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1 Beaverton Literature- A to Z

Half a Life

by V S Naipaul

Half a Life Cover

ISBN13: 9780375707285
ISBN10: 037570728x
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In a narrative that moves with dreamlike swiftness from India to England to Africa, Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul has produced his finest novel to date, a bleakly resonant study of the fraudulent bargains that make up an identity.

The son of a Brahmin ascetic and his lower-caste wife, Willie Chandran grows up sensing the hollowness at the core of his father's self-denial and vowing to live more authentically. That search takes him to the immigrant and literary bohemias of 1950s London, to a facile and unsatisfying career as a writer, and at last to a decaying Portugese colony in East Africa, where he finds a happiness he will then be compelled to betray. Brilliantly orchestrated, at once elegiac and devastating in its portraits of colonial grandeur and pretension, Half a Life represents the pinnacle of Naipaul's career.

About the Author

V. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He went to England on a scholarship in 1950. After four years at Oxford he began to write, and since then he has followed no other profession. He is the author of more than twenty books of fiction and nonfiction and the recipient of numerous honors, including the Nobel Prize in 2001, the Booker Prize in 1971, and a knighthood for services to literature in 1990. He lives in Wiltshire, England.

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

fernanda, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by fernanda)
I came to this book by "mistake". I was looking for a book from Shiva Nailpaul, the guy whit Indian roots that came to England, work his way out to success, admirable and great writer of Travels and Third World impacts and views. Who later moved to Trinidad.
To my surprise that was also V.S Nailpaul, with the difference of owning a Nobel prize. Amazed by his background and having been back from a 2 year trip arround the world, including Trinidad, I picked Half a Life which describes a live that a character with their background would have. But he goes deep exploring also the dark sides.
As a world cultures lover, as a traveler, as a foreigner, as a person working my way out to success in this multicultural world, I Enjoyed it. Definitively enjoyable & great writing, but not yet his best book.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780375707285
Author:
Naipaul, V. S.
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Author:
Naipaul, V. S.
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Authors
Subject:
East Indians
Subject:
Caste
Subject:
London (england)
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Vintage International
Publication Date:
20021031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
7.96x5.16x.60 in. .53 lbs.

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