A classic of modern travel writing, An Area of Darkness" is Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul's profound reckoning with his ancestral homeland and an extraordinarily perceptive chronicle of his first encounter with India. Traveling from the bureaucratic morass of Bombay to the ethereal beauty of Kashmir, from a sacred ice cave in the Himalayas to an abandoned temple near Madras, Naipaul encounters a dizzying cross-section of humanity: browbeaten government workers and imperious servants, a suavely self-serving holy man and a deluded American religious seeker. An Area of Darkness also abounds with Naipaul's strikingly original responses to India's paralyzing caste system, its apparently serene acceptance of poverty and squalor, and the conflict between its desire for self-determination and its nostalgia for the British raj. The result may be the most elegant and passionate book ever written about the subcontinent.
The Nobel Prize-winning authorβs profound reckoning with his ancestral homeland and an extraordinarily perceptive chronicle of his first encounter with India.
βWhatever his literary form, Naipaul is a master.β βThe New York Review of Books
Traveling from the bureaucratic morass of Bombay to the ethereal beauty of Kashmir, from a sacred ice cave in the Himalayas to an abandoned temple near Madras, Naipaul encounters a dizzying cross-section of humanity: browbeaten government workers and imperious servants, a suavely self-serving holy man and a deluded American religious seeker. An Area of Darkness also abounds with Naipaulβs strikingly original responses to Indiaβs paralyzing caste system, its apparently serene acceptance of poverty and squalor, and the conflict between its desire for self-determination and its nostalgia for the British raj. The result may be the most elegant and passionate book ever written about the subcontinent.
“"Whatever his literary form, Naipaul is a master." The New York Review of Books "This is India. I don't know any other book that comes so near to capturing the whole crazy spectrum. . . . Brilliant." John Wain, The Observer "His narrative skill is spectacular. One returns with pleasure to the slow hand-in-hand revelation of both India and himself. . . . There is a kind of displaced person who has a better sense of place than anybody: Mr. Naipaul is an outstanding example." The Times (London) "[Naipaul's] penetrating, opinionated travel writing . . . makes up a remarkable running commentary on the clash of civilizations." The New York Times From the Trade Paperback edition.”
βWhatever his literary form, Naipaul is a master.β βThe New York Review of Books
βThis is India. I donβt know any other book that comes so near to capturing the whole crazy spectrum. . . . Brilliant.β βThe Observer
βHis narrative skill is spectacular. One returns with pleasure to the slow hand-in-hand revelation of both India and himself. . . . There is a kind of displaced person who has a better sense of place than anybody: Mr. Naipaul is an outstanding example.β βThe Times (London)
β[Naipaulβs] penetrating, opinionated travel writing . . . makes up a remarkable running commentary on the clash of civilizations.β βThe New York Times
V.S. NAIPAUL was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.
Β
His novels includeΒ A House for Mr Biswas,Β The Mimic Men,Β Guerrillas,Β A Bend in the River, andΒ The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize forΒ In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, includeΒ Among the Believers,Β Beyond Belief,Β The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India:Β An Area of Darkness,Β India: A Wounded CivilizationΒ andΒ India: A Million Mutinies Now.
Β
In 1990, V.S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He died in 2018.
This item is eligible for simple returns within 30 days of delivery. Return shipping is the responsibility of the customer. See our returns policy for further details.