The Mystic Masseur

This was the first Naipaul novel I read and I read it straight through in 2 days because it was so much fun. He really gives insight on how people live, think and interact, with great historical context, but without being heavy handed. Nothing compares to his masterpiece, A House for Mr. Biswas, but if you don't have two weeks to read that one, read this one.

The Mystic Masseur is a novel about a man who uses his educated mind in a most unusual and inspiring way. Ganesh Ramsumier, the main character, becomes a revered problem solver in his community. But because Ganesh's community is governed by the chaotic forces of a neglectful colonial government and chronic poverty, they see Ganesh as a mystic and a bit of a savior. In reality he is just an ordinary man though. His secret is simply that he is honest, he studies, he tries hard, he uses common sense and logic, and he is devoted to improving things. These qualities, along with a good education, are everyday things in modern societies, but in the Trinidad that V.S. Naipaul so beautifully evokes, they are very rare and they hold incredible transformative powers. I think the book does a nice job of showing that one individual can indeed change the world. The idea of changing the world is staggering. The dimensions of the problem and the complexity involved make it appear nearly impossible. But if you ever doubt that the only way a society changes is as the adage goes, "one person at a time, one community at a time," then read this book and be reminded. Granted, even the best intentioned and best suited person for the task can sometimes need a little luck, as does Ganesh in this story. But he gets the luck, he gets the education, and he does something with it. Genius! But I ask: How many people in today's world are getting their chance? The answer clearly is: Not enough. We've got hundreds of millions MORE people living in poverty and amid corrupt governments than there were when V.S. Naipaul began his writing career with this, his first novel. In some ways the author himself must be very much like his main character Ganesh. After all, the writing of V.S. Naipaul has opened millions of western eyes to the developing world. And the author works in something of a mystic method himself, conjuring characters and scenery, smells, sounds, and tastes out of thin air, and rendering them on the page in an imagined world that readers can fall into and absorb. As the world woke up to the injustice of colonization, Naipaul delivered for us his creation Ganesh, The Mystic Masseur-a man who can make right and make sense in a badly damaged world, and who combines modern day logic and ancient tradition in service of something larger than himself.

V. S. Naipaul is the most important and well-known writer from Trinidad -- a small country in Central America. His powerful fiction has surpassed the frontiers of his country, he is widely read and studied as has already been deservedly honored with a Nobel award. For one thing, his novel "The Mystic Masseur" sometimes may read as many things we have already read -- but don't be fooled, this is as original and touching as anything sparkling new that any experienced reader may find around. By the way, experienced readers and book lovers will certainly find another pleasure from this novel. At some point, "The Mystic Masseur" is about the love for books and all the pleasures it can bring to readers. The main character, Ganesh Ramsumair, the masseur from the title, loves to buy and read books. Shelves at his home are filled with many and many volumes from the most different book collections. Like a dream heaven for readers. But he also wants to write and produces his autobiography which also changes his life and his family's and friends' -- sort of. But it is not only about books that Naipaul wants to talk about in his novel. The printed word turns out to be the metaphor for life itself -- both Ganesh's and Naipaul's. As the narrative moves forward, the reader can realize that the eccentric characters of the book -- very Dickensian people -- are a slice of life. The fact that the narrative of "The Mystic Masseur" is set in Trinidad doesn't change its universal appeal. Naipaul's words are sometimes dream-like, sometimes evocative, but when it is required they are sharp and cut as a brand new knife -- and they hurt. But he never loses the witty. He creates the perfect environment to place his characters, filling the pages with smells, sounds and atmosphere. As Ganesh writes in his book, `everything happens for the best'. Naipaul seems to agree with him -- so should we.

The Mystic Masseur was Naipaul's first novel, and it is probably the best known of his works (a movie has been turned out by Messrs. Merchant & Ivory). The main character is one Ganesh Ramsumair, the son of an Indian immigrant to Trinidad, who seems to be blessed by fortune. Each time he is in danger of taking a wrong turn, his fate steps in and gently nudges him in the right direction. Ganesh first attends school in Port of Spain, where he feels inadequate and has only one friend, clever anglophile Indarsingh, who leaves for Oxford upon graduation. Ganesh then attends a teacher's college, and takes a position as an elementary school teacher. He is not a success and resigns his position for a life of idleness, which is ended when his father dies, bequeathing to him some land and some royalties from an oil company. When attending his father's funeral he meets his formidable relation, The Great Belcher, who is one of these wise elderly Indian women who are accostumed to running funerals, marriages, businesses and lives for their younger folk. He also meets Ramlogan, extremely unpleasant owner of a rhum shop who is quarrelsome but cowardly, and not above any underhandedness (he will turn up again and play a crucial part in Naipaul's "The Suffrage of Elvira"), whose daughter Leela he marries. Much more devious than would appear initially, Ganesh takes advantage of Ramlogan's pride and extracts from him a house in a remote village and a significant dowry. This is fortunate, because at this time the oil royalty checks stop coming in. Ganesh and Leela move into the Ramlogan's house, and quickly become acquainted with the local rhum-shop owner, Suruj Poopa, who becomes Ganesh's true friend and sounding board. Ganesh spends several years doing nothing much except reading and trying to launch a career as a masseur, but he is apparently not very good at it. He even writes a short book on the Hindu religion, but it doesn't sell. Leela, desperate at his lack of direction tries to convince him to take a job working for the Americans in their military base (WWII is now in force), but fate takes a hand when the Great Belcher and Suruj Poopa advice Ganesh to become a mystic. As a mystic he is extremely successful, performing miraculous cures and eventually becoming a public figure. His prosperity communicates to the entire village where he lives, and to his friends the Surujs, and even his father in law, with whom he quarrels again and again. Eventually, after defeating his rival Narayan (peculiar, this choice of a name) he becomes a leader of the Hindu vote in Trinidad, and a Member of the Legislative Chamber. Initially a leftist (he and Indarsingh try to articulate the theory of Socialinduism, a melange of Hindu nationalism and scientific socialism) and a firebrand (frequently arrested for criticizing government corruption), he then becomes a pillar of the establishment, and is finally rechristened Sir Gordon Ramsay, OBE. His Trinidadian dialect becomes the c