Present Books During Miguel Street

Original Title:	Miguel Street
ISBN:	0375713875 (ISBN13: 9780375713873)
Edition Language:	English
Literary Awards:	Somerset Maugham Award (1961)

Miguel Street Paperback | Pages: 224 pages

List Containing Books Miguel Street

Title	:	Miguel Street
Author	:	V.S. Naipaul
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Special Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 224 pages
Published	:	July 23rd 2002 by Vintage (first published June 1st 1959)
Categories	:	Fiction. Short Stories. Literature

Chronicle To Books Miguel Street

"A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say 'Slum!' because he could see no more." But to its residents this derelict corner of Trinidad's capital is a complete world, where everybody is quite different from everybody else. There's Popo the carpenter, who neglects his livelihood to build "the thing without a name." There's Man-man, who goes from running for public office to staging his own crucifixion, and the dreaded Big Foot, the bully with glass tear ducts. There's the lovely Mrs. Hereira, in thrall to her monstrous husband. In this tender, funny early novel, V. S. Naipaul renders their lives (and the legends their neighbors construct around them) with Dickensian verve and Chekhovian compassion.
Set during World War II and narrated by an unnamed-but precociously observant-neighborhood boy, Miguel Street is a work of mercurial mood shifts, by turns sweetly melancholy and anarchically funny. It overflows with life on every page.

Rating Containing Books Miguel Street

Ratings: 3.94 From 3508 Users | 375 Reviews

Notice Containing Books Miguel Street

Reading this book was like experiencing the pleasure as a child of squishing vibrant finger paints between my fingers and slowly smearing them onto a sheet of white paper. The colors ran together and jumped off of each other and filled the white page with intriguing images. 'Miguel Street' is a masterpiece of character development, colorful imagery, caribbean flavor, and charming story-telling. the short stories are street-smart yet tender, narrated with the wisdom, innocence, and insight of a

One of Naipaul's early works; it gave me a sense of place within a poor Trinidadian neighborhood, and the various inhabitants and interactions. There tends to be a dark, futility to their lives, but I found some humor too. I enjoyed this book for its clarity, its characters, and its poignancy.

Reminds me of Cannery Row by Steinbeck. I always love this style of storytelling and the setting was new and familiar to me, so it was a great read. More Naipaul is definitely in the future reading.

A sequence of delightful vignettes that document the sometimes hilarious goings on in Miguel street in Port of Spain, Trinidad. There is a single child narrator for all of the stories that are further interconnected by major characters appearing in several of them. The style is brilliant, and I love the local English patois that most of the inhabitants use.

Naipaul effectively pieces together the individual stories of various members of Miguel Street, as observed through the central narrator--a young man reflecting upon his childhood, from a physical and emotional distance. The layers of the novel and the textured lives of its characters resoundingly prove that Miguel Street is not merely a "slum," as a stranger would conclude from "driv[ing] through Miguel Street." Rather, it is a "world, where everybody [is] quite different from everybody else."

Naipaul's third novel about a bunch of colorful characters living in a street in Port of Spain. This is unlike any other Naipaul I have read so far. I have read his work backwards starting with his later novels and then moving on to the earlier ones (a small write up by Tarun Tejpal inside the book recommends Miguel Street and The Mystic Masseur for first time readers of Naipaul). Miguel Street is not without its share of misery and darkness but it is generally a hilarious novel tracing the

I read this book in one sitting and was reminded of living on a small island with hopes and dreams that didn't always reflect my environment. The narrator lamented on all his friends from Miguel Street, the good and the bad. He talked vividly about the lessons he learned from each person and how the times reflected many of their decisions. The slang, the rhythm of the stories, and of course the names for each other felt relate-able. Memories of island life and the beauty of making do with what