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 Visitors Recommend
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 Among
the Believers: An Islamic Journey
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Seems from the bitter tone of the
negative reviews that Naipaul has struck a nerve, which means he
probably got it right. Naipaul makes no pretensions to scholarship;
he is a skeptic who calls it as he sees it. Early on in the book,
he calls himself a "seeker," which by itself undercuts
accusations that he is a biased Hindu nationalist with an axe to
grind. Regardless, Naipaul doesn't condemn Islam; he expresses
his doubts about a particular interpretation of Islam and its political
manifestations in particular societies at a very specific time
in history. Iran's recent softening of its stance toward the West
especially highlights Naipaul's prescience vis-a-vis his analysis
of that nation's complicated ambivalence toward the United States
and Europe.
/Dr. Sargon Gorjian, 44, Australia |
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Half a Life |
It is a very uncomfortable reading because it is not neat or happy. It gives the feeling of the experience of fringe dispossession and being foreign.
/Annie Roberts, 62, United States |
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A House for Mr. Biswas |
It is simply intriguing and captivating! And I thought about the book for quite a while after finishing it.
/Eva, 30, Denmark
It really impressed me a lot.
/Professor Pranab Kumar, 52, India
Because it describes a man who by his own will tries to
change his destiny, who fights against all odds and who is certainly one of the greatest
characters of world literature and it depicts life in Trinidad in a rather comic manner.
/Daniel, 23, Mexico
It is a book whose roots go deep into reality, of unaccomplished desires, hasty preoccupations; a character
nonconformist but unattractive enough so as not to be marked a rebel. Commendable pettiness of life
with an unending struggle to overcome it; Biswas got on my nerves.
/Sayantan Bera, 25, India
I recommend this book because it is all of the following - complex, psychologically
perceptive, emotionally difficult, rewarding, moving, depressing,
tragi-comic, deeply ironic, metaphoric, nightmarishly surreal, utterly believable,
honest, exasperating, claustrophobic, deeply human, liberating, brilliant,
frustrating, beautifully written and much more. Naipaul is a master of understatement
and his mastery gives his work real strength in its execution. The author
is humble, self-effacing and unobtrusive, which enable the reader to become
lost and often transported by the story. I think that almost everyone can
empathize with Mr. Biswas, and having read half a dozen of Naipaul's books
I can confidently say that this one is my favorite of them all.
/Rafael Dilly, 15, Brazil |
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The Loss of El Dorado |
I felt the book maps to be striking with minute details and the usual style of the Master writer dealing with all data on suppressed HISTORY in a language that can be described to be "PERFECT" and straight from the heart.
/Ananthanarayanan, 25, India
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Magic Seeds |
Because of the precise language.
/Chencho Pema, 31, Bhutan
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Miguel Street |
It feels extremely lighthearted and enjoyable to read this magnificent collection of short stories! You just don't want to put this book down. The language is so smooth-flowing despite the use of some local slang. Naipaul should write more short stories! Although all these stories are set in the same place, Miguel Street, and some or all the characters are mentioned in each short story, every character/story is unique and is itself a gem on a necklace!
/Teo Chee Tat, 24, Singapore |
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