Deep Reads: A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul (1st of 2 sessions)

Over a two-month period we will read A House for Mr Biswas by 2001 Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul. You can find a copy of the book here. (If you buy any of the versions after clicking on my link, I will get a few pennies to help support the cost of the meetup.)

This month we will read the Prologue and Part 1. (about 292 pages)

The book is a vivid, tragicomic portrait of one man’s lifelong quest for independence. Set in colonial Trinidad, the novel follows Mohun Biswas, an unlucky and often exasperating journalist whose deepest ambition is disarmingly simple: to own a house of his own. What unfolds is both deeply personal and broadly historical, capturing the textures of family life, social aspiration, and cultural displacement in a rapidly changing world.

Major themes include the search for dignity, the burdens of extended family, the legacy of colonialism, and the fragile construction of identity. When awarding Naipaul the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy praised him “for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.” A House for Mr Biswas exemplifies that achievement. It remains relevant today for its exploration of belonging and self-definition—questions that resonate in conversations about immigration, class mobility, and what it means to build a life that is truly one’s own.

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Note! Meetup recently doubled the cost of the meetup to about $352/year ($176 twice a year) Want to help support the group? A few of you generously offered. If you would like to contribute $5, $10, $20 or any amount, the easiest way is venmo: @JohnSeanDoyle or just reach out to me directly. Thanks for considering it!