africa. The book doesn't delve too deep into the motivations of the characters but lets the reader make their own interpretations. It is fair to say that judgment is reserved, angst is evident and malaise is permeable.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Nice, But It Should Have Been Better!, 2007-08-08
V.S. Naipaul's opening scenes of East Africa and his picturesque writings of life near the Falls falters at mid book and never adequately matures.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Diaspora, 2007-04-05
Driving from the east coast to the center of Africa isn't easy. It takes two weeks. Each day's drive makes it harder to turn back. Zabeth, a small retailer, is a regular customer of the store the narrator, Salim, has purchased. She knows what people in her village need and what they will pay. Villagers travel on the river by dugouts. The narrator's family is Muslim, but he is close to the Hindus of Northern India. Europeans seem to be able to cope with change better than Indians. The ex-patriots have a habit of listening to the BBC news. For political reasons there is no longer any place for the narrator and his family on the coast. Their life is changing.
Another merchant, (really two merchants-- an Asian couple), obtains a Bigburger franchise. Bigburger captures the refugee trade. When colonialism ended there was a boom. There is another boom at the time the Bigburger opens for business. Salim learns to take African magic seriously.
Indar, an old comrade, becomes a guest of the government at a place called the Domain, a model farm and development. Raymond and his wife, Yvette, live in the Domain, too. Raymond is known as the President's white man. Salim and Indar attend a party at Raymond's where Joan Baez's music is played. Indar tells Salim how disengaged he felt landing in London to begin his education when his lifetime, up to that point, had been spent in his community on the coast of Africa. After receiving his education, Indar understands that Africa is filled with first-generation intellectuals. He also understands that he has to make up his job.
Later it is decided that Raymond isn't really needed anymore, and Indar has to leave to lecture in other places. Africanists are no longer rare, and Raymond is turned down for employment in America. The President ceases to speak French and uses an African language. There is insurrection. Foreign businessmen, Salim among them, are subjected to petty harassments.
When Salim travels to London he is brought to realize that his business and property no longer protect him. Upon returning to Africa, he becomes a manager of his own nationalized business. When taken into custody Zabeth's son, now a commissioner, arranges for his release. He tells Salim to leave.
This is a mature and thoughtful work.
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