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  • A House for Mr. Biswas

  • By: V. S. Naipaul
  • Narrated by: Sam Dastor
  • Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (123 ratings)
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A House for Mr. Biswas cover art

A House for Mr. Biswas

By: V. S. Naipaul
Narrated by: Sam Dastor
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Summary

A House for Mr. Biswas, by Nobel and Booker Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul, is a powerful novel about one man's struggle for identity and belonging. Born into poverty, then trapped in the shackles of charity and gratitude, Mr. Biswas longs for a house he can call his own. He loathes his wife and her wealthy family, upon whom he is dependent. Finding himself a mere accessory on their estate, his constant rebellion is motivated by the one thing that can symbolize his independence. The book is striking in its lush and sensual descriptions of Trinidad and was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005.

©1969 V.S. Naipaul (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks

What listeners say about A House for Mr. Biswas

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Audiobook marred by inattention to country context

VS Naipaul's masterpiece set in his birthplace, Trinidad. This audiobook would have benefited from some effort to give it more authenticity . As a Trinidadian listener it was jarring to hear place names pronounced incorrectly. Also, while getting the accent right can be difficult, substituting an Indian accent is not the answer.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Stay with it.

I saw another reviewer commenting to the effect that this is a tediously drawn out account of the minutiae of a life story of a nonentity in an obscure location.

I have to confess that there were times in the first third or so of the narrative when I considered not bothering - having begun with the assumption that there would be something more eventful or dramatic than there is.

However the characters and their exquisitely described surroundings gradually wormed their way into my consciousness to a point where I began to dread the approaching end of the story - as there would be no more of those so enjoyable sojourns in that time and place.

This review does not tell you much about what the book is about but others have done justice to that task. Here I am adding my tuppence worth simply to say I am so glad I stayed with it as it is richly rewarding and satisfying in the end.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful book

A very meaningful book and shows remarkable insight and with given that Naipaul was young when he wrote it...

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Full of Life

The oration is absolutely wonderful and changed the book from reading good literature to listening to an outstanding story, Sam Dastor’s voice really brought the characters to life, full of humour and pathos. Highly recommended to all of my friends.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, poor narration

Great lens into what life was like in those days.
Issues with narration:
- Inaccurate Trinidadian accent
- Several names are pronounced incorrectly

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A subtle tale of families, flawed people and traditions

No real heroes or villains or great adventures. A subtle tale of families, flawed people and traditions and all their strengths and weaknesses.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

A gratuitous description of defecating

Says it all. If I want a good description of such I can go to my grandchild's dirty nappy.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

repetitive

this was meant to be one of the books of the 20th century: dire dire

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unbelievably good

The voices used by Sam dastor are astonishingly accurate. Reminded me of childhood incessantly. Well done.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Pa
  • 19-06-22

solemn end

A favourite book, I wished it had a happier ending. I'd like to know the Naipaul's thought on this.
Great narration, too

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