在暑期开展的《文学名著细读训练营》中，外国语学院英语系2025级全体新生一起阅读了诺贝尔文学奖获得者特立尼达与多巴哥作家V. S. 奈保尔的《米格尔街》。让我们借助他们充满个性的自我介绍与对小说的独特理解，走近他们每个人的世界。

Name：郑智康

Info：我来自湖南常德，热衷于独立游戏以及探索不同的音乐，假装正经实则神经质，略带人机质感，不喜欢贴标签，NICE TO MEET YOU ALL!

Book Review:

When I learned that Miguel Street, a novel written by Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul, was selected for the reading project, I realized that it would be my first time to read an original English classic. I felt eager yet a little bit unconfident, worrying about unfamiliar words or phrases. As I began reading, however, I found the real challenge lay in the content, rather than the language. Some of the plots appeared quite puzzling to me initially. After exploring the cultural background behind the book, I gained a better understanding of the people as well as their behaviors, and the reading experience was rewarding far beyond expectations.

The book is set during World War Ⅱ in a slum called Miguel Street in Port of Spain, Trinidad, then a British colony. The impact of colonialism is revealed subtly through the poverty, violence, and social inequality that prevail on the streets. Miguel Street depicts vividly how people there struggle to live and search for identity in harsh conditions. The story of Bogart, who borrows his name and cold persona from Hollywood star Humphrey Bogart, is indicative of the lure of imported cultural images to people on Miguel Street. At the same time, Naipaul also shows the resilience and creativity of the people of Miguel Street, who find ways to resist the dominant colonial culture, though he remains skeptical of whether their rebellions amount to genuine resistance.

The pervasive use of symbolism is a noticeable feature of Miguel Street, adding to its complexity and depth. The names of characters like Bogart, Man-man and Big Foot are clearly symbolic. Take B. Wordsworth, who takes his name from the Romantic poet William Wordsworth and claims to be the greatest poet, for example. His living in poverty and dying alone suggests that a poetic life has no place in a society that values only utility. The discovery and interpretation of symbolism is of great fun while reading.

Another aspect of symbolism reveals itself in what the characters say, in which “the thing without a name” impresses me most. Spoken endlessly by Popo, a carpenter who avoids making useful things, the phrase seems to be an excuse for his laziness. On deeper thought, however, I was surprised to find it fit the state of living of people in Miguel Street. They are situated at the cultural crossroads of indigenous traditions and dominant colonial culture. Their experiences and struggles have no language to describe them, no category to contain them. They have to find a way out without any precedent to follow. Furthermore, the refusal to be named means a protest against cultural hegemony. In a colonial society, the colonial culture has the right to define which culture is advanced and which is backward. To make “the thing without a name” means to protect the unique features and values of indigenous traditions. Staying in the state of namelessness can be temporarily safe but also dangerous, until the people find a right name for themselves.

In conclusion, Miguel Street is an enjoyable book to me. With his captivating storytelling ability, Naipaul successfully brings the slum of Trinidad to life. The book wears the mask of comedy, but its true face is tragedy. Naipaul’s narration is “as clean and cold as a knife”, he simply represents the struggles and failures of the characters in an unemotional way. I appreciate his detachment, which forces me to feel the full weight of tragedy. Despite its tragic core, the kindness and hope of characters are seen throughout the book. In that sense Miguel Street is not a sad story.

Name：蔡锦慧

Info：我来自浙江温州，喜欢看音乐剧、烘焙，喜欢在桃源种地，英文名是Florence，大家可以叫我蔡蔡或者花花。

Book review:

It was the first time that I finished an English book myself. When I knew this task, I just felt terrible because many of the novels I have read before are long and difficult. But after I started to read, I changed my opinion.

First, I would like to discuss the language and the structure of the novel. I was surprised to find that Miguel Street was much more readable than many other English novels. I think it might be because Naipaul was not a native English speaker. He wrote in short, simple sentences that are easier for readers to understand. And the book consists of a series of separated stories, which was of great help to me. However, he occasionally used unusual expressions or non-standard grammar especially when some characters speak in Trinidadian dialect. I couldn’t find those phrases in my dictionary, and even online tools didn’t help, which frustrated me. But I also realized that those “strange” words may be exactly what  people talk on Miguel Street. So I still like them despite the confusion.

Second, about my feeling of the book. In fact, I laughed and felt sad at the same time. Though every character has big dreams, almost no one succeed. Even so, they never give up. They keep joking, drinking, fighting, and loving. Their lives are messy, but they are never boring. When I read this book, I felt like I was living on Miguel Street with them. I think this book just shows me the real lives of ordinary human beings.

Then about my opinion of Trinidadian life in this book. Life there is harsh. The colonial system gives people just enough education to dream, yet not enough chances to fulfil them. Many men are unable to secure good jobs, so they create some hobbies or use some strategies to feel important. Women often suffer from violent men. But the strange thing is that the community is close. Neighbors know each other’s secrets and mock each other, but they also help each other.

The story which impresses me the most is “George and His Pink House”, which also annoys me. George is a violent man and beats his wife and children a lot. After his wife dies, he turns his house into a brothel. Everyone on the street hates him. I know that George has no power in society. He cannot get a good job or respect from others. The only place he can control is his home. His violence comes from his own powerlessness. And his pink house might be an attempt to get noticed. Yet all of these things can’t justify him beating his family. After all his family does not do anything wrong. George is a complex person. On the one hand, he is evil. On the other side, he is also a victim. Naipaul shows me that colonial life can turn a man into a monster. He offered me an insight into George’s action instead of excusing him.

All in all, Miguel Street teaches me that even in a poor and unfair place, people still try to live with dignity. I am glad to read this book. And I am glad to know all the persons in Miguel Street.

Name: 吴禹桐

Info：Hi, I’m Iris from Shanghai. I’m really into art and photography, and I love finding beauty in the little details of everyday life. I guess I’m the kind of person who always has a camera ready, just in case I come across something worth capturing. Nice to meet you all!

Book review:

V. S. Naipaul’s Miguel Street is a collection of interconnected stories set in a poor neighborhood in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Told through the eyes of a boy who gradually grows into adulthood, the novel presents a street filled with memorable figures whose lives are comic, painful, and often touching. Naipaul does not describe Miguel Street simply as a “slum”. Instead, he turns it into a social world in which every person has a reputation, a dream, and a private weakness.

A key feature of the novel is its characterisation. Bogart imitates the rough style of American films; Popo calls himself a carpenter and endlessly makes “the thing without a name”, and Elias dreams of becoming a doctor but repeatedly fails his exams. They are funny, but their jokes are often sad. They wish to be more successful and well-off versions of themselves, but poverty, lack of education, social expectations and their own choices repeatedly hold them back. Naipaul thus makes failure feel both personal and social. The characters are responsible for many of the problems, but they also live in a world with few choices and no way out.

The novel is especially interesting in its treatment of masculinity. Men on Miguel Street constantly perform toughness in front of one another. Bogart becomes respected only after creating a hard, cinematic personality, while Big Foot is feared as a bully until his public defeat exposes his vulnerability. Popo, similarly, is finally accepted by the men after violence and imprisonment make him appear more “manly”. Through such episodes, Naipaul shows how masculinity can become a performance that hides fear, insecurity, loneliness, and the desire to be respected.

Naipaul’s language gives the novel some of its power. The dialogue retains the rhythm and grammar of Trinidadian English, so the people sound different and more lively rather than standardised into literary English. The child narrator is also necessary. Because he often reports the disturbing events simply, readers notice meanings that he does not fully grasp. Later, in his thoughts, there is also a sense of loss; he realizes that the people he once mocked were not so simple as he thought. The combination of innocence and adult hindsight can be both humorous and moving in the book.

The final chapter gives the novel a deeper social meaning. The narrator receives a scholarship and leaves Trinidad, not simply because of academic ambition, but because departure offers possibilities that Miguel Street cannot. His escape is hopeful, yet it is not triumphant. At the airport he is frightened, and when a delayed flight briefly returns him to the street, he discovers that life there continues without him. In the final image, he walks toward the airplane without looking back, watching only his shadow. For me, this ending suggests that personal freedom is shaped by social conditions: some people can leave, while others remain limited by poverty, education, and inherited expectations. Miguel Street therefore asks a difficult question—how much of a person’s future comes from individual choice, and how much is determined by the opportunities society makes available?

Name: 刘颐和

Info: 我来自上海，我的MBTI是INFJ，我喜欢看音乐剧，跳舞，旅游，我的英文名是Alice

Book review:

I feel that Miguel Street was an invisible cage. Poverty and the colonial culture imposed both material and existential anxiety on those who grew up there, from which they weren’t able to escape however hard they tried.

Although the author writes that no one is starving on Miguel Street, the adults there actually had to try every means possible to earn a living and support their families. Eddoes who drove a scavenging-cart was admired by most of the boys only because he could collect what the rich people had thrown away; Popo resorted to theft to decorate his house and win back his wife. The naive narrator was too young to realize such sufferings.

Besides survival problems caused by resource exploitation, the spiritual colonization also haunted them, leaving them confused about existence and prospects. Elias took the examination again and again but failed every time, finally persuading himself that it was his background that held him back from a second grade, and ended up as a street aristocrat rather than a doctor. Morgan made fireworks and people laugh to prove his existence; Black Wordsworth watched the bees and wrote poems in pursuit of the beauty that no longer existed in this disordered society.

On the other hand, Miguel Street was a warm community, or rather a harbour, where everyone lived together like a big family, offering help instead of contempt. For instance, people pitied Laura for raising eight children on her own, yet she often gave the narrator fruit and cake despite her situation.

In fact, on Miguel Street lived a group of rootless people figuring out their destinies alone while at the same time comforting one another. Miguel Street left its mark on everyone living there, and none of them could ever erase it from their minds however far they went or however great they became, otherwise Naipaul wouldn’t have written such a book and started his career with it.

As a female reader, I would regard Trinidadian life as hell. The author didn’t portray women’s lives as fully as men’s, yet domestic violence, bearing countless children, even selling their bodies are mostly what I learned. At first I felt pity for them, however, on reflection I came to realize they deserve our respect more than pity, as they somehow managed to figure their way out under such conditions. For example, Laura, described as gay and vivacious, remained tough while raising eight children alone and ensured her daughters received education; Eddoes’ girlfriend gave birth to a baby to get paid by him.

From my perspective, there’s no right or wrong in how they have chosen to live their lives. I feel unqualified to blame one for being dutiful or to praise another for her resistance: I was born into a peaceful environment without violence, and I can’t guarantee that I could struggle through such difficulties.

We readers are outsiders, and we aren’t qualified to judge Trinidadian life, as we aren’t living it ourselves. I believe the Trinidadians lived their lives the way they did for a reason, and that lay deep in their souls.

Name：瞿欣颜

Info：我来自上海奉贤，平常喜欢听歌；我的MBTI是INFJ，比较喜欢写To do list；公众号创作能力进阶中。

Book Review:

When I first read Miguel Street, I was so confused about the stories the author wanted to tell us. People living on this street seemed to hold a kind of outlook on life that may not be accepted by us today. However, after reading it more carefully, I have come to realize the value hidden within the book. The comments may not be accurate but they reflect my intuitive judgement.

To understand the motive of writing Miguel Street, we tried to know about V. S. Naipaul’s personal life. But from the recollection made by other people, I found Naipaul had a strong sense of superiority, lacking the quality of kindness, which made him violent. From this point of view, it is no wonder that the characters, especially the male, and the plots he had shaped in this book more or less showed their violence. Nevertheless, the custom and history in Trinidad can let the story make sense to some extent. The chaos caused by the war and the invasion resulted in the puzzle and misery. Meanwhile, drinking or acting differently had become their way to keep on going.

The narrator in this book helped to unfold a relatively colourful world. People living on Miguel Street were not flawless. Some of them held their poetic dreams while others might choose deception. Admittedly, I was puzzled by the gang like Hat. Take Bogart as an example. He pretended to be a tailor without doing anything. He was popular at one time despite his laziness and rudeness. He left the street three times but returned, being charged with bigamy and arrested in the end. However, his purpose of returning was ‘to be a man, among we men’. I didn’t know what was their judging standards. Maybe it’s the twisted values that impressed them most. But gradually, I thought this kind of twisted mind would form a special sense of rebellion. In reality, this place was occupied by American military power. They had no idea how to escape the governance. Therefore, the strange values gave them a chance to prove that their culture and their personality was still alive, which is similar to the mysterious, diverse but attractive Trinidadian life.

Fortunately, the warmth and poetry of life existed in the book. B.Wordsworth and the narrator would go for a walk together, just appreciating the sky to relieve the pain. I perceived their respect for the world and their own life. Sometimes the questions may not have the right answers but our experiences will show the truth. After all, the past is deep. Mr.Bhakcu was lucky enough to be a Ramayana pundit while his engineering ability helped him build a bridge between him and the narrator. Conversely, the connections with the people he met strengthened the narrator’s belief to go further.

In sum, the book Miguel Street abounds with narrative plots which are worthy of deeper exploration. Do not let its violent overtones dampen your appreciation because every behavior is driven by underlying motives. Bear in mind that emotional resonance matters more than rational thinking when you’re reading this book.

Name：马一诺

Info：我来自江苏扬州，喜欢旅游、听歌和美食，此外还爱好追星，我的英文名是Eva。

Book Review:

V. S. Naipaul’s Miguel Street is a collection of interconnected stories set in a poor neighborhood in Trinidad during the colonial period. Through the eyes of an unnamed young narrator, Naipaul presents a group of unforgettable characters living on Miguel Street. Although their lives appear humorous and even absurd, the novel reveals deeper issues of poverty, social limitation, and identity crisis in a colonial society.

Unlike traditional novels that focus on heroic figures, Miguel Street chooses ordinary people as its subjects. The residents of Miguel Street are dreamers and outsiders. They try to create meaning in their lives through imagination, unusual behavior, or invented identities. However, behind these lies a sense of failure and loneliness. Naipaul uses these small personal stories to explore the psychological influence of colonialism.

Among the chapters, “B. Wordsworth” impresses me most. The chapter introduces a mysterious man who calls himself a poet. He does not publish poems or achieve public success, yet he believes that he possesses a special artistic vision. His friendship with the young narrator gives him a moment of dignity and recognition. However, his dream of becoming a great poet is eventually revealed as an illusion. Through B. Wordsworth, Naipaul suggests that creativity is difficult to maintain in a society where people lack opportunities and social recognition. The character is both ridiculous and tragic: he creates a beautiful fantasy because reality cannot satisfy his desire for significance.

Another meaningful chapter is “The Mechanical Genius,” which focuses on Popo, a carpenter who constantly makes strange objects but never completes anything useful. Popo’s obsession with creation reflects his desire to prove his own value. His unfinished works symbolize the incomplete lives of many people in Miguel Street. They have ambitions and dreams, but their social environment prevents them from achieving true transformation. Through Popo’s story, Naipaul shows the frustration of individuals who are trapped between imagination and reality.

One of the greatest strengths of Miguel Street is Naipaul’s narrative style. The child narrator observes the adults with curiosity rather than judgment, creating a unique combination of humor and sadness. Readers may laugh at the characters’ strange actions, but they gradually recognize the pain behind their failures.

Overall, Miguel Street is not simply a collection of funny stories about poor people. It is a thoughtful exploration of identity, dreams, and the lasting effects of colonialism. Through ordinary characters on an ordinary street, Naipaul reveals universal questions about how people search for meaning and dignity in an imperfect world.

Name：陈思儒

Info：我来自辽宁沈阳，喜欢旅行，喜欢音乐，可以找我去唱KTV!今年刚好是追kpop的第十年。我的英文名是Ruby，因为儒和Ru的发音很像。

Book Review:

From the background of the author, V. S. Naipaul, I think I get a clearer perspective on this book.

As we know, Naipaul is no doubt a great author who wins the Nobel Prize in Literature. He also focuses on his own ethnic group. However, great as he is, his personal life can be called “a mess”. He commits domestic violence, and he has relationships with many different women. It can be seen that he is complex. What’s more, in his career, he focuses on his ethnic group, but he treats the hardship of his community with a judgemental attitude. We can say he is a conflicted person.

In his book, for instance, the character Pop makes something without a name all day long, diligently chasing his creative goals, but he is always idle in reality. And Laura, she keeps an optimistic attitude towards hard life, irresponsible men, and many children that need to be raised by herself. However, in the end, her cheerful appearance collapses because of her daughter gets pregnant. Many of us may be confused about those sudden changes in their behavior without knowing about Naipaul’s conflicted personality. But after learning about that, I have an epiphany about those changes and differences.

Strengths and flaws are not separate qualities. They have the same origin. One’s strengths may become the source of one’s pain. Like Pop, he is a creative man, so his excessive creativity generates his escape from reality. Like Laura, her over- cheerful appearance leads to her numbness towards life, making her lose the courage to fight against fate.

The relationship between strengths and flaws can be found on every resident in Miguel Street, as well as in the author, Naipaul. As an immigrant, his unsettled life brings him a closed inner world and inner loneliness. Naipaul’s calm and critical vision towards his ethnic community comes from his immigrant identity, which allows him to observe the truth of those underprivileged people’s lives. While his inner loneliness is also reflected on his private life. He can hardly show  consideration for others, so he is cruel to his partner, asking for taking without giving. Every human being carries such mixed traits. Nobody can be purely good or bad. Naipaul’s sharp insight into ordinary people comes from his inner loneliness, which ruins his personal relationships. These dual features make his characters and himself more real to readers.

For me, it’s really hard to say if I like this book. I really don’t like the ending of the book---- the narrator leaves the Miguel Street. Leaving his homeland behind himself is a cruel thing. I hope there is a way better than leaving his homeland without changing it. It makes me feel like the residents are trapped in endless tragic cycles in Miguel Street. However, “I will come back one day and fix all your machines.”, what the narrator says before my leaving is like the foreshadowing of the white future of Miguel Street.

Name：谭向妤

Info：我来自辽宁大连，喜欢打排球、旅游、摄影，性格开朗，乐于沟通交流

Book Review:

When I first read Miguel Street, I thought it was a novel filled with tragic accusations, because I had previously learned about Trinidad’s geographical location and historical background. The local people live here under the shadow of colonialism and they grow accustomed to inaction and poverty.No one thinks about or plans for the future. Their material lives are undoubtedly very poor. But more obviously, they lack national consciousness and cultural confidence.

Chapter One focuses on the cultural shock of Hollywood on Trinidad. Bogart shaped himself into a film actor by following the dominant cultural trends of America. After leaving and returning to Miguel Street three times, he finally acquired a pure American accent, yet he was, in fact, a criminal convicted of bigamy.

Each chapter portrays a vivid character, and all these figures are connected to one another. What makes Miguel Street particularly distinctive is that every character is introduced through absurd life episodes, and they share similar tragic traits. For instance, many male figures idle away their days, losing themselves in fantasies.V.S. Naipaul does not focus on this heavy despair. Instead, he narrates their destined fates with a detached, almost cold tone. In this colonial society divided by class, Elias dreamed of becoming a doctor. He took the Cambridge examinations three times,but only barely obtained the Grade Three certificate. He then spent another three years preparing for sanitary inspector exam and failed repeatedly. In the end, he took up the job of a garbage collector, the most despised occupation on Miguel Street, and resigned himself to his miserable fate.

Most female characters struggle to survive, and many have tragic fates, suffering domestic violence from their husbands. Among them, Laura left the deepest impression on me. She has eight children with seven different fathers. When her eldestdaughter Lorna toldher, “Ma,I goingtomakea baby”, Laura instantly shed her mask of optimism. “I heardtheshriek thatLaura gave.” Later, her daughter drowned,andall Lauracould saywas,“It good. It better that way.”

The chapter about the poet B.Wordsworth moved me to tears more than any other part of the book. The author draws me into the innocent perspective of a child. I find him courageous. He has an ability to still embrace and love life after witnessing the harsh reality. The residents on Miguel Street may appear cheerful, but their cheerfulness is their only defense against hopelessness. They never truly conquer despair,instead, they find a way to endure and live amid despair.

Through the tragic fates of ordinary characters on Miguel Street, V.S. Naipaul exposes how colonial society deprives common people of opportunities for self-development, dooming their aspirations to failure. Meanwhile, he depicts the rootlessness and identity crisis of colonial youth, who can neither settle into their native land nor integrate into Western society.

Name：张泽远

Info：我来自山东 喜欢读书冥想写作

A simple world: The book review of Miguel Street

Try to imagine you are a small kid living on a small street. The street is so small that everyone seems ordinary, but they are also so special that they stand for a special group. Everything that happens on this street could happen around the whole country; everyone’s behavior may be copied thousands of times elsewhere. And you are standing there and just watching, watching the most unfortunate and fascinating region in the world.

This is Miguel Street, a great novel by V.S.Naipaul.

The novel has seventeen chapters, which show different people and their lives on Miguel Street, a simple and typical representation of Trinidad. It is told through the eyes of a little boy who comes into contact with different people. With the unique tone of an innocent teenager, it shows the real life and world of these humble people in a humorous and absurd manner — On Miguel Street, life is hopeless, but everyone lives with great cheerfulness.

If you read this novel for the first time, you may be perplexed by its philosophy. But when you spend more time feeling, thinking and understanding it, you will find that it’s just like a bottle of old and good wine which needs time to release its special aroma. At first it seems like plain water, just like the plain and overlooked lives of people on Miguel Street. But as time goes by, it will leave something deeply and unforgettably in your heart, which is the real thing that V.S.Naipaul wants to show us. Why do the good people have to live in such an unacceptable way? Why are husbands and wives in such strained relationships? Why does someone who loves art and creativity have to withdraw from the world? And so many questions like these. All of them reveal the unique but real problems of Trinidad—some are historical, but more stem from its almost unfortunate fate. As a small island which used to be a colony, it has complicated ties with England, America, and even with itself. In someone’s eyes, other countries like the UK and the USA are the best places in the world, while their hometown is, without doubt, the worst. Someone may spend his whole life just trying to make others think he’s worthy. Someone who has dreams and love may have to bow to reality. These sound cruel, but they are also real. All of these are the lives and difficulties that people in Trinidad have to face every day.

The novel is great, not only because it paints a vivid picture of one of the most underdeveloped places in the world, but also because of its interesting and humorous language. Through the unique perspective of a boy, it shows the world of people in an almost rude way. But it’s just these words that can reflect the true world of people who live in a small country without good education and great development. It’s the language of people. It’s the truth of life.

All in all, if you want to know the real world and lives of simple people who have to struggle with life, Miguel Street is a great novel for you. Small view, big world. Simple people, great life.

Name：周芸慧

Info：我来自山东青岛，平常喜欢读书、散步、追剧，喜欢“一人之下”系列等动漫，性格温柔细心，我的英文名是Sophia。

Book Review:

Miguel Street tells the stories of a diverse array of individuals: some strive tirelessly for their ideals only to end in failure; others embark on a path with no return after being imprisoned for crime; still others spend their entire lives marred by deep-seated obsessions. Personally, I believe this novel is less about depicting individual uniqueness or personal resilience, and more about constructing itself from the accumulated tragedies and hardships of these people. What I witness are largely the tragic destinies of the characters on the street—such as Popo, who was devoted to creating "something without a name" but ultimately failed; the poet B. Wordsworth, who devoted his entire life to composing what he considered the greatest poem ever written, yet never completed it even upon his death; or Elias, who was determined to become a physician but repeatedly fell short of his goal... What I feel is that the suffering of these people constitutes the very essence of this novel,they struggle and climb through their pain, only to fall again and again. Thus, what resonates most deeply within me is regret and sympathy.

However, this book also reveals the kind side of human nature--some of its details deeply moved me. Laura raised eight children alone without a single complaint; yet when she discovered that her eldest daughter was also pregnant, she broke down. I felt how, as a mother, her instinct drove her to love her children.The children were the very force that sustained her in striving to survive. But when her child suffered harm, the defenses that had held her together were shattered; the greatness of a mother touched me profoundly. Big Foot had always been a figure of fear on Miguel Street, but when "I" was threatened, it was Big Foot who scolded and drove away the person bullying me; as a result, my perception of him changed. In truth, Big Foot's reputation of "no strangers allowed" is closely tied to his upbringing in the family of origin—long-term domestic violence at the hands of his father had distorted his character, yet his true nature remains kind and gentle; his fierce exterior is merely a protective camouflage.

The life of the Terinia people can be described as one marked by unity and genuine affection amidst chaos and sorrow. Living during the colonial era, as a colony, their culture was subjected to the influence of foreign cultures; social order was disrupted, and legal awareness was weak—this led to events such as Bogart being imprisoned for bigamy or Popo being arrested for theft. The locals also attributed Elias's repeated failures in examinations to the British, rather than considering their own shortcomings.Then, Elias had traveled to another country to take those exams and still did not succeed. However, when Popo faced marital difficulties, the townspeople gathered at his workshop.They chatted about all sorts of things, except for women--simply to try to cheer him up. This unique historical context gave rise to a distinctive social landscape and the living conditions of the local populace. Poverty and hardship weighed heavily upon them, yet the inherent goodness within human nature remained undiminished.

Info：我来自新疆乌鲁木齐，喜欢打羽毛球、阅读，平时喜欢出去旅游，喜欢跟朋友出去逛逛散散步。我叫麦迪娜，可以叫我娜娜，英文名是Mitina

Book Review：

 When I first started reading V. S. Naipaul’s Miguel Street, I did not expect it to be a book that I would think about for so long. The story is not complicated. It is about a group of ordinary people living on Miguel Street in Port of Spain, Trinidad. There are no superheroes or extraordinary adventures. Instead, Naipaul focuses on small things: people’s jobs, families, dreams, arguments, and failures. Somehow, these ordinary stories made the street feel very real to me.

 What I liked most about the book was its characters. Almost everyone on Miguel Street seems to have a dream. Some want to be artists, some want to become successful, and some simply want to leave the street and start a new life. But many of them do not achieve what they hope for. At first, I sometimes found their behavior funny or even ridiculous. However, the more I read, the more I felt that there was something sad behind the humor. Their dreams show that they want their lives to be different, but their surroundings often make it difficult for them to change.

 I was especially interested in the narrator. Because he tells many of the stories from a child’s point of view, he does not always understand the adults around him. Sometimes he describes something serious in a very simple way, which made me smile. But as a reader, I could see the sadness behind his words. This made me realize that we often understand people differently when we are children and when we grow up. Things that seem funny when we are young may look completely different later.

 The book also gave me a new impression of Trinidadian life. Before reading it, I knew very little about Trinidad. Miguel Street showed me a community that is lively, colorful, and full of different kinds of people. Neighbors know each other, talk about each other, and sometimes interfere in each other’s lives. There is a sense of closeness that I found warm and interesting. At the same time, life on the street is not easy. Poverty, unemployment, unhappy families, and limited opportunities are part of everyday life.

 What I found most interesting is that Naipaul does not describe Trinidadian life as completely happy or completely miserable. There is humor even in difficult situations, and there is hope even when people fail. The characters are imperfect, but that is exactly what makes them believable.

 After finishing Miguel Street, I felt that Miguel Street itself was almost a character in the book. It watches people grow up, dream, struggle, and sometimes leave. Although the story takes place far away from where I live, the feelings in it are not unfamiliar. People everywhere have dreams, disappointments, and the desire for a better life. Perhaps that is why this small street in Trinidad stayed in my mind after I finished the book.

       

Name：高源

Info：我来自吉林，喜欢听音乐，也喜欢看小说、羽毛球，空闲时间经常会去看一些线下演唱会，非常喜欢的歌手是汪苏泷、崔然竣。性格比较慢热，但是和我熟悉之后会发现我非常活泼健谈，希望大家能多多来和我交流学习！

Book Review：

 After reading Miguel Street by V.S. Naipaul, I am most impressed by a simple daily detail about the character Bogart, rather than the exciting plots. Every morning, neighbors would greet Bogart with the same sentence, “What happening there, Bogart?” Bogart always answered casually and never talked much with them. This ordinary daily greeting may look simple, but it shows the hidden loneliness of people living on this street.

 At first, I thought this warm daily greeting meant the neighbors were close to each other. Bogart stayed in this small community and lived among crowds of people. He never looked lonely because people remembered him and greeted him every day. However, as I read further, I realized this friendliness was only superficial. The neighbors’ greetings had become a daily habit. They were used to Bogart’s presence, but they never really tried to know him.

 They knew nothing about his strange disappearances and sudden returns. They did not wonder why he kept leaving the street, nor did they notice his pain and confusion. No one truly cared about his real life.

 What touches me most is the big contrast between Bogart’s changes and the unchanged attitude of the neighbors. To run away from his disappointing life, Bogart slowly changed his personality. He learned American accents and tried to act like tough movie characters. He created a new outer image to cover up his weakness and confusion. He kept escaping and trying to start a new life, hoping to get rid of his ordinary and helpless life.

 Even though Bogart changed a lot little by little, none of his neighbors found out. Their daily greeting never changed, and they never saw his inner struggle.

 This small detail helps me understand the main idea of this novel. Most people on Miguel Street look ordinary and outgoing in daily life, but they are actually lonely inside. They pretend to live happily to hide their helplessness and disappointment. Naipaul does not use sad or strong words to describe their pain. Instead, he writes simple daily moments, which make the characters’ loneliness more real and touching.

 This book changes my understanding of loneliness. Being alone is not the only source of solitude. Sometimes, a person can live in a crowd but still feel completely misunderstood. Through this simple daily greeting, I finally feel the quiet sadness and helplessness hidden in ordinary people’s lives.

Name：李佳霖

Info：404 Not Found

Book Review:

  If I was born and grew up in Miguel Street，I would probably stuck in a dilemma because rationally my mind urge me to flee while emotionally the inevitable yet strong tie between me and my hometown makes me too much of a coward to leave and embrace a brighter future.

 From my own perspective，a single word is hard to summarize Miguel Street.The story is complicated as well as the street.

 By and large，Miguel Street has a relatively chaotic and hopeless atmosphere，which perhaps accounts for 60 percent of the whole street.We can't tell whether the chaos or the poverty came the first but it's clear that they result in each other.It's hard to believe that men in Miguel Street tend regard bribery，domestic violence and having affairs as the norm.Frequently visiting brothels and commiting crimes is seen as a great honor and the symbol of a 'real man' in Miguel Street.People，regardless of their personal experience and characters，tend to lose themselves in cigarettes and liquor.Leaving these drunkards and prisoners（to be）rule the street would bring bad results.First and foremost，this atmosphere force kind people to be violent ones.Strong and frightening as Big Foot is，he keeps a warm heart.He wants to protect himself and be respected by others，so even though he is kind inside（hugging a stray dog and so on），he remains a cold look.Having a terrible father and facing failures in exams（perhaps due to not bribing someone）also drives Elias crazy.He once was a model child who represented industrious and tolerant.Secondly，the atmosphere reinforces the dark side of common people.As we all know，domestic violence is the very thing that should be avoided.However，men in Miguel street don't respect women.If a resider want to be accepted as a hero，he will undoubtedly get accustomed to domestic violence，gamble，committing crimes as well.Bogart lives with these guys，when he got his baby and became triumph，he began to scold off the children in Miguel Street like any other man in Miguel Street.That's how the atmosphere effects the common people.It's like a bad loop and that's what push people out.

 On the other side，we have to admit that the bright side of humanity shines on Miguel Street.That accouts for another 40 percent of the atmosphere.Care and love can heal many wounds.The most impressive chapter for me is B.Wordsworth.He is a romantic and generous guy.Though （perhaps）he has gone through a very tough time since the tragic story happened，he still loves the world and tries to write poems.He makes friends with the author and discovers his talent to be a poet.The pure love between lovers，towards the world and others matters.In my opinion，another impressive person is the author's mother.She scold off the author and even beats him.However，when she realized her son would become a bad guy，she tried her best to offer her son a brighter future（although it's quite unfair）.She hates to leave her children but she still does it for love.Love is what let people stay.

People's life in Miguel Street has several similarities with my imagination of life in Caribbean.I would like to speak twice that I won't choose to live in such a chaotic and unsettled society.However，I'll always appreciate evey corner where pure love glitters.

Name：万奕博

Info：嗨！我是Daniel，我来自北京，喜欢足球，喜欢打单机游戏。在课余时间，我喜欢看电影、话剧等诸多文艺作品。同时，我还是一个欧美音乐的爱好者，这也是我选择了英语系的原因之一。很高兴认识大家，希望能与大家多多交流~

Book Review:

Post‑colonial Shadows and the Existential Tragedy of Residents in Miguel Street

V.S. Naipaul, a Nobel Prize winner, grew up in a British colony, Trinidad, and later went to Oxford. His life itself showed the conflict of colonial history. Miguel Street is one of his early works, which is a collection of 17 short stories about the lives of poor residents on a street in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Through the eyes of a child, we saw their daily struggles. As printed on the book’s wrapper: “Life is so desperate, however, everyone lives on in high spirits.”Yet beneath the joy, there is the deep, indelible and systematic sadness.

The shadow of postcolonialism enveloped the Miguel Street. The people there have lost their roots. Although they came from different cultures, they belonged nowhere. They were forced to imitate the colonizer’s culture. This can be clearly seen in several short stories.

In B. Wordsworth, who was a poor beggar but also called himself after the great English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. He wanted to write the greatest poem in the world, but he never finished it. Besides, In The Thing Without a Name, the carpenter Popo was making “a thing without a name” , which somehow showed his social ideal and refusal to accept the colonizer’s way of naming things. But in the end, he gave up and started making ordinary chairs with names. In Bogart, the main character’s name was given by others, not by himself. Also, the name itself represented the most superficial imitation of Western popular trends. He kept leaving and returning, never finding a stable place to belong. These three stories all reflected how colonialism took away the ability of self-definition in colony.

Because of this colonial shadow, the people of Miguel Street faced different kinds of crises. Let us unfold this analysis step by step, from the surface to the deeper layers. Bogart, for example, actively copied the movie characters he admired. He tried to change himself to become like them. However, this imitation only made his life restless. He kept leaving and returning, reshaping his image repeatedly. But he could never find a real home to settle himself. Popo, on the other hand, was more passive. He once held a sincere dream: to make “a thing without a name” as a way to resist the colonizers’ way of naming. It also served as a symbol of the free and easy‑going life he longed for. But life was hard, and his wife left him. To bring her back and to earn money, he was forced to give up his dream and started making ordinary, named objects. He had to accept the naming conventions of the colonial world. Then there was B. Wordsworth. He did not actively imitate anyone, nor was he forced to change. He simply kept writing his poem, holding on to his own path. Yet, as time passed, he was gradually pushed aside, ignored, and unseen by others. His pursuit of cultural and artistic ideals was always excluded from the mainstream, and his aspiration to gain recognition and discourse power within mainstream culture could never be fulfilled. These three stories demonstrated that the colonial shadow brought different forms of suffering: some lost themselves by copying others, some lost their dreams under life’s pressure, and some were simply ignored even though they stayed true to themselves.

Now, if we look at today’s world, we may see a similar kind of colonization, But this time, the colonizer is not a human nation. It is artificial intelligence. AI is not a country like Britain. It does not invade land or conquer people. Instead, it collects our data, then gradually shapes our thoughts, and influences our choices. We are slowly losing the ability to think and create outside AI’s models. In this sense, AI is colonizing all of humanity, not just the people of the Global South, but everyone.

So, when AI can write poems, compose music, and generate images, what is left for human beings? Our existence, like the people on Miguel Street, becomes unstable. We are defined by data’s modes, and we imitate what AI produces, and thus, we forget our own expressions.

In the end, Miguel Street reminds us that the struggle for identity is not over. The colonizers have changed, but the fight to define ourselves continues. From the age of Rationalism to the colonial era, and further to the present‑day AI age, we are confronted with an age‑old question: the question of existence.And perhaps resistance is still possible. The most powerful answers may already have been provided by predecessors.

I think, therefore I am.

Name：莫久棠

Info：我来自越南南定省，大家可以叫我久久（“好久不见”的“久”）。越南与中国接壤，从小我就通过影视作品（比如《西游记》《水浒传》等）接触到了中华文化。可以说，中国文化对我影响很深。我逐渐对中文产生了浓厚的兴趣，也越来越喜欢了解中国的历史、文学和传统文化。 对我来说，学习一门新的语言，不仅是掌握一种交流工具，更是打开一扇了解不同文化的窗口。我一直梦想着有一天能来到中国。而今天，这个梦想终于成真了——My dream has finally come true!

Book Review:

First of all, my first impression is that “Miguel Street” is not a continuous novel but rather a collection of 17 separate short stories. The story began by telling the tale of Bogart, but suddenly was switched to the story of Popo at the beginning of the next section without a linking sentence to guide the reader through this change. However, as I read deeper and thought more carefully, I began to notice the subtle connections hidden beneath the surface. These connections are not obvious, but once you spot them, they reveal a much richer picture of life on Miguel Street. One example in the story “George and the Pink House’’ is the sentence “Like Popo, George was happy to let his wife do all the work in the house and the yard.”, this single sentence not only helped me visualize the miserable woman and her indolent husband. I realized that although Miguel Street is a collection of separate stories, each with its own protagonist, they are all united by something more profound than plot. What connects them is not a continuous storyline, but a shared atmosphere – the same suffocating poverty, the same unfulfilled dreams, and the same tragicomic human flaws that appear again and again across all 17 chapters.

After reading “Miguel Street”, I gained a deeper understanding of life in Trinidad during the colonial period. What impressed me most was the way the people on “Miguel Street” dealt with their difficult lives. Their lives were like a vibrant oil painting, each stroke seemingly a powerful rebellion against poverty. But harsh reality always shattered those beautiful dreams. Unwittingly, his youthful dream of becoming a doctor turned into working as a garbage collector on the street. Both men harbored a yearning for beauty: Popo's lifelong pursuit was to create an "something without a name" while B. Wordsworth's lifelong wish was to write a beautiful poem, but neither achieved their goals. Their tenacious struggle against seemingly inescapable adversity seemed to be an indomitable resistance against cruel fate.

However, I also discovered warmth and kindness beneath their difficult lives. Laura endured hardship to raise her children, and even  Big Foot, despite his frightening appearance, showed kindness to the narrator. The neighbors also supported Popo when he faced difficulties. These moments reminded me that poverty does not necessarily destroy human warmth.

For me, therefore, “Miguel Street” is not simply a story about poverty in Trinidad. It presents a society caught between colonial influence and the search for its own identity. Although the characters often fail to change their circumstances, their dreams, humor, affection, and resilience give their lives dignity. After reading the novel, I feel that the most tragic thing is not poverty itself, but living in a society where people have dreams but are rarely given enough opportunities to fulfill them.

Name：亚梓里

INFO：

A little about me:

I'm from Turkmenistan, a country you might not know much about, but it's beautiful and full of surprises – kind of like me, I guess! 😊

One thing you should know about me is that I absolutely love food. Not just eating it, but trying all kinds of different cuisines and flavors. Whether it's spicy, sweet, sour, or something in between – I'm always up for tasting something new. I think food is one of the best ways to understand a culture, and I'm honestly excited to explore more dishes here.

Besides food, I really enjoy discovering new places. I love wandering around, getting lost in unfamiliar streets, and finding hidden gems – whether it's a cozy café, a quiet park, or just a nice view. For me, every new place has its own story, and I like being part of it.

I'm pretty open-minded and easygoing, so if you ever want to grab a bite together or explore somewhere new, just let me know! I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and sharing this journey together.

You can call me Cennet (that's my English name) or 佳娜 – either is fine with me!                                          

BOOK REVIEW

I first picked up Miguel Street because it was on our reading list, but honestly, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It’s a short book made up of linked stories, all set in a small neighborhood in Trinidad. The narrator is a young boy, and through his eyes, we meet a whole bunch of colorful characters—some funny, some sad, and some just plain strange.

What really stayed with me after reading is how Naipaul mixes humor with a kind of quiet sadness. The people living on Miguel Street aren’t rich or successful by any standard, but they have this raw energy and pride that makes you care about them. There’s Popo, who spends all his time building something he calls “the thing without a name,” and B. Wordsworth, a self-proclaimed poet who says he’s writing the world’s greatest poem. They’re absurd, but also deeply human.

The book gives you a real sense of what life might have been like in Trinidad during the 1940s and 50s. You can feel the heat, hear the street noise, and pick up on the local slang. Naipaul doesn’t try to make poverty look beautiful, but he also doesn’t judge his characters. He just shows them as they are—flawed, struggling, but still holding onto their dreams.

One thing that really got me thinking is how almost every character wants to leave. Some talk about going to England or America, others just daydream about a better life. But even the ones who do leave don’t seem to find what they’re looking for. It made me wonder if we ever really escape where we come from, or if it stays with us no matter where we go.

I also liked how the narrator changes as the book goes on. At first, he’s just a curious kid watching the adults around him. But by the end, he’s grown up and starts to see their weaknesses more clearly. That final scene where he leaves Trinidad himself felt really bittersweet—like saying goodbye to your childhood.

Naipaul’s writing style is surprisingly simple, but there’s a lot going on underneath. The sentences are short, the dialogue feels real, and the jokes are dry. But if you read between the lines, you can see him talking about class, race, and colonialism without ever preaching about it. I respect that.

On a personal level, this book made me think about how we judge people. A lot of the characters in Miguel Street would be considered "failures" in normal society, but they have kindness, imagination, and wisdom that you don’t always find in successful people. That stuck with me.

All in all, Miguel Street is a small book that packs a big punch. It’s funny, touching, and makes you reflect on life in a way that doesn’t feel forced. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read something different—something that feels real and honest.

Name：许铭津

Info：我来自云南昆明，MBTI是INFJ，不太爱说话，但是自认为还是比较好相处的！

超级喜欢看日本漫画和日本动漫，也很喜欢打游戏，什么成分都沾一点儿，也因此自学了日语；喜欢看音乐剧，入坑作是《SIX》和《汉密尔顿》，目前“深耕”好好有戏剧场中；爱看散文和意识流小说，最喜欢的两位作家是简媜和博尔赫斯，属于看不太懂但迷恋的状态。

未来的职业规划是做口译或者文学译者，在英语专业学习的这几年我也会朝着这个方向持续努力的！

日后还请大家多多关照，どうぞよろしくお願いします(^^ゞ

Book Review:

Talking about Miguel Street, the first word jumps into my mind is “complicated”. It not only means numerous characters, but also the chaotic environment of Trinidad.

Miguel Street has totally 17 stories and tells 16 characters’ stories in detail. In all of them, my two favorites are B. Wordsworth and Hat. Take Hat for example.

He is a man whose comments and voice run through from the first chapter to the last one. Through a few words we can see that Hat is a kind man with high-level emotional intelligence. For example, when Eddoes showed his baby, who definitely not his, towards everyone in the Miguel Street, Boyee implied the truth, but Hat gave him a pinch and encouraged Eddoes repeatedly to cheer him up, restoring his passion for life. Although sometimes he would say some masculism sentences, I don’t hate him for that, after all it was just a characteristic of that era. “I” (I mean the narrator here) grew up with him, learning how to view the world and to be human, so in some way, Hat had fully played the role of the father who was absent from “my” initial life. Such a good man, who deserved a good end, fell into jail for killing a woman by accident, which made me sigh the most. Another thing made me sigh is the animals Hat used to live with. When Dolly came, Hat locked them all up and took away their freedom, which also implied that Hat also lost his own freedom.

So, it is natural to talk about WOMAN. It feels like that women in Miguel Street are not good, whether they were fat or thin, they all had fierce tempers and dirty language. But they could endure the violence from their husbands, endure the trivial things in life, endure the unfairness God gave them. Maybe they were kind of weird and somehow annoying, but they were actually determined, tough, and tried their best to live. Just see Laura, the single mother with eight kids from seven fathers, and you will know. I remember “I” once said, Miguel Street didn’t make anyone starve. That’s a miracle, and given that most of men in Miguel Street didn’t work, I would like to attribute it to those resilient women.

Now, let's talk about the whole environment of Trinidad. One word, chaos. Violence, alcohol, sex, and so on. Actually, people in Miguel Street were trying their best to live. But most of them still had tragic lives and, at the same time, they couldn’t get rid of those bad habits. It wasn’t their fault, but the era’s--the war, racial discrimination, colony and so on, all these things shaped an era of tragedy, making everyone tragic.

To go on an end, I want to leave a sentence that I wrote down in my book review when I read all these stories--People are all searching for comfort in nothingness, but they fail, and just struggle in the mud. FOR MIGUEL STREET.

Name：罗佳

Info：来自重庆綦（qi）江，刚认识我的人会因为面无表情时比较严肃觉得我不好相处，其实芝士因为表情管理不行。生活照疑似是最开朗的一张。偏社恐慢热，但不难相处。

爱好很广泛，从全世界路过的路人:听歌、小说漫画、IVL、电影……最喜欢的电影是Isabelle Adjani的《Possession》，最喜欢的歌手是Ariana Grande。最大的爱好是捣鼓一些“乱七八糟”的东西。出于兴趣研究过一点八字命理、剪辑，自学了点韩语（拼读水平），最近对心理学哲学感兴趣……但属于多而不精、想一出是一出型人格。

做人，最重要的就是开心—是我的人生哲学。新的专业、新的环境于我而言意味着新的开始，最大的展望是新的学期我能褪去“低精力”的壳子，不吃压力、找到更健康积极的生活节奏；同时把握住英语这个杠杆，积极探索，成就更好的自己。

Book Review:

About Miguel Street, the part that interests me most is not the story, the history, or the distinctive characters, but the creator, Naipaul. During my reading, I felt a mixture of the author’s emotions through his writing, with its humor and satire. It felt like a gaze from a higher civilization, satirizing the backward and ignorant, yet laced with a deep, delicately contradictory attachment to the soil where he grew up.

Of course, Miguel Street reveals how ordinary people lived in that particular social background: stupid, ignorant, and living in worlds they had created for themselves. That is one side of what I can see in Naipaul’s writing. The other side is something that he cannot help but miss a little—the romance of the poet, the strength of the mother, and the strange people who, despite being ignorant and eccentric, constituted the world around him. These mixed feelings make up the book.

He exposes the ignorance and poverty of life in Trinidad, yet his writing also carries soft nostalgia for the neighbors around him. Such contradictory attitudes reveal what life on this street was truly like‑‑it was not purely miserable, nor idealized. Life in Trinidad depicted in the book is kind of like most people’s, complicated. A mix of bitter and sweet. People there may not be so rich, or rational. We may show a little sympathy to them, while it also can be a form of arrogance.

We don't want to say something cruel to that poet, B. Wordsworth, whom I see as the most important turning point of the emotional tone. The outside world was a mess, while he kept his romanticism inside. And from him, I guess, the key of life is not self-pity when you suffer, but trying to live happily, even when others can't understand.

I can feel that Naipaul had some special feelings for him, and even for this place.

Given to the feelings I got, it was a shock for me when I learned more about Naipaul. In some sense, he can be seen as the kind of person who forgot his roots. But as someone who always wants to read into others, I wondered whether the feelings I got from Miguel Street were truly reflections of Naipaul himself. Analyzing the complexity of human beings is somehow what interests me when I read a book: I want to understand both the book and the writer. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, “Two Worlds,” Naipaul said, “I’m the sum of my books.” So, I prefer to believe in my feelings.

From my perspective, Naipaul always tried to reveal and show his readers: Look at how backward, ignorant, and ridiculous the people here are, and how amazing it is that I managed to escape and achieve something. It sounds a bit like the sarcasm of certain intellectuals. Yet, like an “awkward child,” he cannot help but betray a subtle, lingering tenderness toward this land—in his nostalgia for Bogart, in his grief over the dead poet, in his quiet admiration for the single mother, and in the bittersweet weight of leaving.

Naipaul can barely conceal the tremor at the corner of his mouth when he delivers his satire. The harsher his words, the more they betray how much he cared. It is not mere nostalgia, nor simple criticism. As someone who escaped from there and could so easily have been one of them.

Name：张清扬

Info：我来自甘肃白银，喜欢跳舞，唱歌，逛街，喜欢追星，旅游，喜欢韩国男团and2ble，爱好读各种各样的小说……大家可以叫我清扬，我的英文名是lyra，跟我的名字寓意很相像，都是“灵动和飞扬”之意，我的性格活泼开朗，能和身边的人相处融洽，希望以后能和大家和睦互助友爱地度过大学生活。

Book Review:

This book is about characters and their stories in Miguel Street, maybe someone feels that it is a little bit boring, but I don’t think so. It is different from other books. It isn’t about stories that are threatening or fictional, but about some daily trivial matters in this community. These matters are in special cultural condition—the author’s homeland, Trinidad. We can learn some local custom when we read the things that characters do and find the culture differences between people in Trinidad and us. At first, it is really a little boring, but when I read it deeply and try to understand the sensitive lines, I find it is funny and it’s absolutely a challenge for a good writer and makes Naipaul a star stand out from the crowd. Now I will tell you about my feelings and thoughts from my deep reading.

The book begins with the story of Bogart, he is like the typical example of people living here. He’s a “tailor” but spends his days doing nothing. And soon go out of his homeland to make his living—most of people’s choices. Every time he come back, he will show us his new experiences and features, and goes out again, takes something new back…and be arrested at last. Maybe it is a common tragedy of people there, I think.

The most beautiful part of this book is the story of B.Wordsworth. At the beginning of this part, it is very common and flat—some strange beggars over there. But a special man appears and he whispered— “I want to watch your bees.” He is different from others, he is a great poet. Through his words, we can see a creative and beautiful heart. His eyes can find beauty that others ignore, and he can also find “my” talent, help me run away from the sadness that my mother slapped me. His love story, his yard, his trees are all mysterious and make me obsess with them. To me, he is not only the author’s teacher, but also mine. His poem tells me how to polish my own works. His attitude to life also makes differences.

In this book, I can also see something same as our life, such as Elias and George. George has bad temper, and he always beat his wife and children. He is the type of bad man that make domestic violence. But his son, Elias, makes me completely emphasize with him. His dream is to be a doctor but life play jokes with him. The failure of exam and the condition of himself force him to give up his dream.

Other men or women in the book, they may be common and even a sense of humor, like Big Foot, Hat, Eddoes, Hereira. But they get together and draw a vivid picture of Miguel Street—the unique atmosphere that full of despair but vitality. It is this point that show the “great” of Naipaul. Different sadness, different lives, different choices, different characters, different crazy, different result, build the structure of the world of Port of Spain. When I’m read this, I can’t help to think that if I was a member of them, how will my life change? What choice will I make? Will I experience the same tragedy or comedy as the people in this community? I sit still to enjoy this amazing culture and show my symphony for the great lives in that place.

When I read more and more fictions and works about other countries, I’m more likely to go outside and see them by myself. And when I really experience the different culture in other countries, I can understand more deep idea and emotions of these works.

Name：陈冠骏

Info：我来自上海，喜欢羽毛球，喜欢玩小游戏，喜欢团建，旅游，喜欢冬天多过夏天，喜欢随便刷一刷每日歌单，喜欢r&b，喜欢看电影，喜欢昆德拉，我的英文名是John。

Book Review:

After Reading Miguel Street: Man-man

It's weird that a story like Man-man appeared in Miguel Street. Unlike the main characters in other stories, Man-man always seemed to be detached from the crowd, and be excluded from the daily activities conducted by Hat, etc. In short, Man-man tried to be Messiah and gathered people to see his crucifixion, but ended up giving up the whole idea during the process and was locked by authorities for good.

First let's talk about some strange traits of the story. First, Man-man is considered a mad man in town, but he's mad in a different way. When he revealed the God's words to the crowd, he spoke words of wisdom and insights. And in the end, he cursed just like any other Trinidad people. Second, other characters interact with each other, like Hat who appeared in every story to make comments. Man-man seems to be far, far away from their life, as if he were an actor who will never be on the stage again, discarded as soon as used. Third, Man-man's personality changes almost dramatically.

From the perspective of me, the story obviously spits out something of the Christian and Jesus Christ, and politics. Now I'm going to make a rather bold assumption: Man-man is the modern Jesus Christ. Man-man is not welcomed. In the incidence of cafe, He made troubles for his being rejected, which indicates that he has an unchangeable nature in him that makes him be treated differently from others, that is his madness. He has a dog that in some way presents himself. It illustrates Man-man's thin connection with the society. After the car accident, Man-man is finally posed in the opposite of normal society: or profane society, just like Jesus facing a bunch of angry Jewish people. In the end, he is stoned, also like Jesus. He endured the crowd's vicious attack for a while, then gave up. It is the physical pain that conquered the spiritual uplifting, not the other way around. He cursed just like his dog giving out one short bark before its death. He is suspended, rejected by the profane world yet at the meantime concretely face the pain of his body. In the consequence, just like his name Man-man, he was exhausted both spiritually and socially just like any modern man. By introducing Jesus, the author may revealed something about modern society, an era where our physical body is too burdened to hold any weights, like our dreams and religion, etc. We have to face our coarse, naked body, for sake of escaping exhaustion, our religion or something important may be easily shattered, discarded as a joke.

But, hey, after all, it's just a story performed by a mad man, and it's simply mad to figure out what the mad man thinks. Man-man is indeed a mad man, and it is because of his madness, he can truly reveal something that the clever will never spit out. He's mad but his mad words seemed reasonable for me, does that make me the mad man, too? It's just like a never-ending puzzling enigma. What a mad man Man-man is!

Name：阿娅阔孜

Info：我来自新疆塔城，喜欢打羽毛球，喜欢的歌手是A妹（Ariana Grande），喜欢的作家是Thomas Hardy，大家可以叫我阿娅。

Book Review: 

While reading Miguel Street, I am constantly filled with confusion and heartache. I keep wondering why so many people here are stuck in their sad lives. Why does Bogart turn from a gentle man into a bitter, bad-tempered person? Why does Bolo, the so-called mechanical genius, always ruin trucks yet never give up? Why does Bele tear up a winning lottery ticket instead of accepting his good luck? I also fail to understand why Titus Hoyt pretends to be a learned scholar, why Big Foot fakes bravery, and why George treats his family so cruelly.

What hurts me most is Laura. After her daughter drowns herself, she only says calmly, “It’s better this way.” Those few words show the total despair of a poor woman who sees no escape from lifelong suffering. I also feel deeply for Elias: he studies very hard but fails exams again and again, and finally becomes a dustman. Yet the book is not all hopeless. The story of Eddoes brings soft warmth. Unsure if the baby girl is really his, he feels lost and anxious. But Hat tells him a kind lie that the girl looks just like him, and all the neighbors keep the secret silently to protect his dignity.

To me, life in Trinidad is the harsh reality of the lower class in a colonial society, soaked in powerlessness. Under colonial rule, social classes are rigidly fixed. Poor people can hardly get real chances to move up, no matter how hard they strive. Most dreams of a better life simply wither away in poverty.

There is also a clear value conflict in this colonial society. The foreign legal system feels cold and alien to local people. Instead of strict formal rules, people on Miguel Street follow unspoken community codes. They never dig into each other’s dark past or judge others’ flaws sharply. For them, community bond matters more than blood ties. What makes a family is not true blood, but willingness to care for one another. Even Hat, the most clear-headed man on the street, tries to keep his family life separate from the noisy neighborhood, longing for a little private space. But in such a crowded, close-knit community, true privacy is almost an impossible luxury.

Still, people there never lose basic kindness. They may tease each other about their silly dreams, but they also protect each other’s pride. That is the truest face of Trinidadian life: painful and limiting, but stubbornly, vividly alive.



Name：刘欣语

Info：我来自湖北，性格INTP偶尔INFP，喜欢听音乐，看小说，下国际象棋（虽然比较菜），偶尔会去看音乐剧，初级观众努力进修中🤗

Book Review:

Reading Miguel Street gives me a quiet, complicated feeling. It is not the kind of strong, shocking sadness, but a soft, real‑world sorrow. The street is filled with ordinary people, each with their own small hopes and quiet sorrows. No terrible disaster hits them, yet they are trapped in a life of limited chances and helplessness.

Every person on the street deals with their hard life in their own way. Some hold onto empty dreams, some waste their own talents, and most just go through life without a clear plan. On the surface, their days are noisy and lively. They joke, brag and play around to kill time. However ，their cheerfulness is not real happiness. It is just a fragile way to get through daily troubles. From these simple stories, I can see tiny bits of beauty hidden inside hardship, as well as the unavoidable hopelessness that many ordinary people have to face.

I was deeply touched by B. Wordsworth, the self‑proclaimed poet in Miguel Street. He would sit and watch bees for hours, holding onto the dream of writing the greatest poem ever, and treasuring his overgrown garden full of memories. Yet he lived a lonely and poor life. After his death, his small house was torn down and his garden destroyed, as if he had never existed at all.

Poetry gave him a shelter for his soul. Still, such beauty is terribly fragile in a hard world. We are easily attracted by his romance, but it cannot stand against the cold reality of daily life.

The book’s blurb tries to give these lives a romantic, meaningful touch. It says people live happily even in despair, and compares them to salt — common yet valuable. These words bring comfort to readers, but they are really just the views of outsiders. For the people living on Miguel Street, life has no made‑up romance or great meaning. They never think of themselves as special or heroic. They just keep going through messy, repeating days. All the warmth and value we see in them come from our own feelings and understanding.

Even the author can only see a small part of their lives. Nobody can fully understand what they truly go through. From my perspective，Miguel Street does not tell an inspiring story of never‑giving‑up. Instead, it shows what ordinary life really is like: people trying their best, wandering, and quietly putting up with life’s small disappointments.

Name：张艺骞

Info：我来自贵州贵阳，本人爱好广泛性格随和 个人最喜欢看恐怖小说 玩恐怖游戏和看港剧和美剧，我最推荐恐怖小说本所深川不可思议草纸 恐怖文字游戏本所七大不可思议 此游戏中有唯一喜欢的角色灯野菖蒲 人狼村之谜 生存类恐怖游戏港诡实录，心理恐怖游戏烟火 网页恐怖游戏邺山深处 最推荐港剧创世纪 最推荐美剧绝命毒师和风骚律师和欲望都市 没有最喜欢的歌手，叫我小张小艺小骞都可以，也可以叫英文名Cecilia 之所以一直用空格而没有用逗号及书名号 是因为这个输入法更新以后我一直找不到符号在哪 非常抱歉

Book Review:

Lower‑class Women in Miguel Street and the Writer’s Well‑educated Wife: The Same Sad Fate

Among all the lively female characters in Miguel Street, I think Mrs. Bakhu is quite special. She tried her best to plan a better life for her family. However, her husband was unreliable, and all her plans failed. Even so, she always stood up for her husband. When other people questioned why Bakhu refused to work, she made excuses for him. She could not bear to see him work with rude and violent people. Outsiders should not judge their relationship. In my opinion, it was her tolerance at home that allowed Bakhu to live a simple and happy life.

I believe this story is largely based on V. S. Naipaul’s real‑life experience. I have learned that he studied at Oxford, but he failed many times when looking for jobs. For a long time, his wife Pat earned money for the family and supported his writing unconditionally. Pat was a white British woman, while Naipaul was an Indian‑born immigrant. At that time, racial prejudice was serious. They got together despite their families’ disagreement. Yet this love, which broke through many difficulties, finally turned into a tragic marriage. It sounds common but realistic and typical.

Pat came from a wealthy family and received a high‑level education. During their 41‑year marriage, she worked quietly as Naipaul’s editor and helper. Her long‑time devotion was not treasured. Naipaul refused to get close to his wife. He kept having affairs outside and treated those silly experiences as materials for his writing. Soon after Pat died of illness, he married another woman.

The writer was honest about this. His feelings were just like the story of Morgan, the fireworks‑maker: once a man gets what he has long wanted, he will no longer value it.

Well‑educated Pat did not live a better life than those poor women on Miguel Street. If she had chosen to live for herself instead of devoting everything to her husband, she might also have been remembered in literary history.

We cannot criticize people’s old choices from today’s point of view. Still, I have many questions. Why did Mrs. Bakhu keep protecting her husband’s reputation? Was it out of love, or just self‑deception to avoid admitting her failed marriage? Why would a husband cheat on such a loving wife? Was it because of natural desire, or because he never respected his wife?

Life may be a game between people, and between humans and fate. As the book says, “Life is so desperate, yet everyone lives in high spirits.”

Whether we feel happy or not, we put on a smile. We pretend to be confident and strong. Maybe in this way, fate will not beat us.

特别鸣谢：莫久棠、罗佳、郑智康、万奕博四位小组长。