''A Way in the World'' is a 1994 book by Nobel laureate

V. S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienati ...

. Although it was marketed as a novel in America, ''A Way in the World'', which consists of linked narratives, is arguably something different.Spice, N., 1994. Inspector of the Sad Parade. Review of A Way in the World by Naipaul, V. S. London Review of Books nlinevol. 16 no. 15 pp. 10-11. Available from http://www.lrb.co.uk/v16/n15/nicholas-spice/inspector-of-the-sad-parade ccessed 26 March 2016

Novel or sequence?

Despite his achievements as a novelist, in later life Naipaul has described the novel as an outmoded form. ''A Way in the World'' was published in the UK with the sub-title "sequence", and this is reflected in British reviews. In the USA it was published as a novel, apparently at the request of the American publisher. Gussow, Mel (April 24, 1994
"V. S. Naipaul in Search of Himself: A Conversation"
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Relationship to ''The Loss of El Dorado''

''A Way in the World'' is more fictional than Naipaul's earlier historical work ''

The Loss of El Dorado ''The Loss of El Dorado'', by the Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul, is a history book about Venezuela and Trinidad. It was published in 1969. The title refers to the El Dorado legend. Naipaul looks at the Spanish/British colonial rivalry in the ...

'' (1969), which deals with some of the same material, for example the lives of Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

and

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...

. Naipaul also includes autobiographical material, partly fictionalised, which was not in the earlier book.

Recognition

The book was short-listed for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

References

1994 British novels Novels by V. S. Naipaul Alfred A. Knopf books {{postcolonialism-stub