 a house for mr biswas is a 1961 novel by v. s. naipaul, significant as naipaul's first work to achieve acclaim worldwide. it is the story of mohun biswas, an indo-trinidadian who continually strives for success and mostly fails, who marries into the tulsi family only to find himself dominated by it, and who finally sets the goal of owning his own house. drawing some elements from the life of naipaul's father,kumar, bombay london new york, p.111.hayward, the enigma of v.s.naipaul, p. 6. the work is primarily a sharply drawn look at life that uses postcolonial perspectives to view a vanished colonial world. in 1998, the modern library ranked a house for mr biswas number 72 on its list of the 100 best english-language novels of the 20th century. time magazine included the novel in its "time 100 best english-language novels from 1923 to 2005". ==plot== mohun biswas is born in rural trinidad to parents of indian origin. his birth is considered inauspicious as he is born "in the wrong way" and with an extra finger. a pandit prophesies that the newly born mr. biswas "will be a lecher and a spendthrift. possibly a liar as well", and that he will "eat up his mother and father". the pandit further advises that the boy be kept "away from trees and water. particularly water". a few years later, mohun leads a neighbour's calf, which he is tending, to a stream. the boy, who has never seen water "in its natural form", becomes distracted watching the fish and allows the calf to wander off. mohun then hides in fear of punishment. his father, believing his son to be in the water, drowns in an attempt to save him, thus in part fulfilling the pandit's prophecy. this leads to the dissolution of mr. biswas's family. his sister is sent to live with a wealthy aunt and uncle, tara and ajodha, while mr. biswas, his mother, and two older brothers go to live with other relatives. mr biswas is withdrawn prematurely from school and apprenticed to a pandit, but is cast out on bad terms. ajodha then puts him in the care of his alcoholic and abusive brother bhandat which 
1961_novels Novels_by_V._S._Naipaul Novels_set_in_Trinidad_and_Tobago Postcolonial_literature