A Bend in the River
(Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
Author:
Published:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2010
Format:
Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
Widely hailed as the Nobel Prize-winning author’s greatest work, this novel takes us into the life of a young Indian man who moves to an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. • "Brilliant." —The New York Times
In this haunting masterpiece of postcolonial literature, short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1979, Naipaul gives us a convincing and disturbing vision of a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past.
Salim is doubly an outsider in his new home—an unnamed country that resembles the Congo—by virtue of his origins in a community of Indian merchants on the coast of East Africa. Uncertain of his future, he has come to take possession of a local trading post he has naively purchased sight unseen. But what Salim discovers on his arrival is a ghost town, reduced to ruins in the wake of the recently departed European colonizers and in the process of being reclaimed by the surrounding forest. Salim struggles to build his business against a backdrop of growing chaos, conflict, ignorance, and poverty.
His is a journey into the heart of Africa, into the same territory explored by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness nearly eighty years earlier—but witnessed this time from the other side of the tragedy of colonization. Salim discovers that the nation’s violent legacy persists, through the rise of a dictator who calls himself the people’s savior but whose regime is built on fear and lies.
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." —Newsweek
In this haunting masterpiece of postcolonial literature, short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1979, Naipaul gives us a convincing and disturbing vision of a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past.
Salim is doubly an outsider in his new home—an unnamed country that resembles the Congo—by virtue of his origins in a community of Indian merchants on the coast of East Africa. Uncertain of his future, he has come to take possession of a local trading post he has naively purchased sight unseen. But what Salim discovers on his arrival is a ghost town, reduced to ruins in the wake of the recently departed European colonizers and in the process of being reclaimed by the surrounding forest. Salim struggles to build his business against a backdrop of growing chaos, conflict, ignorance, and poverty.
His is a journey into the heart of Africa, into the same territory explored by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness nearly eighty years earlier—but witnessed this time from the other side of the tragedy of colonization. Salim discovers that the nation’s violent legacy persists, through the rise of a dictator who calls himself the people’s savior but whose regime is built on fear and lies.
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." —Newsweek
Formats
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Details
Street Date:
10/20/2010
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780307776587
ASIN:
B0046A9J8Y
Accelerated Reader:
UG
Level 6.7, 18 Points
Level 6.7, 18 Points
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
V. S. Naipaul. (2010). A Bend in the River. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)V. S. Naipaul. 2010. A Bend in the River. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)V. S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.
MLA Citation (style guide)V. S. Naipaul. A Bend in the River. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 1 | 1 |
| East Hampton Public Library | 0 | 0 |
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
641894f0-6610-6c00-5a7d-b59519ec9b57
API Extraction Dates
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Mar 01, 2018 13:58:59
Date Updated:
Jul 24, 2023 21:40:22
Last Metadata Check:
Sep 19, 2025 13:59:28
Last Metadata Change:
Sep 19, 2025 13:59:28
Last Availability Check:
Sep 19, 2025 13:59:32
Last Availability Change:
Sep 19, 2025 13:59:32
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Sep 19, 2025 18:42:04
OverDrive Product Record
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img100.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img200.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/E1B/D9E/C2/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img150.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/E1B/D9E/C2/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img400.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- formats
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780307776587
- type: PublisherCatalogNumber
- value: 119599
- name: Adobe EPUB eBook
- id: ebook-epub-adobe
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: PublisherCatalogNumber
- value: 119599
- type: ASIN
- value: B0046A9J8Y
- name: Kindle Book
- id: ebook-kindle
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780307776587
- type: PublisherCatalogNumber
- value: 119599
- name: OverDrive Read
- id: ebook-overdrive
- identifiers:
- otherFormatIdentifiers
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780679722021
- mediaType
- eBook
- primaryCreator
- role: Author
- name: V. S. Naipaul
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- A Bend in the River
- dateAdded
- 2010-12-21T02:10:14.517Z
- contentDetails
- href: https://link.overdrive.com?websiteID=242&titleID=468664
- type: text/html
- account:
- name: LION: Libraries Online (CT)
- id: 1354
- sortTitle
- Bend in the River
- crossRefId
- 468664
- id
- E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F
- starRating
- 3.8
OverDrive MetaData
- interestLevel
- UG
- isPublicDomain
- False
- formats
- fileName: ABendintheRiver_468664
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 0
- identifiers:
- type: PublisherCatalogNumber
- value: 119599
- type: ASIN
- value: B0046A9J8Y
- name: Kindle Book
- isReadAlong: False
- id: ebook-kindle
- onSaleDate: 10/20/2010
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: ebook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- fileName: ABendintheRiver_9780307776587_468664
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 0
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780307776587
- type: PublisherCatalogNumber
- value: 119599
- name: OverDrive Read
- isReadAlong: False
- id: ebook-overdrive
- onSaleDate: 10/20/2010
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: ebook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- keywords
- value: family
- value: literary fiction
- value: War
- value: Mythology
- value: Historical
- value: Fiction
- value: crime
- value: novels
- value: World History
- value: Death
- value: Military
- value: Historical Fiction
- value: mystery
- value: England
- value: race
- value: Vietnam War
- value: Spirituality
- value: fiction books
- value: school
- value: historical novels
- value: nobel prize winners
- value: classic books
- value: historical fiction novels
- value: historical fiction books
- value: books historical fiction
- value: award winning books for adults
- value: nobel prize winning books
- value: pride month books
- value: national park books
- value: vs naipaul
- value: a bend in the river
- value: pride month books for kids
- value: bend in the river
- creators
- role: Author
- fileAs: Naipaul, V. S.
- bioText: 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 nonfiction, 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. - name: V. S. Naipaul
- imprint
- Vintage
- publishDate
- 2010-10-20T00:00:00Z
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- A Bend in the River
- fullDescription
- Widely hailed as the Nobel Prize-winning author’s greatest work, this novel takes us into the life of a young Indian man who moves to an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. • "Brilliant." —The New York Times
In this haunting masterpiece of postcolonial literature, short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1979, Naipaul gives us a convincing and disturbing vision of a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past.
Salim is doubly an outsider in his new home—an unnamed country that resembles the Congo—by virtue of his origins in a community of Indian merchants on the coast of East Africa. Uncertain of his future, he has come to take possession of a local trading post he has naively purchased sight unseen. But what Salim discovers on his arrival is a ghost town, reduced to ruins in the wake of the recently departed European colonizers and in the process of being reclaimed by the surrounding forest. Salim struggles to build his business against a backdrop of growing chaos, conflict, ignorance, and poverty.
His is a journey into the heart of Africa, into the same territory explored by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness nearly eighty years earlier—but witnessed this time from the other side of the tragedy of colonization. Salim discovers that the nation’s violent legacy persists, through the rise of a dictator who calls himself the people’s savior but whose regime is built on fear and lies.
"Confirms Naipaul's position as one of the best writers now at work." —Newsweek - gradeLevels
- value: Grade 5
- popularity
- 373
- links
- self:
- href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BPQEAAA20/products/e1bd9ec2-de6a-4ec7-a154-10ed99e59e1f/metadata
- type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
- shareInLibby:
- href: https://link.overdrive.com/share?q=uCYHADHmp90
- type: text/HTML
- self:
- id
- e1bd9ec2-de6a-4ec7-a154-10ed99e59e1f
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img100.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img200.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/E1B/D9E/C2/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img150.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/E1B/D9E/C2/{E1BD9EC2-DE6A-4EC7-A154-10ED99E59E1F}Img400.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- isPublicPerformanceAllowed
- False
- languages
- code: en
- name: English
- subjects
- value: Fiction
- value: Literature
- value: Historical Fiction
- publishDateText
- 10/20/2010
- otherFormatIdentifiers
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780679722021
- mediaType
- eBook
- shortDescription
- Widely hailed as the Nobel Prize-winning author’s greatest work, this novel takes us into the life of a young Indian man who moves to an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. • "Brilliant." —The New York Times
In this haunting masterpiece of postcolonial literature, short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1979, Naipaul gives us a convincing and disturbing vision of a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past.
Salim is doubly an outsider in his new home—an unnamed country that resembles the Congo—by virtue of his origins in a community of Indian merchants on the coast of East Africa. Uncertain of his future, he has come to take possession of a local trading post he has naively purchased sight unseen. But what Salim discovers on his arrival is a ghost town, reduced to ruins in the wake of the recently departed European colonizers and in the... - accessibilityStatements
- additionalInformation:
- HighContrastText
- NonColorMeansOfConveyingInformation
- navigation:
- TableOfContents
- StructuredNavigation
- hazards:
- waysOfReading:
- ModifiableDisplay
- SomeNonVisualReadingSupport
- summaryStatement: Accessibility features highlighted in metadata are based on this ebook's content and format.
- conformance:
- NoInfoForStandards
- name: Adobe EPUB eBook
- richContent:
- id: ebook-epub-adobe
- legalConsiderations:
- additionalInformation:
- sortTitle
- Bend in the River
- crossRefId
- 468664
- classifications
- ownedCopies
- 1
- publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- atos
- 6.7
- bisacCodes
- code: FIC014000
- description: FICTION / Historical / General
- code: FIC019000
- description: Fiction / Literary
- code: FIC066000
- description: Fiction / Small Town & Rural