About the book
From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes a riveting tour de force that examines emigration, dislocation, and dread.
“The coolest literary eye and the most lucid prose we have.” —The New York Times Book Review
No writer has rendered our boundariless, post-colonial world more acutely or prophetically than V. S. Naipaul, or given its upheavals such a hauntingly human face.
In the beginning it is just a car trip through Africa. Two English people—Bobby, a civil servant with a guilty appetite for African boys, and Linda, a supercilious “compound wife”—are driving back to their enclave after a stay in the capital. But in between lies the landscape of an unnamed country whose squalor and ethnic bloodletting suggest Idi Amin’s Uganda. And the farther Naipaul’s protagonists travel into it, the more they find themselves crossing the line that separates privileged outsiders from horrified victims. Alongside this Conradian tour de force are four incisive portraits of men seeking liberation far from home. By turns funny and terrifying, sorrowful and unsparing, In A Free State is Naipaul at his best.
Editions of In a Free State
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781400030552
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780676975079
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780394722054
- EBook
- ISBN 9780307370563
- EBook
- ISBN 9780307789327
Read an Excerpt
From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes a riveting tour de force that examines emigration, dislocation, and dread.
“The coolest literary eye and the most lucid prose we have.” —The New York Times Book Review
No writer has rendered our boundariless, post-colonial world more acutely or prophetically than V. S. Naipaul, or given its upheavals such a hauntingly human face.
In the beginning it is just a car trip through Africa. Two English people—Bobby, a civil servant with a guilty appetite for African boys, and Linda, a supercilious “compound wife”—are driving back to their enclave after a stay in the capital. But in between lies the landscape of an unnamed country whose squalor and ethnic bloodletting suggest Idi Amin’s Uganda. And the farther Naipaul’s protagonists travel into it, the more they find themselves crossing the line that separates privileged outsiders from horrified victims. Alongside this Conradian tour de force are four incisive portraits of men seeking liberation far from home. By turns funny and terrifying, sorrowful and unsparing, In A Free State is Naipaul at his best.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is In a Free State about?
From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes a riveting tour de force that examines emigration, dislocation, and dread.
“The coolest literary eye and the most lucid prose we have.” —The New York Times Book Review
No writer has rendered our boundariless, post-colonial world more acutely or prophetically than V. S. Naipaul, or given its upheavals such a hauntingly human face.
In the beginning it is just a car trip through Africa. Two English people—Bobby, a civil servant with a guilty appetite for African boys, and Linda, a supercilious “compound wife”—are driving back to their enclave after a stay in the capital. But in between lies the landscape of an unnamed country whose squalor and ethnic bloodletting suggest Idi Amin’s Uganda. And the farther Naipaul’s protagonists travel into it, the more they find themselves crossing the line that separates privileged outsiders from horrified victims. Alongside this Conradian tour de force are four incisive portraits of men seeking liberation far from home. By turns funny and terrifying, sorrowful and unsparing, In A Free State is Naipaul at his best.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in In a Free State?
Fiction > Fiction: literary and general non-genre
Where can I read a sample of In a Free State?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781400030552
Is In a Free State part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Vintage International
Who is/are the Author/s of the book In a Free State?
V. S. Naipaul
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
In a Free State is available as paperback(ISBN 9781400030552) and paperback(ISBN 9780676975079) and paperback(ISBN 9780394722054) and ebook(ISBN 9780307370563) and ebook(ISBN 9780307789327)
Where can I buy In a Free State online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy In a Free State from below
Where can I buy In a Free State?