The Middle Passage: The Caribbean Revisited

“The Middle Passage: The Caribbean Revisited” by V.S. Naipaul is a fascinating and thought-provoking travel narrative that captures the complexity and beauty of the Caribbean with remarkable honesty. Naipaul’s observations are sharp and deeply reflective, offering a candid look at postcolonial identity, history, and cultural transformation across the region. His prose is elegant and vivid, bringing each island and encounter to life while provoking meaningful reflection on heritage and progress. It’s an enlightening and engaging read that combines intellect, curiosity, and emotional depth — a true classic of modern travel writing.

It's a gripping essay/novel. It's full of humor, wisdom, and a very good narrative pace

What can you say! Naipaul's books paint an interesting picture of countries in the Caribbean as per their heritage of slavery and racial harmony. I enjoyed this book and his viewpoint! Can't help but wonder how it would read this many years later, has progress been made?

I decided to read something by this author who was prolific and passed away very recently. After studying a list of his books, I picked this particular one which is non fiction. I am not sure I picked the best of what he had to offer and I am not particularly interested in the history of that part of the world. Perhaps I owe it to myself to read several other books of his but for the moment, I very little enthusiasm for it.

If you want to read more from travel writings than Lonely Planet travel guides (which are excellent), start with American author Paul Theroux and then try his travel mentor, V.S. Naipaul. This book has Naipaul revisiting the home island of Trinidad. As an ethnic Indian, Naipaul can travel the Caribbean and Venezuela and get an honest perspective that perhaps a caucasian travel writer might not. That's a trite and somewhat insulting way to characterize his travel books, but I've bought five on that premise and been happy with every one. If you're not as well read on the classics as Naipaul is, open one of his books and try to keep up with his literary name dropping. Maybe I haven't read the European classics that he has, but it's enough to see a citation in one of his accounts of wanderings. This is one of his shorter books, pick it up for a travel-sized read on your own voyages.

Brilliant book. Learnt a great deal just reading his story. A simple style full of information of British Guiana and its politics. I felt as though I was there with him

It’s a marker on the map of time. It deepened my understanding of West Indian culture. I was pleasantly surprised by the many stories of the Jagan’s in Guyana.

A wonderful writer with a unique view of everything revisits his homeland. Very unusual. Read slowly, appreciate.