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Loading... The Mystic Masseur (1957)by V. S. Naipaul
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This was V.S. Naipaul's debut effort - his first novel, and what a cracking success it is. The comic novel is a difficult thing to write - I should know, having attempted and failed to bring off anything remotely humorous in my own writing. But Naipaul sustains the comedy by mixing in a dash of social realism in this magnificent tail of Ganesh, a so-called mystic masseur in the backwoods of Trinidad. We follow his rise and rise (not quite the rise and fall one would expect), though there is nothing predictable about this story. The telling is wonderful as well - the language is, superficially, simple enough, but there is art to complement the wit, making this a delightful read. Odavno me neka knjiga nije ovako nasmijala. Radnja se odvija na Trinidadu i opisuje se život Ganesha Ramsumaira koji od običnog nastavnika postaje čudesni maser. Saznala sam mnogo interesantnih stvari kao: - kad imaš mnogo novca onda možeš sebi priuštiti i da misliš; - kada na Trinidadu žena napusti muža on joj treba poslati poruku "Pseto, kako si?" ili "Mačko, kako si?" :) Odavno me neka knjiga nije ovako nasmijala. Radnja se odvija na Trinidadu i opisuje se život Ganesha Ramsumaira koji od običnog nastavnika postaje čudesni maser. Saznala sam mnogo interesantnih stvari kao: - kad imaš mnogo novca onda možeš sebi priuštiti i da misliš; - kada na Trinidadu žena napusti muža on joj treba poslati poruku "Pseto, kako si?" ili "Mačko, kako si?" :) no reviews | add a review
Awards
The first of Naipaul's twelve novels tells of one man's meteoric rise and hilarious metamorphosis from failed schoolteacher and struggling masseur to the most popular man in Trinidad. In this slyly funny and lavishly inventive novel, Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul traces the unlikely career of Ganesh Ramsumair, a failed schoolteacher and impecunious village masseur who in time becomes a revered mystic, a thriving entrepreneur, and the most beloved politician in Trinidad. To understand a little better, one has to realize that in the 1940s masseurs were the island's medical practitioners of choice. As one character observes, "I know the sort of doctors they have in Trinidad. They think nothing of killing two, three people before breakfast." Ganesh's ascent is variously aided and impeded by a Dickensian cast of rogues and eccentrics. There's his skeptical wife, Leela, whose schooling has made her excessively, fond. of; punctuation: marks!; and Leela's father, Ramlogan, a man of startling mood changes and an ever-ready cutlass. There's the aunt known as The Great Belcher. There are patients pursued by malign clouds or afflicted with an amorous fascination with bicycles. Witty, tender, filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of Trinidad's dusty Indian villages, The Mystic Masseur is Naipaul at his most expansive and evocative. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Hilarious as it may sound, the story seems to suggest that no matter how lazy Ganesh was bound to succeed through the unrelenting believe Ramlogan has vested in him. Even if you don't believe in yourself, success will come if at least one person believes in you. ( )