A House for Mr Biswas
Author | V. S. Naipaul |
---|---|
Cover artist | Stephen Russ[1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Contemporary fiction |
Published | 1961 |
Publisher | André Deutsch |
Media type |
A House for Mr Biswas is a 1961
In 1998, the
Synopsis
Plot
Mohun Biswas (based on V. S. Naipaul's father,
The boy is withdrawn prematurely from school and apprenticed to a pundit, but is cast out on bad terms. Ajodha then puts him in the care of his alcoholic and abusive brother Bhandat, an arrangement which also ends badly. Finally, the young Mr Biswas decides to make his own fortune. He encounters a friend from his school days who helps him get into the business of sign-writing. While on the job, Mr Biswas attempts to romance a client's daughter but his advances are misinterpreted as a wedding proposal. He is drawn into a marriage which he does not have the nerve to stop and becomes a member of the Tulsi household.
Mr Biswas becomes very unhappy with his wife Shama (based on Droapatie Naipaul) and her overbearing family. The Tulsis (based on the Capildeo family), and the big decaying Hanuman House (based on Anand Bhavan aka the Lion House) where they live represent the communal way of life which is traditional throughout Asia. Mr Biswas is offered a place in this cosmos, a subordinate place to be sure, but a place that is guaranteed and from which advancement is possible. But Mr Biswas wants more than being just a gharjamai. He is, by instinct, a modern man. He wants to be the author of his own life. That is an aspiration with which the Tulsis cannot deal, and their decaying world conspires to drag him down.[6] Despite his poor education, Mr Biswas becomes a journalist, has four children with Shama, and attempts several times to build a house that he can call his own, a house which will symbolise his independence. Mr Biswas' desperate struggle to acquire a house of his own can be linked to an individual's need to develop an authentic identity. He feels that only by having his own house he can overcome his feelings of rootlessness and alienation.
Characters
- Mohun Biswas (based on V. S. Naipaul's father, Seepersad Naipaul)
- Shama (based on Droapatie Naipaul), Mohun's wife
- Raghu, Mohun's father
- Tara, Mohun's mother's sister
- Bhandat, Tara's brother-in-law
- Pundit Jayaram, Mohun's cruel employer, with whom he worked as an assistant
- Mrs. Tulsi, Shama's mother
- Anand, Mohun's son (based on V. S. Naipaul). Anand excels in school and shows signs of talent as a writer.
Development and publication
Naipaul wrote the book based on his own experiences as a child. Writing for The New York Review of Books in 1983, he stated that, "Of all my books A House for Mr. Biswas is the one closest to me." The book took him three years to write.[7]
Naipaul finished the final proofreading of the book in May 1961.
Style and themes
A central theme of the novel is alienation. Right from his birth, Mr Biswas is alienated due to the prophecy. He grew up as a lonely child who lived in isolation. Following his marriage to Shama, the joint family of the Tulsis expected him to merge his personal identity with theirs, which he finds difficult and makes him feel trapped. They later humiliate him and he is forced to work at the estate at Green Vale, where he grows resentful of even his own children. Ultimately, this sense of alienation motivates him to search for a house, symbolising an effort to find and create his own identity.[9]
Throughout the novel, Mr Biswas' gradual progress is indicated through the many objects he and his wife acquire over the years. Naipaul lists out detailed inventories, much like "the catalogue of ships in the
Legacy
The novel is generally regarded as Naipaul's most significant work and is credited with launching him into international fame and renown.
Adaptations
The novel was later adapted as a stage musical, with compositions by Monty Norman. One of the songs written for the play, "Good Sign, Bad Sign", was later rewritten as the "James Bond Theme", according to the documentary Inside Dr. No.
In 1980, the book was serialised by the
A two-part radio dramatisation, featuring
References
- ^ Bound books – a set on Flickr
- ISBN 9780415942119.
- ISBN 9781403902542.
- ^ "MASTERPIECE!". Trinidad Express Newspapers. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ "The Big Jubilee Read: A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign". BBC. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ^ Selwyn Cudjoe, V. S. Naipaul: A Materialist Reading, University of Massachusetts Press, 1988, p. 71. See also Kenneth Ramchand, "The West Indies", in Bruce King, Literatures of the World in English, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1974, p. 206.
- ^ ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ "Collecting A House For Mr Biswas by Naipaul, V S - First edition identification guide". www.biblio.com. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ISSN 0974-892X.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "All-Time 100 Novels: How We Picked the List". Time. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ^
"100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". BBC News. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.