About this title: Continually faced with homelessness and manipulated by people in power, Mr. Biswas becomes obsessed with the idea of having his own house. Twice, he attempts to build, but the schemes fail. He finds a good job but loses it. Finally, he borrows money and, on impulse, buys a house that is shabby and defective--if not downright dangerous--but is at last a home for Mr. Biswas and his family. He dies shortly after of a heart attack, but is left with the satisfaction of having at last achieved some control over his life.
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Description: Acceptable. 2001-Paperback----Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1993-05-01
ISBN-13:9780140186048ISBN:0140186042
Description: Good. Every heavytail order includes with a sweet! We carefully hand clean and reinspect each and every item we ship. Our quality control process ensures items to be in the condition described or better. Heavytail is determined to earn your repeat business through old fashioned customer service. We love international orders. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780679444589ISBN:0679444580
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375707162ISBN:0375707166
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Gift inscription inside cover. No other marks. No creases or folds. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 576 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780140186048ISBN:0140186042
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: may have minimal or no markings, slightly worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780140186048ISBN:0140186042
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: may have minimal or no markings, slightly worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780140186048ISBN:0140186042
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: may have minimal or no markings, slightly worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: SOFTCOVER
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780140186048ISBN:0140186042
Description: Very good. [No CD or ancillary materials included] [Authentic USA edition] [I will ship immediately] Book in standard used condition: may have minimal or no markings, slightly worn covers and edges, and good binding. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Andre Deutsch, London
Date Published: 1969
ISBN-13:9780233955896ISBN:0233955895
Description: Good. No Jacket. Ex-Library Expected deficiencies of a library book. Rebound incorporating dust jacket. Binding is firm. Text is clean. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books, London
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780140030259ISBN:0140030255
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Text in English, Spanish. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 592 p. Audience: General/trade. Cover different than one shown. UK Penguin. read more
Binding: Trade Paper
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780140186048ISBN:0140186042
Description: Very Good with no dust jacket. 0140186042. Author's classic novel set in Trinidad has been included on Modern Library's list of the 100 best novels. In a clean, tight copy; undamaged. With introduction by Ian Buruma.; Twentieth-Century Classics; 0.95 x 7.76 x 5.08 Inches; 608 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin, New York
Date Published: 1981
Description: Very Good. 1981 Paperback reprint of 1969 ed. Pgs. clean, tight, slight tan from age. NO marks. Covers: clean, minimal wear, no spine creases. Great condition. read more
Binding: Trade Paper
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375707162ISBN:0375707166
Description: Very Good with no dust jacket. 0375707166. Hard-to-find copy of Nobel prizewinning author's semi-autobiographical novel. In nice shape, chafing at edges, otherwise solid and tight.; 70003; 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
"A definite slog... in fact THE definition like watching dense prose paint dry. Its almost as if the form is the function acting as separate character. Nothing much happens for pages and pages and then a slight plot development (usually a change of residence) for this unhappy man/family. However, this glacial narrative serves beautifully to illuminate the sad life (of a not very likeable main character) and in the process one really gets a sense of Hindu culture in Trinidad and also what being part of an extended family used to be and is still like for so many. I still want a medal for reading and for being illuminated."
"A House For Mr. Biswas isn't one of my usual novels. Its a story of Mohun Biswas from his birth til his death and his quest to better himself and find a household of his very own. Its a long journey and very seldom do things go right for Mohun.
He was born with a sneeze that precedes doom and a sixth finger that a pundit said would bring nothing but trouble and perhaps that is so. His childhood is full of tragedy including the drowning of his father in a search for Mohun, who was hiding in his room because he had lost a calf down by the water.
He goes through a series of unsuccessful apprenticeships before he becomes a sign painter and through that job he acquires his wife and the rest of the Tolsi family. His wife's family is a bullying lot and none of them really hit it off with Mohun and that's where the story gets interesting.
Through most of his life, Mohun battles his in-laws in every way possible, doing his best not to rely on jobs given him by Seth, his wife's uncle and even when he does take jobs from him nothing goes right, from poor business decisions when he was a shop keeper to the madness that set in when he worked in the fields. Poor Mohun.
Its hard not to feel pity for him, but the truth of the matter is, he's every man. He makes mistakes, he fights with his wife and in-laws, he longs to be a better, smarter man.
This book is not for everyone. It really requires time and a willingness to understand the culture of Trinidad in the early part of the 20th century. It took me 4 days to read it, and I'm glad I did.
"Spinning straw into gold -- a book about an ordinary person who never does do anything really extraordinary, but in the midst of his dominant life-experience of frustration and deprivation and irritability and futility there are glimmers of wit and inventiveness and grit and determination and self-realization. There is no neat resolution; the house Mr. Biswas eventually manages to stake out for himself is an imperfect realization of a dream rather than an unalloyed triumph; there is no reconciliation of Mr. Biswas's fundamental conflicts with the world and the people closest to him; there is no redemption. It's just a description of a life -- but this book comes achingly close to capturing how maddeningly complex and close to the sublime a simple life is."
"I read this book when I was about 30. This book is really for a very mature audience, for people who have experienced life. The main character is mercurial in a sense. We all at some point in our lives become anxious with life, that we should be more than what we turned out to be. For some people, this is an obsession. When we hit mid-life, there's an urgency to achieve what we dreamed of when we were younger but never achieved. For Mr. Biswas, since there is no way he will be anything more, a house is all he could think to have. And for many, a house represents freedom, ownership and achievement. If you never become rich, or famous, or attained your dream job, a house is a surrogate. I truly felt this when I turned thirty, and I'm sure there are others who feel this way when they reach 40, or 50 or other milestones in their life.
Most people are looking for a plot. However, that is not the point. One has to seriously look between the text to actually appreciate it. The happenings in the book are to align themselves with our lives, not reflect. It is a novel of the highest thinking order."
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