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A Bend in the River Library binding - 1992
by V. S. Naipaul
About this book
A Bend in the River is set in an unnamed postcolonial Central African country and narrated by Salim, a shopkeeper. Naipaul explores the chaos and violence suffered after independence and how a power vacuum can quickly lead to the tyranny of dictatorship.
Perceived by some to be written in defense of European colonialism, Naipaul admitted that he in fact knew very little about the region when he started writing the book. Despite this, the novel immediately won praise from critics for its poignant brilliance and was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1979. In 1998 the Modern Library ranked A Bend in the River as one of the 100 best English-language books of the twentieth century.
Perceived by some to be written in defense of European colonialism, Naipaul admitted that he in fact knew very little about the region when he started writing the book. Despite this, the novel immediately won praise from critics for its poignant brilliance and was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1979. In 1998 the Modern Library ranked A Bend in the River as one of the 100 best English-language books of the twentieth century.
First line
The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.
First Edition Identification
Alfred A. Knopf published the First US Edition, First Impression in New York, 1979. Andre Deutsch published the First UK Edition, First Printing in London, 1979.
Details
- Title A Bend in the River
- Author V. S. Naipaul
- Binding Library Binding
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Peter Smith Publisher
- Date June 1992
- ISBN 9780844666310 / 0844666319
- Weight 0.75 lbs (0.34 kg)
- Dimensions 8.17 x 5.25 x 0.88 in (20.75 x 13.34 x 2.24 cm)
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC