Miguel Street

By V. S. Naipaul

A tender, funny novel written with the verve of Dickens and the passion of Chekhov, set during World War II in a derelict neighborhood in Trinidad’s capital and narrated by an unnamed boy—from the Nobel Prize-winning author.

“One of the few contemporary writers of whom we can speak in terms of greatness.” —Newsday

“A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say ‘Slum!’ because he could see no more.” But to its residents this 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. This tender, funny early novel is a work of mercurial mood shifts, by turns sweetly melancholy and anarchically funny. It overflows with life on every page.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 20, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307776570

V. S. Naipaul

V.S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession. His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now. In 1990, V.S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 2018.

Reviews for Miguel Street

[rosies_38 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

loved that he went back home while his flight was delayed.

[stef7sa-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Amusing portraits of the characteristic inhabitants of a street in a poor neighbourhood on Trinidad, seen through the eyes of the young author. Not spectacular in contents and neither in style. The storylines become predictable at about twothirds of the book.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is almost connected short stories--there is one narrator, a boy/teen who grows up as the book goes on. Each chapter is his description of someone who lives on Miguel Street. A few characters—his own mother and Hat and his two nephews Eddoes and Boyee— appear in many of the chapters. I liked this book and enjoyed the different characters--most of whom are men--but I also wondered what Naipaul was trying to say about this neighborhood. It is WWII, Miguel Street is in or on the edge of the slum. And he does not portray these characters kindly. There are men who think they are very smart but clearly are not, men who don't work or skip work when they feel like it, violent men and women, a women with 8 kids by 7 men (who is not named as a prostitute, but maybe is?). There are also kind people, especially Hat, who took in his nephews. People move in and out, share fresh mangoes, generally look out for each other. In the end, the narrator does leave Miguel Street when he gets a chance to go to school in England.

[starbox_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

'A galaxy of characters',, December 7, 2014By sally tarboxThis review is from: Miguel Street (Paperback)The narrator looks back at his youth on a street in 1940s Port of Spain, Trinidad."A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say 'Slum!' because he could see no more. But we, who lived there, saw our street as a world, where everybody was quite different from everybody else."Some of the characters have a strong presence throughout (some are even carried over from another of Naipaul's works, 'The Mystic Masseur'), whereas others only feature in 'their' chapter - thus this feels rather like a set of short stories.The characters are quite memorable: Bhakcu, 'the mechanical genius', who wrecks every car he tries to fix; a beaten wife; a poet; a woman who has eight children by seven fathers - while the narrator and his friends observe and discuss the world around them in Trinidadian English. Thus discussing schoolwork:" 'Is the English and litritcher that does beat me'.In Elias's mouth litritcher was the most beautiful word I heard. it sounded like something to eat, something rich like chocolate.Hat said, 'You mean you have to read a lot of poultry and thing?' "I didn't enjoy this book as much as Naipaul's superb 'A House for Mr Biswas', and found some of the stories less compelling than others, but overall quite a good read

[alanwpowers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's unique--and unique in Naipaul's work, of which I've read a dozen, my favorites including House for Mr Biswas, The Loss of El Dorado, and Among the Believers. Used to teach Miguel street in community college Freshman English--maybe fifteen years, often twice a year. It never got old to me. My "teaching" was largely aloudreading, including my class who were fearful of the accent. Once in awhile a student had been there, would try to recreate some. I find it a comic achievement of the highest order, rather like (and unlike) Faulkner's As I LAy Dying. Man-Man's dog is a wonderful creation, roughly equal to Shakespeare's Crab, the clown's dog in Two Gentlemen of Verona. I wonder if a film of it is even possible, maybe by a Brazilian film-maker? The humor would be tough to represent visually. The dog-do on the bar, funny to hear, would not be so funny to see. The brand-new truck "repaired" by the compulsive tinkerer--lovely. I would use the book as the first of five in my course, others including a Shakespeare play, a poetry collection, and a memoir or non-fiction. It really got the class off to a great start. Of course, Naipaul grew into a bit of a zero--dissing women authors, whoring, etc. But if we can forgive politicians, why not geniuses?

[hankiii · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.