North of South: An African Journey (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

North of South reveals Africa in all of its glory: degenerate, corrupt and lazy. What really stands out is how Africans have taken Western ideas and applied them to their own situations, often with laughable results. Take the case of Tanzanian Socialism. Naipaul can barely contain a chuckle at the absurdity of this situation. Almost everyone he meets praises the administration, but almost no one has any true sense of what it's all about (to be fair, the same could be said for most nations). The corruption is truly astonishing. Bribery abounds everywhere, especially at border crossings, where tourists are routinely harassed and threatened with imprisonment if their papers aren't in order. A story in which Naipaul is conned when he gets a shoeshine is a good example. Not only does the guy ruin his shoes, he tries to overcharge him in the process. Naipaul constantly has to shell out the bucks to get even the most basic services, if he gets them at all. Hotels are run down traps, prostitution is epidemic, and beggars and the unemployed are everywhere. The few situations where something actually works are attributed to the presence of white expatriates, and even here there is the danger that the black government will step in at any minute and expel the whites.

Probably the most bothersome aspect of this book, and one that costs Naipaul a star in my review, is the bias Naipaul shows in regards to the "Asian" population in Africa. The "Asians" are actually of Indian descent, as is Naipaul. Naipaul reveals that Africans are prejudiced against these Indians and he seems to take it personally (what a surprise! Blacks can actually be racists!). Much time is spent on this problem and it opens Naipaul up to charges of retaliatory prejudice. Naipaul is much more effective when he shows how both blacks and whites have their racist attitudes, and how both races have been brought down together through the process of colonialism.

This is an obscure book that probably will never get much attention in the politically correct atmosphere of America. If you want to make a liberal's head explode, buy this book and tuck it into their stocking next Christmas. If you need a break from the multicultural crowd, this is the book for you.


Wonderful   June 25, 1999
 4 out of 12 found this review helpful

The book's humor will make you laugh a little uneasily, like the best of satire. A wonderfully detailed vision of Africa.


Fantastic book about the real nature of Africa   June 4, 1999
 9 out of 22 found this review helpful

A great book for curing P.C. types. The sad thing is that Africa is worse now than in the 1970's. Anyone who thinks that all cultures are equal should study and ponder this book.


An honest, detailed look at Africa in the late 1970's   October 25, 1998
 23 out of 25 found this review helpful

Naipaul's trip to Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia in the late 1970's is recounted with a novelist's eye for amusing detail and a serious journalist's ability to discuss government policies and their social ramifications. It is rather difficult to find a book on Africa that is so informative, yet has no axe to grind. (Actually, the treatment of ethnic Indians in Africa is a small hatchet that Mr. Naipaul grinds occasionally.) It is a great book for those of us who like to know more about the world beyond the media glamor spots, without being told what to think about it.


Scathing? Yup. True? Ditto.   September 2, 1998
 9 out of 15 found this review helpful

I doubt if Mr Naipaul made many friends among black Africans with this book. It's really damning. But true. And tells you more about east africa than any textbook or research paper will. I'm an Asian living in Zimbabwe and whenever my black friends ask me why Asian girls don't go out with them I give them my xerox copy of chapter 3.