A House for Mr. Biswas

Name: A House for Mr. Biswas
ISBN: 9780394720500

by V. S. Naipaul · first published 1961

9mentions

4recommended by

6HN commenters

2017–2025first – last mentioned

67% recommend33% neutral

Fiction & Literature

Naipaul’s breakthrough novel is a marvellous comic tale of a Trinidadian of Indian descent striving to improve his lot. Continually making big plans for himself he constantly finds himself thwarted by his wife’s family and by his own ineptitude and over-reaching ambition.

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View on Open Library ISBN 9780394720500

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What Hacker News says

throwaway8879 · Oct 28, 2018 · Recommends

'A House for Mr. Biswas' by V.S Naipaul - Beautiful book in every way. I can't remember the last time I read a book this good. I'd read most of his shorter books before but never finished this one for one reason or another.…
on “What are the best books you have read in 2018 and would recommend?” ↗
throwaway8879 · Aug 9, 2019 · Recommends

Naipaul is my favorite writer. A House for Mr. Biswas is a book I keep coming back to every year or so. It's deep, humorous and very melancholic. Miguel Street is the funniest book I've read. Naipaul is great!
on “Among the Barbarians: V. S. Naipaul and His Critics” ↗
SubGenius · Dec 8, 2020 · Recommends

…recently, I finished 'Doctor Zhivago', and 'Fathers and Sons', and 'The Master and Margarita'. I thought they were all brilliant. Since the year is coming to and end, I hope to reread VS Naipaul's 'A House for Mr Biswas'. It's my favorite novel and I keep coming back to it again and again.
on “Ask HN: Books You Read in 2020?” ↗
OJFord · May 23, 2022 · Recommends

This is quite a tangent (it's a novel, not some non-fiction deep-dive) but A House for Mr Biswas (VS Naipaul) is a great book that I'd recommend, your comment just reminded me of it.
on “Grandpa’s Basement House” ↗
SubGenius · Jun 13, 2022 · Recommends

- A House for Mr Biswas by VS Naipaul: explores themes of belonging, ownership, home, independence, escape, freedom. - Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: explores love in it's many forms. - Lonesome Dove…
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you have read with the greatest impact on you?” ↗
OJFord · Aug 4, 2025 · Recommends

Tangential novel recommendation: A House for Mr Biswas (V.S. Naipaul)
on “Indian Sign Painting: A typeface designer's take on the craft” ↗
egonschiele · Nov 5, 2017 · Recommends

…liked best http://adit.io/posts/2016-12-10-The-Best-Books-I-Read-In-201... I'm interested to know the motivation behind this question. Two of my favorite books of all time: "Notes From Underground", "A House For Mr. Biswas". They are very specific to me, an immigrant coming to the US at a young age. I doubt they have universal appeal. On the other hand, "Evicted" is a book I think everyone should read. It gives great examples…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗
majos · Apr 10, 2018 · Mentions

…opinion on what the book in question is "about", or an interesting lesson I drew from it, or a coherent reason why I might recommend it to somebody else. Here, for example, is what I wrote down for A House For Mr Biswas: > Finished yesterday, and found this primarily a story about a man who never really knows himself, and as a result can never quite situate other people in relation to himself. Fits and starts of self-improvement,…
on “A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind (2010) [pdf]” ↗
lil_chicken · Aug 12, 2018 · Mentions

Fun fact: A song from a musical adaptation of Naipaul's novel "A House for Mr. Biswas" was re-adapted and used as the theme for James Bond movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6EuzGhIyRQ
on “V.S. Naipaul has died” ↗