PXylem

We all have our beautiful childhood days; days which were the loveliest and memorable to all of us. For a moment, if we close our eyes and go down the memory lane, the vivid pictures of those people come who had once been comprising the most significant part of our life whose grimaced and fun filled face now pops up from nowhere. The novel Miguel Street by V.S Naipual depicts the same. The author in the novel resurrects his life and the people around him, at such depth that each character comes alive in our eyes.

The V.S Naipual’s 1959 novel Miguel Street consists of seventeen chapters and 166 pages. Each chapter is devoted to one character who had been in relation with the author. Naipual has brilliantly described his days in Miguel Street, South Africa.

While reading the book, one could feel the air that blows in the Miguel Street. However, they will also appreciate the sharp observation of the events and that of the person that the author paints.

Beginning with Bogart, about whom the author has ‘the most bored men’ views, each chapter is devoted to a men and women living in the Miguel Street. There is Popo, a carpenter, and a very interesting person, living in the Miguel Street. Whenever the author ask him, ‘What you making, Mr Popo?’ he has the often repeated answer, ‘Ha, boy! That’s the question. I making the thing without the name’.

In similar manner, the author goes to describe Elias, the cleanest boy in the street. ‘He bathed twice a day and scrubbed his teeth twice a day. He did all his standing up at the tap in front of the house. He swept the house every morning before going to school. He was the opposite of his father. His father was short and fat and dirty. He was tall and thin and clean. His father drank and swore. He never drank and no one ever heard him use a bad word.’ Unfortunately, Elias good manners appeared as problems for the author since his mother used to say to him, ‘Why you don’t take after Elias? I really don’t know what sort of son God give me, you hear.’ Very funny!

Going further, there is Man-man in Miguel Street. Everybody in the street said that he was mad but the writer wasn’t sure of it. According to the author, there were ‘many people much madder than Man-man ever was’. He had a curious habit. ‘He went up for every election, city council or legislative council, and then he stuck posters everywhere in the district. These posters were well printed. They just had the word ‘Vote’ and below that, Man-man’s picture. However, the funniest aspect of his life was that at every election he got exactly three votes!

And there is B. Wordsworth, a poet who goes around in the street selling poetry. The author was very impressed by his poetry and of his personality. Well, B. Wordsworth wrote only one line in one month: ‘The past is deep’! He says, ‘I hope to distill the experience of a whole month into that single line of poetry. So, in twenty-two years, I shall have written a poem that will sing to all humanity’! Very witty!

The novel doesn’t end with the description of Bogart, Popo, Elias, Man-man and B. Wordsworth. There are many enchanting, witty and humourous characters. While you read you will observe the writing style followed by V.S Naipual. The sentences are short; the names of the characters are short and very funny.

One more thing that I have observed reading the novel almost every man beat their wife and in some stories wife beating their husband. Frankly speaking leaving out some occasional witty descriptions, there is nothing in the novel that pushes you to read it in one go. It doesn't possess the captivating power of a novel. I found it ordinary and appears to me as insipid to the taste of the most of the readers but author's die hard fans might like it. Nevertheless, the clarity and simplicity of Naipaul's writing can grip the interest of the readers and push them to finish it.
Next review: Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat
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