And a Bend in the River I thought was Uganda until Uganda is mentioned as another country. Anyone?
Both excellent. Although I did have to wonder during this one- why am I reading this? Where does it take me? Maybe it was just the book didn't go anywhere novel (pun).
A good friend turned me onto Naipaul- he's growing on me (Naipaul, not my friend- we've known each other for over ten years).
Searching around for the country in which the book is based (a generic African country? like Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book about the dictator was based in a generic Central/South American country?), I found that I have one of the ugliest editions- the cover has some Soviet-inspired design on front, which really bums me out.
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Amazing! Paula has been reading Naipaul's Bend in the river too, to practice her English. She found my copy, a very old paperback with yellow crumbling pages and very fine print, probably purchased at the Ithaca Public Library booksale. Anyway, she had the same problem as you trying to figure out the place where the action took place. She has just told me that she assumes that the place is Tanzania. The reasons: must be a coastal nation of Africa, with a tradition in slave trading towards India and Arabia (typically slaves would be loaded in Dar es Salaam), lots of muslims, the languaje must be English/French, with lots of inmigration from India. So Paula thins it must be Tanzania. I have no opinion on this, unfortunately. Anyway, funny coincidence.
All the best Rana, and keep writing.
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