
A House for Mr. Biswas
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Narrated by:
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Sam Dastor
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By:
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V. S. Naipaul
About this listen
A House for Mr. Biswas, by Nobel and Booker Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul, is a powerful novel about one man's struggle for identity and belonging. Born into poverty, then trapped in the shackles of charity and gratitude, Mr. Biswas longs for a house he can call his own. He loathes his wife and her wealthy family, upon whom he is dependent. Finding himself a mere accessory on their estate, his constant rebellion is motivated by the one thing that can symbolize his independence. The book is striking in its lush and sensual descriptions of Trinidad and was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
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In a Free State
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Neil Shah, Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On a road trip through Africa, two English people - Bobby, a civil servant with a guilty appetite for African boys; and Linda, a supercilious "compound wife" - are driving back to their enclave after a stay in the capital. But in between lies the landscape of an unnamed country whose squalor and ethnic bloodletting suggest Idi Amin's Uganda. And the farther Naipaul's protagonists travel into it, the more they find themselves crossing the line that separates privileged outsiders from horrified victims.
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Magical Prose …
- By Saman on 07-19-18
By: V. S. Naipaul
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India: A Wounded Civilization
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1975, at the height of Indira Gandhi’s “Emergency”, V. S. Naipaul returned to India, the country his ancestors had left 100 years earlier. Out of that journey he produced this concise masterpiece: a vibrant, defiantly unsentimental portrait of a society traumatized by centuries of foreign conquest and immured in a mythic vision of its past.
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Insightful & informative!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-03-24
By: V. S. Naipaul
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The Jewel in the Crown
- The Raj Quartet, Book 1
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Richard Brown
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume in Paul Scott's historical tour-de-force opens in 1942 as the British fear both Japanese invasion and Indian demands for self-rule. In the Mayapore gardens, Daphne Manners, daughter of the provincial governor, leaves her Indian lover, who will soon be arrested for her alleged rape.
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Superb writing, subverted by spiritless narration
- By mgale on 10-13-10
By: Paul Scott
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The Mystic Masseur
- A Novel
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this slyly funny and lavishly inventive novel, Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul traces the unlikely career of Ganesh Ramsumair, a failed schoolteacher and impecunious village masseur who in time becomes a revered mystic, a thriving entrepreneur, and the most beloved politician in Trinidad. Witty, tender, filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of Trinidad's dusty Indian villages, The Mystic Masseur is Naipaul at his most expansive and evocative.
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Pretty Good
- By Joan on 09-23-19
By: V. S. Naipaul
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Gilead
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Otto Mellies
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Auf dem Sterbebett schreibt John Ames einen Brief an seinen siebenjährigen Sohn. Dem Kind will er alles erklären: Die Einsicht, mit der man das eigene Leben auf einen Schlag begreift, den Trost, der in einer einzelnen Berührung liegen kann, und den Ort, der sein Ende beschließt: Gilead, die kleine Stadt unter dem unermesslichen Himmel des Westens, leicht wie Staub und so schwer wie die Welt.
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Justine
- The Alexandria Quartet, Book 1
- By: Lawrence Durrell
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Justine is the first volume in the Alexandria Quartet, four interlinked novels set in the sensuous, hot environment of Alexandria just before the Second World War. Within this polyglot setting of richly idiosyncratic characters is Justine, wild and intense, wife to the wealthy businessman Nessim, a Mari complaisant. Her emotional and sexual wildness fuels a highly charged atmosphere.
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Dark writing
- By G R on 11-11-22
By: Lawrence Durrell
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Staying On
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Paul Shelley
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Tusker and Lily Smalley stayed on in India. Given the chance to return ‘home’ when Tusker, once a Colonel in the British Army, retired, they chose instead to remain in the small hill town of Pankot, with its eccentric inhabitants and archaic rituals left over from the days of the Empire. Only the tyranny of their imposing landlady threatens to upset the quiet rhythm of their days.
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A Pleasant Meander
- By Ian C Robertson on 09-22-14
By: Paul Scott
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Possession
- By: A. S. Byatt
- Narrated by: Virginia Leishman
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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As a pair of young scholars research the lives of two Victorian poets, they uncover their letters, journals, and poems and track their movements from London to Yorkshire - from spiritualist seances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany. What emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passion and ideas.
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Absolutely Excellent
- By Loujujoe on 05-12-09
By: A. S. Byatt
Thoughtful story, WONDERFULLY narrated
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Great Performance. Great Story.
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Didn't Finish
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#ahouseformrbiswas is a beautifully written novel by #vsnaipaul that wonderfully captures the Indian immigrant experience of #brahmin class in much of the Caribbean. It is also extremely frustrating as, per the depiction of #naipaul the vast and extremely insular Indian families are exceedingly aggravating, bullying and humiliating of one another in ways I find intolerable. Reading around the story, I believe that was the case with the author as well.
Main character #mohunbiswas (modeled after the author's father) was born of a poor immigrant Indian family in #trinidad where they had been brought as laborers after the abolition of slavery. Living in abject poverty despite the Brahmin status, Mohun was considered unlucky by an Indian holy man because he was born with six fingers on one hand. While educated at the missionary school he had limited prospects but circumstances found him marrying into a huge, well connected and prosperous family that did little for his personal advancement as his poverty forced him to live with his wife and raise his children on the various properties of his in-laws. With only two sons and 14 daughters, the male children were sheltered and spoiled while the daughters, their husband and seemingly countless children and grandchildren live a communal life with the family ran by the widowed Mrs. Tulsi and her brother in law who serves as the estate overseer. His power and bullying influence is unquestioned and modeled as family members align to aggravate and humiliate each other as a means of establishing oneself in the familial pecking order.
As the title suggests, the 25 year or so story arc shows Mohun desperately trying to carve out a future for himself and his family and escape the grip of the Tulsi family. It also documents a little know aspect of Trinidad history in the years before and after #worldwarii as the Caribbean island nation undergoes its own economic and political evolution, being a seemingly forgotten #british planter colony of a few whites and many #black and Indian laborers attempting to elevate their status as, first laboring subjects of the #unitedkingdom and then contractors for the #unitedstates military which occupied the strategically located Caribbean island during and after the War. Like Mr. Biswas's son, V.S. Naipul used his education and brilliant mind to achieve higher education at #cambridge and became on the the millions of foreign British subjects to find opportunity and a new life in Great Britain.
Though this novel was released in 1961, it is part of the body of work that netted him the #bookerprize in 1971, the #nobelprizeforliterature in 2001 and the #72 position on the #modernlibrarytop100novels which is why I ended up coming across his work at this time. Interestingly, he also occupies the #82 position as well with #abendintheriver which I will be getting to soon enough. I enjoyed this novel via #audible and narrator #samdastor did an excellent job telling the story. I appreciate that, as well as reading another #nobellaureate , I have likewise checked off one more from my global reading challenge with #trinidadandtobago . It was long and frustrating, but it was a beautifully written story well told. #readtheworldchallenge #readtheworld #globalreadingchallenge #trinidadandtobagoliterature
21.5 Hours and 623 Pages of Compelling Frustration
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The overwhelming sadness of this book made it rather a chore to complete. most of the characters seem unsympathetic, or at worst hard to approach. now I feel I must study up on what other readers have gleaned from this novel, as I don't feel I've taken much away with me.
So much good prose
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The protagonist, Mohun Biswas, is a dreadful character who continuously bites the hand that feeds him and wishes for grander things in life. His wishes to escape the chains of the Tulsi clan and buy a house of his own are the center pieces of the story. The novel spans the years of his life: his unhappy and tragic childhood, marriage to Sharma and the expectations of the Tulsis, children, and the continuous machinations of the sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws. Getting beaten and giving a beating is expected in the Tulsi house.
I wanted so badly for Mr. Biswas to succeed and yet, at some junctures, I wanted him to fail. That is the beauty of the story and the book. Remember the first chapter and then you will understand the rest of Mr. Biswas’s life and trials. Loved this book and the narration was pretty good too.
Charming prose. Lovely book.
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Humble yet powerful...
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Classic
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One of the best audiobooks ever
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Great Performance and Story
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