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India: A Million Mutinies Now

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India: A Million Mutinies Now

By: V. S. Naipaul
Narrated by: Sam Dastor
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About this listen

Arising out of Naipaul’s lifelong obsession and passion for a country that is at once his and totally alien, India: A Million Mutinies Now relates the stories of many of the people he met traveling there more than 50 years ago. He explores how they have been steered by the innumerable frictions present in Indian society - the contradictions and compromises of religious faith, the whim and chaos of random political forces. This book represents Naipaul’s last word on his homeland, complementing his two other India travelogues, An Area of Darkness and India: A Wounded Civilization.

©1990, 2011 V. S. Naipaul (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing Asia Travel Writing & Commentary Middle East India Travel
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Truly a masterpiece. The Nobel Prize was well deserved. Also faultless narration by Sam Dastoor. If only he had lived on to write a follow up to see how well India is doing

Wonderful

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Fascinating! Giving insite into life and the social devisions in India society both past and present, Beautifully narrated. Very well crafted and presented. A long book every minute a learning experience. Bravo!

Loved every minute of my listening

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If Naipaul had cut the book in half he would've brought the same message across without the reader (listener) getting bored. About 14h in all the stories start to feel similar with only occasional new personas being added.

Less would've been more

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Very different to the first two books, which were extremely judgemental and often really quite angry about both India and its people. This time - another decade and a bit on - Naipaul's own opinions take a back seat as he allows a series of interviewees from around the country tell their stories in their own words, with minimal authorial interjection.

The diversity of background of these interviewees - Brahmins, Dalits, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, aristocrats, peasants, religious leaders, polutical activists, terrorists, and even (shock!) a woman at one point - gives a series of interesting perspectives of the country and it's culture. Throughout, Naipaul largely remains entirely unjudgemental and seemingly sympathetic

The trouble is, these interviews are almost all way, way too long and - despite the diversity of backgrounds - end up all feeling pretty similar and blurring into one. This is compounded by the fact that, despite this being the product of a journey around the entire country, the focus on the people and their words means there's no sense of place.

This book needed a serious edit. At half the length it would have been great. This long, it kinda got a bit dull. A shame, as I enjoyed the first two in the series a lot.

Much longer than needed

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