A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul

A Bend in the River tells the story of an Indian man whose family has lived on the coast of Africa for three generations. He travels to an unnamed country in the interior to open a store, at the bend of the river. The town there has been a thriving European-run city, but is now largely ruins after a revolution, which put "The Big Man" in power. The protagonist's life there is a cycle of fairly stable times with rebuilding, and times of fear and dread, as counter-revolutions and government crack-downs repeatedly threaten the area. He encounters other Indian businessmen, young Africans trying to find a place in their new world, Europeans trying to adapt themselves to the new order. It is basically a story told through the eyes of an outsider of a country trying to find a balance between the modern world and the past and traditions of Africa, where tribal warfare is an inescapable fact of life.

I finished this book a couple of days ago but put off writing the review because I did not know what to say. It is well written, conveying a constant tension. The characters all seem to be uncertain, feeling their way through life, reinventing themselves to fit the circumstances but never at ease. Naipaul is a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and this book is #83 on the Modern Library Top 100. It is well-done so that it has exactly the effect he intended.

But I did not like the book.

I think that's because I don't like the way Naipaul looks at life. He sees no glimpse of hope anywhere. This is my third Naipaul book: A House for Mr. Biswas and The Suffrage of Elvira reveal the same pessimistic attitude, (although the latter was not so bitter). One of his characters in this book says, "Nobody's going anywhere. We're all going to hell, and every man knows this in his bones. We're being killed. Nothing has any meaning." This quote pretty much conveys Naipaul's attitude toward living, it seems to me.

Life is too hard as it is, without adopting this attitude. Without hope, we should just all give it up and die. This is my last Naipaul book.