About the book
From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes a masterpiece of astonishing insight and candor about a society traumatized by centuries of foreign conquest and immured in a mythic vision of its past.
“Extraordinarily forceful.... Naipaul is an elegantly precise and exacting writer.” –Newsweek
In 1975, at the height of Indira Gandhi’s “Emergency,” V. S. Naipaul returned to India, the country his ancestors had left one hundred years earlier. Out of that journey he produced a vibrant, defiantly unsentimental portrait of India. Drawing on novels, news reports, political memoirs, and his own encounters with ordinary Indians—from a supercilious prince to an engineer constructing housing for Bombay’s homeless—Naipaul captures a vast, mysterious, and agonized continent inaccessible to foreigners and barely visible to its own people. He sees both the burgeoning space program and the 5,000 volunteers chanting mantras to purify a defiled temple; the feudal village autocrat and the Naxalite revolutionaries who combined Maoist rhetoric with ritual murder. Relentless in its vision, thrilling in the keenness of its prose, India: A Wounded Civilization is a work of astonishing insight and candor.
Editions of India
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780394724638
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780749399207
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781400030750
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780676975154
- EBook
- ISBN 9780307370624
- EBook
- ISBN 9780307789341
Read an Excerpt
From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes a masterpiece of astonishing insight and candor about a society traumatized by centuries of foreign conquest and immured in a mythic vision of its past.
“Extraordinarily forceful.... Naipaul is an elegantly precise and exacting writer.” –Newsweek
In 1975, at the height of Indira Gandhi’s “Emergency,” V. S. Naipaul returned to India, the country his ancestors had left one hundred years earlier. Out of that journey he produced a vibrant, defiantly unsentimental portrait of India. Drawing on novels, news reports, political memoirs, and his own encounters with ordinary Indians—from a supercilious prince to an engineer constructing housing for Bombay’s homeless—Naipaul captures a vast, mysterious, and agonized continent inaccessible to foreigners and barely visible to its own people. He sees both the burgeoning space program and the 5,000 volunteers chanting mantras to purify a defiled temple; the feudal village autocrat and the Naxalite revolutionaries who combined Maoist rhetoric with ritual murder. Relentless in its vision, thrilling in the keenness of its prose, India: A Wounded Civilization is a work of astonishing insight and candor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is India about?
From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes a masterpiece of astonishing insight and candor about a society traumatized by centuries of foreign conquest and immured in a mythic vision of its past.
“Extraordinarily forceful.... Naipaul is an elegantly precise and exacting writer.” –Newsweek
In 1975, at the height of Indira Gandhi’s “Emergency,” V. S. Naipaul returned to India, the country his ancestors had left one hundred years earlier. Out of that journey he produced a vibrant, defiantly unsentimental portrait of India. Drawing on novels, news reports, political memoirs, and his own encounters with ordinary Indians—from a supercilious prince to an engineer constructing housing for Bombay’s homeless—Naipaul captures a vast, mysterious, and agonized continent inaccessible to foreigners and barely visible to its own people. He sees both the burgeoning space program and the 5,000 volunteers chanting mantras to purify a defiled temple; the feudal village autocrat and the Naxalite revolutionaries who combined Maoist rhetoric with ritual murder. Relentless in its vision, thrilling in the keenness of its prose, India: A Wounded Civilization is a work of astonishing insight and candor.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in India?
History and Archaeology > History > Asian history
Where can I read a sample of India?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780394724638
Who is/are the Author/s of the book India?
V. S. Naipaul
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
India is available as paperback(ISBN 9780394724638) and paperback(ISBN 9780749399207) and paperback(ISBN 9781400030750) and paperback(ISBN 9780676975154) and ebook(ISBN 9780307370624) and ebook(ISBN 9780307789341)
Where can I buy India online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy India from below