{"product_id":"9781035051809","title":"An Area of Darkness","description":"\u003cp\u003e`His narrative skill is spectacular. One returns with pleasure to the slow hand-in-hand revelations of both India and himself' - The TimesAn Area of Darkness is V. S. Naipaul's semi-autobiographical account of his first visit to India, the land of his forebears. At once painful and hilarious, but always thoughtful and considered.   He was twenty-nine years old; he stayed for a year. From the moment of his inauspicious arrival in Prohibition-dry Bombay, bearing whisky and cheap brandy, he experienced a cultural estrangement from the subcontinent. It became for him a land of myths, an area of darkness closing up behind him as he travelled . . .   The experience was not a pleasant one, but the pain the author suffered was creative rather than numbing, and engendered a masterful work of literature that is revelatory both of India and of himself: a displaced person who paradoxically possesses a stronger sense of place than almost anyone.   Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rye Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54819446620536,"sku":"9781035051809","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0064\/1368\/0730\/files\/9781035051809.jpg?v=1732204941","url":"https:\/\/ryebooks.co.uk\/products\/9781035051809","provider":"Rye Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}