Mr Biswas is a man who is not naturally rebellious, but in whom rebellion is inspired by the forces of ritual, myth and custom. Though he has married into the family, Mr Biswas remains an outsider and refuses to follow the family in their habitual devotions.

With an introduction by author Teju Cole, A House for Mr Biswas is Nobel Prize in Literature winner V. S. Naipaul's unforgettable masterpiece. Heart-rending and darkly comic, it has been hailed as one of the twentieth century's finest novels, a classic that evokes a man's quest for autonomy against the backdrop of post-colonial Trinidad. He was struck again and again by the wonder of being in his own house, the audacity of it: to walk in through his own front gate, to bar entry to whoever he wished, to close his doors and windows every night. Mr. Biswas has been told since the day of his birth that misfortune will follow him – and so it has. Meaning only to avoid punishment, he causes the death of his father and the dissolution of his family. Wanting simply to flirt with a beautiful woman, he ends up marrying her, and reluctantly relying on her domineering family for support. But in spite of endless setbacks, Mr. Biswas is determined to achieve independence, and so he begins his gruelling struggle to buy a home of his own.

"The Nobel Prize winner's first great novel" (Barack Obama), A House for Mr. Biswas is an unforgettable story inspired by Naipaul's father that has been hailed as one of the twentieth century's finest novels. In his forty-six short years, Mr. Mohun Biswas has been fighting against destiny to achieve some semblance of independence, only to face a lifetime of calamity. Shuttled from one residence to another after the drowning death of his father, for which he is inadvertently responsible, Mr. Biswas yearns for a place he can call home. But when he marries into the domineering Tulsi family on whom he indignantly becomes dependent, Mr. Biswas embarks on an arduous– and endless–struggle to weaken their hold over him and purchase a house of his own. A heartrending, dark comedy of manners, A House for Mr. Biswas masterfully evokes a man’s quest for autonomy against an emblematic post-colonial canvas.

V.S. Naipaul Has Claimed That All His Work Is Really One And He Has Been Writing One Big Book All These Years; Also, Considering The World He Has Stepped Into And The World He Has To Look At, He Cannot Be A Professional Novelist In The Old Sense. In His Early Youth Naipaul Took Up The Vocation Of A Writer As His Religion And, Since The Beginning Five Decades Ago, Has Drawn On His Intensely Personal Experience Of An Uprooted Person Adrift In The World, His Experience Of The Two Worlds To None Of Which He Could Really Belong An Experience That Imparts The Authentic Voice To His Works Both Non-Fiction And Fiction Enriched By A Distinct Autobiographical Flavour. Naipaul Himself Is Split Into His Characters In Whom Are Manifested Subtle Shades Of His Emotions And Traits. He Is Accidental Man, Dangling Man, History Man And The Mimic Man All Rolled Into One. Naipaul Is Also One Of Literature S Great Travellers, And His Absorption Into The Experience Of Rootlessness, The Alienating Effects Of Colonial Past On Today S Postcolonial People Has Taken Him To Africa, South America, India And All Over The World Not In Search Of Roots But In Search Of Rootlessness, And Has Yielded A Rich Harvest Of Travelogues Which Are About Much More Than Travel.An Author Of A Large Number Of Fictional And Non-Fictional Works, Naipaul Continues To Surprise, Excite, Provoke And Move Readers At Every Turn Of His Literary Voyage. Naipaul Has Unseverable Emotional Bond With India Which Remains For Him An Area Of Pain, An Ache For Which One Has A Great Tenderness Yet From Which He Wishes To Separate Himself. The World Of V.S. Naipaul Is The World Of Two Worlds. The Present Volumes Of Papers On Naipaul, Led By Naipaul S Nobel Lecture, Offer Illuminating Perspectives And Interesting Explorations Into This Rich, Enigmatic, Sad, Hilarious, And Fascinating World Of Naipaul.

V.S. Naipaul Is One Of The Most Celebrated Names In English Fiction Today. In His Fiction, Naipaul Presents A Subtle And Sensitive Account Of The Poignant Experiences Of The Colonized People. On The Other Hand, His Commitment To Truth Makes Him Conscious And Critical Of The Shortcomings Of Traditional Cultures As Well. This, Added To His Pessimist Vision Of The World, Makes Him A Highly Controversial Writer. The Present Study Gives A Comprehensive Account Of The Major Works Of Naipaul By Enquiring Into The Postcolonial Themes Of Alienation, Mimicry, Search For An Authentic Selfhood, Power And Freedom That Emerge From Their Reading. The Study Provides Fresh Insights By Raising Questions About Naipaul S Treatment Of Women And African Characters In His Fiction.

This Anthology Comprising Eighteen Essays Provides Glimpses Of Mainstream British Literature As Well As Surveys Of American, African, And Canadian Writings In English, And In A Way A View Of The Practice Of English Writing Across The Globe. Here Are Fine Analyses And Sharp Critique Of, As Well As Fine Sensitive Response To, The Plays Of Shakespeare, The Poetry Of Dryden, Wordsworth, Keats, The Biographical Works Of E.M. Forster, The Drama And Poetry Of T.S. Eliot, In Addition To A Glimpse Of Some Plays By Modern British Playwrights. At The Same Time It Also Offers Critical Insights Into American Authors Like Langston Hughes And Ernest Hemingway, African Author Like Achebe, Or A Canadian Booker Winner Of Recent Times Like Yann Martin. There Are Discussions Of Naipaul S Novel And Travelogue.Another Unique Feature Of The Present Anthology Is A Small Bunch Of Essays Which Take Up The Related Issues Of Aesthetics And Literary Criticism, And Modern Trends And Movements In The Domain Of Ideas, Thus Reminding Of Once Again That Literature, Indeed, Can Never Be An Isolated Phenomenon.Students, Scholars And General Readers Of English Literature Will Find The Anthology Both Useful And Enjoyable.

The first collection to emphasize the complex interaction between gender and postcoloniality. Most people in the world, from Africa to Asia and beyond, live in the aftermath of colonialism. Their day-to-day lives are defined by their past history as colonized peoples, often in ways that are subtle or hard to define. In Dangerous Liaisons, eminent contributors address the issues raised by the postcolonial condition, considering nationhood, history, gender, and identity from an inter-disciplinary perspective. Among the questions they address are: What are the boundaries of race and ethnicity in a diasporic world? How have women been so effectively excluded from national power? What have been the historical aftermaths of different forms of colonialism? What are the cultural and political consequences of colonial partitions of the nation-state? Representing an essential intervention, Dangerous Liaisons is a crucial guidebook for those concerned with understanding postcoloniality at the moment when it is becoming more and more widely discussed.

Offering a survey of the life and work of the 2001 Nobel Laureate forLiterature, V. S. Naipaul, Man and Writer introduces readers to thewriter widely viewed as a curmudgeonly novelist who finds specialsatisfaction in overturning the vogue presuppositions of his peers.Gillian Dooley takes an expansive look at Naipaul's literary career, fromMiguel Street to Magic Seeds. From readings of his fiction, nonfiction, travel books, and volumes of letters, she elucidates theconnections between Naipaul's personal experiences as a Hindu Indianfrom Trinidad living an expatriate life and the precise, euphonious prosewith which he is synonymous

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, b. 1932, Trinidadian writer of Indian origin and Nobel Prize winner.

A House for Mr. Biswas: A Novel (Vintage International) by V. S. Naipaul: Conversation Starters First published in 1961, the novel A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul became the first defining work of his career. This story is about a man named Mohun Biswas. He works hard and strives for success but most of the time, he fails. In his forty-six years, Biswas has been fighting hard to achieve freedom and independence. He moves from one residence to another after the death of his father. He yearned for a place he can finally call home. Then, he married into a dominating family, the Tulsi family. He finally sets a goal for himself to own his own house. Time magazine included A House for Mr Biswas in the roster of TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Former United States President Barack Obama says that this is "The Nobel Prize winner's first great novel." Newsweek calls Naipaul's novel "a marvelous prose epic." They remark that "[it] matches the best nineteenth-century novels for richness of comic insight and final, tragic power." A Brief Look Inside: EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER than the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive, and the characters and its world still live on. Conversation Starters is peppered with questions designed to bring us beneath the surface of the page and invite us into the world that lives on. These questions can be used to.. Create Hours of Conversation: - Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups - Foster a deeper understanding of the book - Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately - Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before Disclaimer: This book you are about to enjoy is an independent resource meant to supplement the original book. If you have not yet read the original book, we encourage you to before purchasing this unofficial Conversation Starters.