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V. S. Naipaul
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The Return of Eva Perón With the Killings in Trinidad Paperback – August 4, 1988

by V. S. Naipaul (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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Con il suo inconfondibile tocco, Naipaul ricostruisce tre esemplari parabole umane che si traducono in altrettante variazioni sul potere in tutti i suoi toni, dal tragico al grottesco. La figura di Mobutu, dominus del Congo/Zaire, è un condensato di dissimulazione ideologica, con la sua capacità di perpetuare le leggi dispotiche del colonialismo belga sotto una sorta di «socialismo africano ancestrale» e di spacciare per «rivoluzione» maoista l’esercizio crudele della regalità. Michael de Freitas alias Michael X, sedicente attivista per i diritti civili, finito sulla forca per aver massacrato alcuni affiliati a Trinidad, è uno dei tanti riverberi farseschi dell’Africa della diaspora: un «uomo del Black Power senza potere e senza la pelle nera», che si impone come mito underground solo nell’Inghilterra «provinciale, ricca e sicura» in cui ha trascorso la giovinezza come pusher e magnaccia. La vicenda del regime peronista ha il suo contrappunto nella passione del popolo per Evita, aspirante attrice emersa dalla «cittadina più tetra della pampa», e predestinata a eternare i suoi tratti fantasmatici e sensuali nella fissità dell’imbalsamazione, dopo la morte ad appena trentatré anni. E cornice ideale del trittico è il magistrale saggio su Joseph Conrad, vero corpo a corpo critico con lo scrittore che più di ogni altro ha segnato Naipaul, dove il personaggio chiave di Cuore di tenebra diventa la sintesi archetipica delle tre parabole che abbiamo attraversato.
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  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin
  4. Publication date
    August 4, 1988
  5. Dimensions
    5.04 x 0.55 x 7.76 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0140052593
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0140052596
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin (August 4, 1988)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140052593
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140052596
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.04 x 0.55 x 7.76 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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V. S. Naipaul

V. S. Naipaul

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Alfred J. Kwak
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb writing
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2018
To call this a collection of four journalistic pieces is incorrect; two (incl. he title story) have the size of novellas; one of them is a superb reconstruction of what really happened on Trinidad, first fictionalised in VSN's 1975 novel "Guerrillas". The real background and facts surrounding "The Killings in Trinidad" could only be published, after many delays for legal reasons, in a London-based magazine and here, in bookform only around 1980. Reading the fiction, then the truth about a shocking run of events with all its roots, backgrounds and loose ends provided, is a rare privilege for readers. The result is a stupendous piece of investigative journalism.
In a brief Author's Note, VSN stated that the other pieces were written during the early 1970s, 'when no novel offered itself to me'. Two of them--a portrait of Zaire's president Mobutu and an analysis of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness--probably underpin his 1979 novel "A Bend in the River". Both are well-researched and written. Along with the title story--whose content is for readers to discover-- the trio appeared originally in the NY Review of Books. Not to be missed!
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Azbuyer
3.0 out of 5 stars Naipaul writes for his audience!
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2022
Reading Naipaul on Argentina may seem like a big revelation. But what happened in Argentina with natives also happened with natives in the US. But don't expect Naipaul to write about the native's history in the US because he knows that people who read him and give him his prizes and recognition will come from the US and the UK. Basically, Naipaul learned a lot from his upbringing in colonial Trinidad when white men ruled the world and set the bar for others to follow. For obvious reasons, to be recognized in this American and British world, Naipaul chose to criticize Argentina, India, Caribbean. All the soft targets. Though his writings on the Muslim world are precise and done with a lot of perspicacity.
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P. Vitale
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating history
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2001
The three main essays in this book are incredible: The story of Michael X, the Return of Eva Peron,and the focus on the (at the time) emerging nation of Zaire--once again The Congo. I'll tell you the truth I was terribly bored with everything I had been reading lately. I couldn't put this book down. I shall now attempt to read anything by Mr. Naipaul, who has a gift, yes a gift of communicating complex ideas without making me feel stupid. . .I suppose I was fortunate to find this book on my shelf as I see it is out of print. You folks out there who consider yourselves internationalists or "third worldists" especially you political radicals, please find this book and read it. You may want to compare the Argentine section to Edwardo Galleano's "Days and Nights in Love and War" . . .
6 people found this helpful
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montana@sirius.com
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but unsparingly critical view of Argentina, Zaire
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 1997
This book consists of three seperate essays, written in the 1970s, which analyze historical events in Argentina, Zaire, and Trinidad. The writing is excellent and full of Naipaul's characteristic incisive insights into culture and history, but one needs to start with some interest and knowledge of the areas covered. The first essay, on Argentina in the early 1970s and the cult of Eva Peron is the best and longest. Reading the essay in Argentina last year, I found many of its brilliant insights on Argentine culture and history to still hold true. The weakness of the essay is its unsparingly critical stance. There is a mocking bitterness and that comes through in Naipual's perspective, which shows no sympathy for those who have to pay the consequences for the tragedies of history. For example, the section on Uruguay ends by noting that at the height of emigration, there was graffiti on the wall saying "last one to leave please turn out the lights." The second essay, on Mobutu Sese Seko's corrupt regime in Zaire is much shorter. It is a short, but in no way sweet. Mobutu deserved no less. The third essay, on a spate of violence in Trinidad, (Naipaul's birthplace) is less important and far less interesting. It chronicles the absurd pretentions and bloody deeds of a wanna-be black nationalist and has little larger significance. I did not find it worth reading.
11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Frank598
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
Lively and amusing study of Peron and Argentina.
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