Customer Reviews

A Flag on the Island

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I have read four or five full-length novels by V S Napaul but "A Flag on the Island is the first collection of his short stories that I have had the opportunity to read. I have mixed emotions after reading this book. There were some short stories that I really enjoyed. I thought that "The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book" was hilariously funny. I thought that "Heart" was eerily disturbing. I thought "The Baker's Story" was the best of the lot. It was a humorous and insightful first person account of how a man discovered the way to beat prejudice all the way to the bank.

There were other stories that were good ones but not, in my opinion, exceptional. The title story was about 2/5's of the book. I was a bit busy at the time and ended up reading it over several days. Each time I picked it up to continue it seemed like I was reading a different story. Although some of the stories didn't impress me in the literature sense, I must admit that I enjoyed the local flavor. Having very recently come back from two weeks in the Carribean, I liked the reminder of what I had experienced. V. S Naipaul is an author with an excellent awareness of his own identity or lack thereof. Being of Asian descent in a Western Hemisphere surrounding populated largely by people of African descent, he has a unique outlook on the world. That outlook is well-represented in these stories.