This wasn't the eye-popping travelogue I was expecting. Maybe it's my miss. I do recognize that the author traveled these islands a half-century ago, and in that respect, there's some history to be gleaned from some of VSN's keen eye for detail. I have become fascinated by these obscure European outposts somehow.
John Gimlette's "The Wild Coast" goes a layer deeper than Naipaul, and brings the material up to date, but to gain a comprehensive overview of British Guiana, Guyana and Suriname, and in the process, delivers a sobering assessment of the British, Dutch and French colonial experience. not a flattering look, but a transformative and comprehensive primer to the pecularities of these below-the-radar entities. ( )

Very well written account of five colonial societies of the West Indies formerly ruled by England, France and Netherlands. Set in the early 60s, these milieu probably gave birth to the term melting pot with every race imaginable trying to co-exist while maintaining a semblance of peace and adhering to a strict pecking order imposed by the Colonists.

Very well written account of five colonial societies of the West Indies formerly ruled by England, France and Netherlands. Set in the early 60s, these milieu probably gave birth to the term melting pot with every race imaginable trying to co-exist while maintaining a semblance of peace and adhering to a strict pecking order imposed by the Colonists.

1.CHARACTERISATION 143-161 description of Winter, the 'American' brilliant description of a fellow traveller who remains mysterious - he describes his behaviour and actions and speech very precisely without conjecture but with a piercing sense of Winter's self-containment and aloofness and absurd unwillingness to conform like everyone else. 164 - "His mosquito net had been taken down and was doubtless in one of his polythene sacks.' The disdain and ridicule comes across quite strongly but by the end of the section they've become friends and a more sympthetic view emerges.

This detached observation is there throughout. He is faithful to his own emotional response to people and situations but this is often expressed indirectly. It makes it more powerful when he does give a direct opinion. Staying detached allows him to make judgements without being too fixed to any set of values or preconceptions.

180 - describes how peoples moods change. During the day - singy/chatting > contemplative. Good way of documenting change and fluctuations in people.

183 - describes Albertos as an idiot very deftly through dialogue and action - "carefully he approached a woman at a sewing machine. She took up her sewing and disappeared."

105 - "Gorinsky knew the road, and the whorls of dust from his Land-Rover seemed to express his flamboyant skill." Nice way of portraying talent and virtue by means of a consequential reaction that sheds light of the action, rather than just saying "he drove skillfully."

159 - "Lucio passed his tongue over his top lip." - shows alcoholic thirst craving for whisky.

225 - Mountains "blurred in the evening light, the folds as soft as those on an animals skin."