In a Free State

副标题: A Novel With Two Supporting Narratives

ISBN: 9780330487054

作者: V·S·Naipaul

出版社: Picador

出版年: 2002-6-30

页数: 247

定价: USD 18.95

装帧: Paperback

内容简介

"In a Free State" deals in displacement. It tells first of an Indian servant in Washington, then of an Asian West Indian in London who is in jail for murder. Then the story moves to Africa, to a fictional country something like Uganda or Rwanda. The two main characters are English. They once found Africa liberating, but now it has gone sour on them. At a time of tribal conflict they have to make the long drive to the safety of their compound. In the background, the threat of violence looms. The voices in this novel are breathtakingly vivid, while the characters are portrayed with an intelligence and sensitivity that is rarely seen in contemporary writing. Dennis Potter described the book as one 'of such lucid complexity and such genuine insight, so deft and deep, that it somehow manages to agitate, charm, amuse and excuse the reader all at the same pitch of experience'. This is one of V.S. Naipaul's greatest novels, hard but full of pity.

作者简介

奈保尔(Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul)，英籍印度裔作家。1932年8月17日出生于中美洲特立尼达和多巴哥。18岁赴牛津大学求学，获得文学学士学位后定居英国。曾任BBC“加勒比之声”栏目主持人3年。游走世界各地写作多年，批判发展中社会的精神和物质的双重匮乏，语多辛辣诙谐。主要作包括《灵异推拿师》（约翰·卢埃林·里斯纪念奖），《米格尔大街》（萨莫塞特·毛姆奖），《黑暗之地》，《印度：一个伤痕累累的文明》，《自由国度》（1971年布克奖），《河湾》，《半生》，《魔种》等。1990年获英国皇室封爵；1993年，成为英国大卫·柯恩文学奖首位获奖者，该奖旨在表彰“尚在人世的英国作家一生的成就”。2001年，因“作品中兼具犀利的叙述与正直的洞察，迫使我们正视那些被压抑的历史的存在”，被授予诺贝尔文学奖。

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