VS Naipaul - A House for Mr Biswas

I don't know what led me to buy this book in my adult days. Perhaps, I wanted to remember the good old days in 'A' Level Sixth form literature class when we couldn't understand why the  examiners had chosen this unreadable book. Were they simply being sadistic and setting us up for failure?

Reading it again, without the pressure of an exam in store, was wonderful and I understood better why Naipaul was a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. (My own street in Mombasa where I grew up reminded my siblings and I so much of Miguel Street - Another of Naipual's books. As the street didn't have a name like many streets in Mombasa - one that we were aware of - my siblings and I eventually named Miguel Street.) But I digress.

Why is Naipaul so fatalistic. I loved Mr Biswas (the man) despite his idiosyncrasies. And I loved the summary on the paper back that ponders about the dishonour of one having to ....live and die as one had been born, unnecessary and unaccommodated.

I too have tried to dabble in the business of building a house and sometimes no matter how much effort one takes into account to ensure perfection, one realises at the end that the windows don't close, the doors don't fit...or perhaps, that one has been conned. What a life.

I wish I could take that exam again....after reading the book and experiencing some of the issues in life, I may be better poised to answer the gruelling questions.  I might also consider myself a scholar having read a few of Naipaul's books that I have enjoyed debating with D about V.S. Naipaul and his writing style.