V. S. Naipaul's A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS

A richly detailed portrait of a man who tries so hard to gain some measure of autonomy from a distinctly impoverished background and a stultifying dependent family. Mr. Biswas is not lovable, but he is finally admirable for his ceaseless efforts to find a place of his own. In his quest for a house, he also exposes the place and relations of the Indian people in Trinidad.

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