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In a Free State
Series: Macmillan Collector's Library
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 5,578 ratings, 489 reviews)
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Format: Hardback
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In a Free State
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This profound and thought-provoking novel will appeal to readers who appreciate literary fiction that delves into issues of identity, colonialism, and political unrest. Fans of classic modern literature and those interested in postcolonial narratives will find this a compelling and rewarding read.
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See moreWinner of the Booker Prize in 1971 and nominated for the Golden Man Booker Prize in 2018.
Winner of the Booker Prize in 1971 and nominated for the Golden Man Booker Prize in 2018.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
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Description
V. S. Naipaul's Booker Prize winning novel about displacement, the yearning for the good place in someone else's land, and the attendant heartache.
Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library, a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by acclaimed author, Robert McCrum.
In a Free State tells the story first of an Indian servant in Washington, who becomes an American citizen but feels displaced. Then of a disturbed Asian West Indian in London who, in jail for murder, has never really known where he is. Then the central novel moves to a fictional African country. There, the central characters have to make the long drive to the safety of their compound. By the end of this drive we know everything about the English characters, the African country and the Idi Amin-like future awaiting it.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Dennis Potter in The Times praises the novel as "a book of such lucid complexity and such genuine insight, so deft and deep, that it somehow manages to agitate, charm, amuse and excuse the reader all at the same pitch of experience." Renowned author Martin Amis highlights Naipaul’s travel writing as "perhaps the most important body of work of its kind in the second half of the century."
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529013030
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 20 August 2020
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Macmillan Collector's Library
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 20.0mm
Width: 101.0mm
Height: 156.0mm
Weight: 198g
Pages: 304
About the Author
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. His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of non-fiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now. 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 lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 2018.
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