New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. First edition. Hardcover. pp. 354. 8vo. Black quarter cloth over green boards with gilt lettering to spine and front board. Light general shelfwear, remainder mark to top edge. Highlighting and ink notation to first seventy pages; good in good- worn dustjacket, showing short closed tears and small chips to edges, with tape repair to head of spine.

Synopsis

An autobiography for the most part, the book is composed of five sections reflecting the growing familiarity and changing perceptions of Naipaul upon his arrival in various countries. The majority of the action takes place in Wiltshire, England, where Naipaul has rented a cottage in the countryside. He sees the area around his cottage as a frozen piece of history, unchanged for hundreds of years. However, during his extended stay at this cottage where he is working on another novel, he notices the area for what it is: a forever changing place with ordinary people simply existing away from the rest of the world. This causes the author to reflect upon the nature of perceiving our surroundings and how much these perceptions are affected by our preconceptions. He reflects on his own emigration from Trinidad to New York City, and his following removal to England and Oxford. Naipaul’s novel illustrates the growing understanding of his place in this new environment and the complicated relations of the people and land around them.

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Details

Bookseller: BISON BOOKS - ABAC/ILAB (CA)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 071059
Title: The Enigma of Arrival
Author: Naipaul, V.S
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: First edition
ISBN 10: 0394509714
ISBN 13: 9780394509716
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 1987
Keywords: English Autobiography; Movement of Place

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BISON BOOKS - ABAC/ILAB

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BISON BOOKS - ABAC/ILAB

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Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Remainder Mark: Usually an ink marking of some sort which indicates that the book was designated a remainder. In most cases, it can be found on...
Gilt: The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Shelfwear: Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Edges: The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...