The Middle Passage

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Anything by VSN has been a pleasure to read.
First ever book I read of his was in 1968
An Area of Darkness. And since then I have
read his all books. His Autobiography by Patrick French
is worth reading.
Dr PSNagi

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Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2001, wrote this summary of his observations travelling through the Caribbean area where he was born just after his famous novel, "A House for Mr. Biswas". This book was his first published nonfiction, and although the typical themes of Naipaul (migration, racial issues, legacy of colonialism) play the main roles in his observations, this work is generally not as interesting and succesful as his fictional depictions of the same issues.

In "The Middle Passage", Naipaul describes how he travels from the UK, where he had been living for ten years, back to his homeland of Trinidad, and onward to Guyana (then British), Suriname (then Dutch), Martinique, and Jamaica. The main part of the book depicts his experiences in Trinidad itself. Naipaul is generally critical but not unsympathetic to the different racial-ethnic groups found in the Caribbean and their struggles to overcome the legacy of colonialism, and clearly does his best to be fair and objective to all involved. Nonetheless, it is noticable his instinctive sympathies are mostly with the Indians in the Caribbean like himself, and his depictions particularly of black Caribbeans have been criticized, among others by Edward Said for perpetuating racist mythology. These charges may be somewhat exaggerated, as Naipaul definitely does not deny them their agency or their attempts at political improvement; but one can note that he tends to portray the colonial and postcolonial situation as more rosy than it really was, and there is some sense of fear of "barbarian self-rule in civilization", of the kind one found in South Africa that Coetzee so effectively described.

What's more, the impressions and events within the travel stories themselves lose their sharpness due to the lack of real structure - nothing really happens to Naipaul at any point, he just travels around and sees various places, repeatedly making the same observations about the Caribbean without this having much direct connection with the situation he is in. His moving around from one part of the region to another does add some flavor, and there are occasional passages that are gripping and interesting, such as the tense situation regarding black Caribbean migrants to the UK as they board the ship Naipaul is on, and also his travels to a village deep in the Amazon forest, where everyone is Seventh Day Adventist and dying of disease. But on the whole, both the travel descriptions and Naipaul's reflections fail to be sufficiently sharp and meaningful the way a travel book needs. It is still a well-written and readable book, but by no means great literature.

Rating:

This makes for some pretty dreary reading. Over 30 years ago, Naipal headed for his old home with a sense of foreboding and depression. These are interesting for what they tell of the emotional sources of his novels, in particular Mr. Biswas, so are worth a read by his most devoted fans, of which I am one. But looking at this as a reading experience, I must say that it is not as good as many of his other books. Indeed, I sometimes felt he was straining to add drama, rather than what I expect as the treasure of interesting and unusual observations that I am accustomed to finding in his books. It is, as always, beautifully written and vivid.

Recommended with these caveats in mind.

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No writer writes with more pointed anger than the young Naipaul, and this book, along with An Area of Darkness, strikes the most strident note of rage. This is not surprising. The young Naipaul reserved his rage for the places, people and things which struck closest to his roots: for An Area of Darkness, India, and for the Middle Passage, even closer, the Caribbean. Although most of the places he writes of in this book have been radically transformed in the forty years since this was written, The Middle Passage is still worth reading. The writing, even when it levels off into casual meanness, is superb. This book amply illustrates Naipaul's complete mastery as a travel writer. Few writers get to the heart of place, its dark muddled center, than Naipaul, and he lays it out clear, crisp, and pointedly, and then moves on.

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This wonderful quick read is V.S Naipaul's travels from Trinidad, to British Guinea through Suriname and then on to Martinique and Jamaica in the early 1960s. The dated feature makes the read fascinating. Here we see how racial issues have surfaced in Trinidad, where the Urban black population is at variance with the rural indian one. We see this through the eyes of an English educated Indian returning home to a nation he both loves and hates. He remarks att he outfite, the attire and aspirations of the people. In Guinea he meets Mr. Jagan, the Indian Communist leader who Naipaul will return to in his book "The Writer and his World". In Suriname we learn about a dutch colony where race has not been the deciding factor.

Fascinating and poetic this story is a tour of the culture of the caribean. Of transplanted Africans and Indians living on islands and places once inhabited by natives, of the stirrings of colonial peoples and independence. A must read. Full of color, history, insights and amazing characters.

Seth J. Frantzman