A review by deegee24
Miguel Street by V.S. Naipaul

3.0

The best part of this early work by V.S. Naipaul is his rendering of Trinidadian English. It is precise without being distracting. Each of these linked stories deals with a character in an exclusively male circle of friends in a poor district of Port of Spain. The tone is mostly light comedy but with some dark moments. The biggest limitation of the book for me is that Naipaul invites us to feel sympathy for these men, nearly all of whom are habitual domestic abusers of women and children. When women characters do appear, they are relegated to the margins, mainly existing as an obstacle or plot complication. E.g. character X, who used to be fun and carefree, brings home a wife who he beats and who browbeats him in turn until she leaves him for an American soldier. It would have been really interesting to have at least one or two stories narrated from the point of view of one of these wives/girlfriends.