Human Conditions: ‘A House for Mr Biswas’ by V.S. Naipaul
<p>In&nbsp;<em>A House for Mr Biswas</em>, his 1961 comic masterpiece, V.S. Naipaul pays tribute to his father and the vanishing world of his Trinidadian youth. Pankaj Mishra joins Adam Shatz in their first of four episodes to discuss the novel, a pathbreaking work&nbsp;of&nbsp;postcolonial literature and a particularly powerful influence on Pankaj himself. They explore Naipaul’s&nbsp;fraught&nbsp;relationship&nbsp;to modernity,&nbsp;and the tensions between his attachment to individual freedom and his insistence on the constraints imposed by history.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Non-subscriber will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up:</p><p>Directly in Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://lrb.me/hcapplesignup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://apple.co/3pJoFPq</a></p><p>In other podcast apps: <a href="https://lrb.me/conditionssignup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lrb.me/closereadings</a></p><br><p>Read more in the <em>LRB</em>:</p><br><p>D.A.N. Jones: The Enchantment of Vidia Naipaul</p><p><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v06/n08/d.a.n.-jones/the-enchantment-of-vidia-naipaul" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v06/n08/d.a.n.-jones/the-enchantment-of-vidia-naipaul</a></p><br><p>Frank Kermode: What Naipaul Knows</p><p><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v23/n17/frank-kermode/what-naipaul-knows" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v23/n17/frank-kermode/what-naipaul-knows</a></p><br><p>Paul Theroux: Out of Sir Vidia’s Shadow</p><p><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n04/paul-theroux/diary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n04/paul-theroux/diary</a></p><br><p>Sanjay Subramahnyam: Where does he come from?&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v29/n21/sanjay-subrahmanyam/where-does-he-come-from" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v29/n21/sanjay-subrahmanyam/where-does-he-come-from</a></p><br><p>Pankaj Mishra is a writer, critic and reporter who regularly contributes to the <em>LRB</em>. His books include <em>Age of Anger: A History of the Present</em>,&nbsp;<em>From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia</em>&nbsp;and two novels, most recently&nbsp;<em>Run and Hide</em>.</p><br><p>Get in touch: [email protected]</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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Show Notes
In A House for Mr Biswas, his 1961 comic masterpiece, V.S. Naipaul pays tribute to his father and the vanishing world of his Trinidadian youth. Pankaj Mishra joins Adam Shatz in their first of four episodes to discuss the novel, a pathbreaking work of postcolonial literature and a particularly powerful influence on Pankaj himself. They explore Naipaul’s fraught relationship to modernity, and the tensions between his attachment to individual freedom and his insistence on the constraints imposed by history.
Non-subscriber will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Read more in the LRB:
D.A.N. Jones: The Enchantment of Vidia Naipaul
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v06/n08/d.a.n.-jones/the-enchantment-of-vidia-naipaul
Frank Kermode: What Naipaul Knows
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v23/n17/frank-kermode/what-naipaul-knows
Paul Theroux: Out of Sir Vidia’s Shadow
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n04/paul-theroux/diary
Sanjay Subramahnyam: Where does he come from?
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v29/n21/sanjay-subrahmanyam/where-does-he-come-from
Pankaj Mishra is a writer, critic and reporter who regularly contributes to the LRB. His books include Age of Anger: A History of the Present, From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia and two novels, most recently Run and Hide.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.