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The Chip-Chip Gatherers
The author brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters set in a tightly knit Hindu community in Trinidad, against a backdrop of the idiosyncrasies of a particular culture and the sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant truths about human society. "A compelling, tragic, painfully comic masterpiece." THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT.
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First published January 1, 1973
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About the author
Shiva Naipaul
18 books33 followersShiva Naipaul was a Trinidadian-born British novelist and journalist, known for his incisive fiction and travel writing. The younger brother of V. S. Naipaul, he studied at University College, Oxford, before publishing his debut novel, Fireflies (1970), which won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. He followed with The Chip-Chip Gatherers (1973) before turning to non-fiction with North of South (1978) and Black & White (1980), exploring postcolonial societies. His final novel, A Hot Country (1983), marked a shift in his literary style. Despite mixed critical reception during his lifetime, his work has since been reassessed for its sharp prose and unique perspective.
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November 6, 2022
THE CHIP CHIP GATHERERS (1973) was Shiva Naipaul's second novel. Shiva was famous V.S. Naipaul's younger brother, and many critics believe he never really emerged from his noisy brother's shadow, though some writers, like Martin Amis and Amit Chaudhuri describe his books as "precocious masterpieces". Shiva's sudden death at the age of 40 cut short a promising writing career.
Born in Trinidad, both brothers had a difficult relationship with their country of origin. Also, they both felt ambivalent towards India, their country of cultural ancestry. Unsurprisingly, their first novels dealt with the same "material": life in Trinidad.
In this novel we notice that very Trinidadian wants to get into the professional classes, one way or the other. Education could be one way of achieving this goal and obtaining a scholarship abroad (which requires a punishing regime of studies) is of paramount importance. In Naipaul's Trinidad these aspirations can become obsessions and a source of endless family tension and anxiety. Moreover, we see that when illiterate parents send their children to school they will eventually find that their "cultivated" children will soon scorn them.
Marrying above one's social class is another alternative but this is not without risks. One way or the other, Naipaul's representation of the Trinidadian working class, observed mostly through child-parent relationships, is fraught with abuse, malice, destruction and dissolution.
THE CHIP CHIP GATHERERS is a bleak novel about shaky beginnings and uncertain futures. Despite education, despite money, fate, bad luck and inner demons will have a lot of predicament in the lives of Shiva Naipaul's loveless characters. Like the poor chip chip gatherers, who scavenge food from the seabeds, despite the obvious "disproportion between their labours and their gains" Naipaul's doomed characters strive immensely to avoid disappointments, shattered dreams and humiliations.
Born in Trinidad, both brothers had a difficult relationship with their country of origin. Also, they both felt ambivalent towards India, their country of cultural ancestry. Unsurprisingly, their first novels dealt with the same "material": life in Trinidad.
In this novel we notice that very Trinidadian wants to get into the professional classes, one way or the other. Education could be one way of achieving this goal and obtaining a scholarship abroad (which requires a punishing regime of studies) is of paramount importance. In Naipaul's Trinidad these aspirations can become obsessions and a source of endless family tension and anxiety. Moreover, we see that when illiterate parents send their children to school they will eventually find that their "cultivated" children will soon scorn them.
Marrying above one's social class is another alternative but this is not without risks. One way or the other, Naipaul's representation of the Trinidadian working class, observed mostly through child-parent relationships, is fraught with abuse, malice, destruction and dissolution.
THE CHIP CHIP GATHERERS is a bleak novel about shaky beginnings and uncertain futures. Despite education, despite money, fate, bad luck and inner demons will have a lot of predicament in the lives of Shiva Naipaul's loveless characters. Like the poor chip chip gatherers, who scavenge food from the seabeds, despite the obvious "disproportion between their labours and their gains" Naipaul's doomed characters strive immensely to avoid disappointments, shattered dreams and humiliations.
July 24, 2021
A fantastic modern classic. This book set in Trinidad in the 60s or 70s follows 2 extended families as they navigate their bleak lives. Egbert Ramsaran becomes a real self made success story, pulling himself out of poverty through hard work and determination. Despite his business success he is a truly lousy family man, ignoring his wife and son.
The story follows he and his family over a period of about 20 years, where they mistreat each other. There are very few redeeming characters to be found in this book, but a lot of their issues seem to come from desperation or as a reaction to others.
This was masterfully crafted and very well written. 4.5 stars for me
The story follows he and his family over a period of about 20 years, where they mistreat each other. There are very few redeeming characters to be found in this book, but a lot of their issues seem to come from desperation or as a reaction to others.
This was masterfully crafted and very well written. 4.5 stars for me
December 25, 2016
An absolute ripper of a novel!
In its character studies, intimate portraits, and dark comedy, The Chip-Chip Gatherers is a masterpiece. I've only once or twice read something close, but seldom have I read something this tinged with sadness throughout.
I won't be reading this again, I think, because marvellous as it is, Shiva Naipaul's novel is claustrophobic in the way it describes the life of its characters. You want to escape as much as they do, and yet you know that like them, you aren't going anywhere. Genius.
In its character studies, intimate portraits, and dark comedy, The Chip-Chip Gatherers is a masterpiece. I've only once or twice read something close, but seldom have I read something this tinged with sadness throughout.
I won't be reading this again, I think, because marvellous as it is, Shiva Naipaul's novel is claustrophobic in the way it describes the life of its characters. You want to escape as much as they do, and yet you know that like them, you aren't going anywhere. Genius.
January 7, 2013
It was at this time, when the tide was out, that the beds of chip-chip were exposed and squadrons of women and children from the village would come down to the beach armed with buckets and basins to gather the harvest of shells. The women wore petticoats but the smaller children would be naked. Separate working parties fanned out along the beach. Squatting on their haunches, they labored long and assiduously, shoveling and raking over the wet sand with their hands; filling the buckets and basins with their pink and yellow shells which were the size and shape of a long fingernail. Inside each was the sought-after prize: a miniscule kernel of insipid flesh. A full bucket of shells would provide them with a mouthful. But they were not deterred by the disproportion between their labours and their gains. Rather, the very meagreness of their reward seemed to spur them on. Quarrels were frequent, their chief cause being the intrusion of an alien group into the staked-out territory of another. Some of these border conflicts could flare into violence. Tempers sparked easily in the scorching sun.
The chip-chip, formally known as Donax variabilis, is a tiny edible mollusk which populates the Eastern United States and the Caribbean. The meat from these sea creatures is considered to be a delicacy in Trinidad, the country in which Shiva Naipaul’s second novel is set. The chip-chip serves as excellent metaphor for the poor inhabitants of the island: their lives are “nasty, brutish and short”, as they struggle against both the recurrent waves that wash them from their sea bed communities, and the birds and humans that thoughtlessly consume them en masse.
The Chip-Chip Gatherers, the winner of the 1973 Whitbread Prize, is set in the Settlement, a community of poor Indians that is so insignificant that it doesn’t appear on any maps of Trinidad. The dominant character is Ashok (Egbert) Ramsaran, a ruthless and eccentric tyrant whose successful trucking company and extortionary money lending business has made him the most powerful man in the community. Egbert is a self made man who turned his back on his aimless parents and wayward brothers, and he refuses to lift a finger to help them or anyone else. He has one son, Wilbert, who he grooms to take over the business after his death. Despite his wealth, Egbert adamantly refuses to provide his son with a formal education, as he views doctors and lawyers as lying cheaters, and he regularly belittles and harangues Wilbert into submission.
His estranged best friend from childhood, Vishnu Bholai, works as the community’s local grocer, after failing in his dream to become a lawyer. Vishnu’s strikingly handsome and rather vain son Julian is a promising student who plans to gain a scholarship to England to pursue a career in medicine. Vishnu seeks reconciliation with Egbert, and fervently desires for Wilbert and Julian to become close friends, but the boys, like their fathers, have little in common.
Egbert’s long suffering and nearly invisible wife Rani dies of a heart attack, which initially provides her husband with relief and freedom. However, he soon finds himself lonely, as he has no friends and has lost his only companion. Rani’s mother Basdai, realizing that her financial link to Ramsaran has been severed upon her daughter’s death, cleverly creates a plan to keep her financial pipeline intact. She cajoles her wayward niece Sushila, who is strikingly attractive and single, to offer her services as a housemaid to Egbert, and lure him into taking her on as his mistress. Sushila has a daughter out of wedlock named Sita, a moody, bookish and determined girl who also strives to escape the influence of Basdai, her daughters and daughters-in-law, and her mother, who left her in the care of Basdai to seek favors in the larger cities of San Fernando and Port of Spain. Basdai’s plan is successful at first, but ultimately she derives no benefit from it, and later the relationship between Egbert and Sushila takes a tragic turn that has wide ramifications on the others.
The main characters are linked by their ruthless desire to escape from the others in the community in order to achieve success, like a crab that seeks to crawl out of a barrel while the others pull him back in. Love and happiness are viewed as foolish pursuits that only lead to failure. They are desperate and fatalistic, and their extreme individualism blinds them toward any thoughts of working with each other to achieve common goals.
The Chip-Chip Gatherers is a deceptively simple novel, filled with humor and pathos, compelling characters , and evocative descriptions of the Settlement and its inhabitants. Shiva Naipaul mines the same fertile soil as his far more successful older brother Vidya (V.S.) did in his novels A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mystic Masseur, but this novel stands on its own and is a unique and captivating view of a postcolonial culture that is nearly the equal of Vidya’s early novels. Sadly, Shiva died of a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 40 and did not achieve much recognition or success during his lifetime, but hopefully the recent reissuing of The Chip-Chip Gatherers by Penguin Classics (UK), along with his 1970 debut novel Fireflies, will permit a new generation of readers to experience and enjoy the work of this talented and largely forgotten writer.
The chip-chip, formally known as Donax variabilis, is a tiny edible mollusk which populates the Eastern United States and the Caribbean. The meat from these sea creatures is considered to be a delicacy in Trinidad, the country in which Shiva Naipaul’s second novel is set. The chip-chip serves as excellent metaphor for the poor inhabitants of the island: their lives are “nasty, brutish and short”, as they struggle against both the recurrent waves that wash them from their sea bed communities, and the birds and humans that thoughtlessly consume them en masse.
The Chip-Chip Gatherers, the winner of the 1973 Whitbread Prize, is set in the Settlement, a community of poor Indians that is so insignificant that it doesn’t appear on any maps of Trinidad. The dominant character is Ashok (Egbert) Ramsaran, a ruthless and eccentric tyrant whose successful trucking company and extortionary money lending business has made him the most powerful man in the community. Egbert is a self made man who turned his back on his aimless parents and wayward brothers, and he refuses to lift a finger to help them or anyone else. He has one son, Wilbert, who he grooms to take over the business after his death. Despite his wealth, Egbert adamantly refuses to provide his son with a formal education, as he views doctors and lawyers as lying cheaters, and he regularly belittles and harangues Wilbert into submission.
His estranged best friend from childhood, Vishnu Bholai, works as the community’s local grocer, after failing in his dream to become a lawyer. Vishnu’s strikingly handsome and rather vain son Julian is a promising student who plans to gain a scholarship to England to pursue a career in medicine. Vishnu seeks reconciliation with Egbert, and fervently desires for Wilbert and Julian to become close friends, but the boys, like their fathers, have little in common.
Egbert’s long suffering and nearly invisible wife Rani dies of a heart attack, which initially provides her husband with relief and freedom. However, he soon finds himself lonely, as he has no friends and has lost his only companion. Rani’s mother Basdai, realizing that her financial link to Ramsaran has been severed upon her daughter’s death, cleverly creates a plan to keep her financial pipeline intact. She cajoles her wayward niece Sushila, who is strikingly attractive and single, to offer her services as a housemaid to Egbert, and lure him into taking her on as his mistress. Sushila has a daughter out of wedlock named Sita, a moody, bookish and determined girl who also strives to escape the influence of Basdai, her daughters and daughters-in-law, and her mother, who left her in the care of Basdai to seek favors in the larger cities of San Fernando and Port of Spain. Basdai’s plan is successful at first, but ultimately she derives no benefit from it, and later the relationship between Egbert and Sushila takes a tragic turn that has wide ramifications on the others.
The main characters are linked by their ruthless desire to escape from the others in the community in order to achieve success, like a crab that seeks to crawl out of a barrel while the others pull him back in. Love and happiness are viewed as foolish pursuits that only lead to failure. They are desperate and fatalistic, and their extreme individualism blinds them toward any thoughts of working with each other to achieve common goals.
The Chip-Chip Gatherers is a deceptively simple novel, filled with humor and pathos, compelling characters , and evocative descriptions of the Settlement and its inhabitants. Shiva Naipaul mines the same fertile soil as his far more successful older brother Vidya (V.S.) did in his novels A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mystic Masseur, but this novel stands on its own and is a unique and captivating view of a postcolonial culture that is nearly the equal of Vidya’s early novels. Sadly, Shiva died of a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 40 and did not achieve much recognition or success during his lifetime, but hopefully the recent reissuing of The Chip-Chip Gatherers by Penguin Classics (UK), along with his 1970 debut novel Fireflies, will permit a new generation of readers to experience and enjoy the work of this talented and largely forgotten writer.
December 10, 2019
It really is a tragedy that Shiva Naipaul died so young, because, aside from the obvious reason, had he lived and continued to write, his body of work might have rivaled that of his much more famous older brother. The Chip-Chip Gatherers measures up well against the works of V.S. Naipaul, which is about the highest compliment I could pay to any novel. Written in a style reminiscent of Vidia’s early, more comic novels, The Chip-Chip Gatherers is set in small West Indian community on Trinidad, where the poor residents eke out a meager existence mainly by woking the cane fields. One of these residents, a young Egbert Ramsaran, decides early on that he will not succumb to this “peasant” life, and so leaves the community for the island’s capital. Years later he returns, now a wealthy and powerful businessman, and begins to impose his tyrannical will upon his former neighbors. Told through the perspectives of Egbert and those most closely connected to him, this novel is at its core about power; those who have it, those who want it, those who can’t escape it, and how they seek it and ultimately wield it against those who will never have it. This is not an optimistic story, but it is both an immensely funny and powerfully moving read.
February 19, 2021
A bleak but beautifully written book. There's deep humor in the detachment of the narrator. Lush scenery and the scent of rot imbue every line, gorgeous and poignant as life itself.
November 14, 2017
Gloom with a View
Writers have different takes on the human race. (Duhh!) Some emphasize romance, others humor, variety or mystery. Both Shiva Naipaul and his more famous brother present the most negative side of people. Perhaps they felt trapped in a colonial society which they wished to escape, dreaming of wider horizons. Trinidad may or may not boast of the two authors, I don't know, but Trinidadians could scarcely be proud of the picture they paint of a narrow, quarrelsome, ignorant society full of flaws but few redeeming qualities. THE CHIP-CHIP GATHERERS is stylishly-written, with an excellent development of four main characters and a number of minor ones. Their personalities emerge clearly, but they appear brutal, selfish, scheming, closed or arrogant. There is no one you would like to identify with. The story takes place among the Indian (South Asian) community of Trinidad, centering around Egbert Ramsaran, the successful owner of a trucking business. We also meet his son, Wilbert, and a sensual, independent woman, Sushila, who arrives after Egbert's self-effacing first wife dies. Sushila's daughter, Sita, is the final figure, though various relatives and the Bholai family play roles as well. Naipaul's view of humanity is negative in the extreme--the nastiness of nearly everyone, their endless scheming and their callously brutal treatment of those around them. There is no hope, broken dreams litter the landscape. OK, people are poor, but Naipaul emphasizes their spiritual poverty as well. Love is forever absent and many backbiting, gossipy-dialogues full of ignorance and jealousy set off Naipaul's especially dark picture of the society he grew up in. He notes that "most of us don't have a choice in the way we live. We've simply got to make do with what we have." And if you're not satisfied, "then that is your bad luck." Chip-chip gatherers collect tiny shells on the beaches of the island, expending great effort and time to accumulate very negligible amounts of food. They quarrel and fight over the areas in which they can seek the shells, but for what gain ? This is certainly Naipaul's view of human nature. Most bleak. Such a view can provide no satisfying end to the novel. Some characters die along the way, others disappear. You yourself will probably find THE CHIP-CHIP GATHERERS an engrossing read, but you will need an antidote afterwards.
Writers have different takes on the human race. (Duhh!) Some emphasize romance, others humor, variety or mystery. Both Shiva Naipaul and his more famous brother present the most negative side of people. Perhaps they felt trapped in a colonial society which they wished to escape, dreaming of wider horizons. Trinidad may or may not boast of the two authors, I don't know, but Trinidadians could scarcely be proud of the picture they paint of a narrow, quarrelsome, ignorant society full of flaws but few redeeming qualities. THE CHIP-CHIP GATHERERS is stylishly-written, with an excellent development of four main characters and a number of minor ones. Their personalities emerge clearly, but they appear brutal, selfish, scheming, closed or arrogant. There is no one you would like to identify with. The story takes place among the Indian (South Asian) community of Trinidad, centering around Egbert Ramsaran, the successful owner of a trucking business. We also meet his son, Wilbert, and a sensual, independent woman, Sushila, who arrives after Egbert's self-effacing first wife dies. Sushila's daughter, Sita, is the final figure, though various relatives and the Bholai family play roles as well. Naipaul's view of humanity is negative in the extreme--the nastiness of nearly everyone, their endless scheming and their callously brutal treatment of those around them. There is no hope, broken dreams litter the landscape. OK, people are poor, but Naipaul emphasizes their spiritual poverty as well. Love is forever absent and many backbiting, gossipy-dialogues full of ignorance and jealousy set off Naipaul's especially dark picture of the society he grew up in. He notes that "most of us don't have a choice in the way we live. We've simply got to make do with what we have." And if you're not satisfied, "then that is your bad luck." Chip-chip gatherers collect tiny shells on the beaches of the island, expending great effort and time to accumulate very negligible amounts of food. They quarrel and fight over the areas in which they can seek the shells, but for what gain ? This is certainly Naipaul's view of human nature. Most bleak. Such a view can provide no satisfying end to the novel. Some characters die along the way, others disappear. You yourself will probably find THE CHIP-CHIP GATHERERS an engrossing read, but you will need an antidote afterwards.
October 13, 2018
A decent alternative
While the less celebrated Naipaul brother doesn't have a massive list of accolades nd titles to his name, his writing is nonetheless pretty good. My one complaint with his work is his insistence on telling and not showing. While not a cardinal sin, it does irk me a bit at times.
This book's depressive nature strikes very close to home for me, having grown up in a rural village in Trinidad as well. The characters are recognizable, but the tendency of describing them like the way Shiva does takes way from their human-ness. A good read if you already like West Indian fiction. If not, and this is your first book, pick something else up first, preferably Selvon or VS.
While the less celebrated Naipaul brother doesn't have a massive list of accolades nd titles to his name, his writing is nonetheless pretty good. My one complaint with his work is his insistence on telling and not showing. While not a cardinal sin, it does irk me a bit at times.
This book's depressive nature strikes very close to home for me, having grown up in a rural village in Trinidad as well. The characters are recognizable, but the tendency of describing them like the way Shiva does takes way from their human-ness. A good read if you already like West Indian fiction. If not, and this is your first book, pick something else up first, preferably Selvon or VS.
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May 8, 2025"Nobelprijswinnaar V.S. Naipaul? Nee joh, je moet zijn broer Shiva Naipaul lezen."
Ik kan niet wachten tot ik dit onuitstaanbaar kan opwerpen in een of ander pretentieus gesprek.
Nu serieus: dit boek staat vol met grandioze persoonlijkheidsbeschrijvingen in uiterst detail. De tijd die alles aantast, strijkt bijna per ongeluk voorbij, terwijl je verdrijfzandt in de stille en minder stille wrokken van Ramsaran, de Bholais, Wilbert, Sushila en Sita. Het einde, waar eindelijk naar de titel verwezen wordt, klopt helemaal.
Ik kan niet wachten tot ik dit onuitstaanbaar kan opwerpen in een of ander pretentieus gesprek.
Nu serieus: dit boek staat vol met grandioze persoonlijkheidsbeschrijvingen in uiterst detail. De tijd die alles aantast, strijkt bijna per ongeluk voorbij, terwijl je verdrijfzandt in de stille en minder stille wrokken van Ramsaran, de Bholais, Wilbert, Sushila en Sita. Het einde, waar eindelijk naar de titel verwezen wordt, klopt helemaal.
February 11, 2022
A grim tale of the fraught Ramasaran family and its affiliates - exquisitely told. Shiva Naipaul remains one of the extraordinary Carribean talents (Bend in the River is the other masterpiece he has created). Carefully crafted, deeply affecting - and mostly unsympathetic - characters, held together by a powerful storyline with deep connections to life in Trinidad.
January 23, 2022
Elicited mixed feelings of the limitations/confines of Indo-Trinidadian cultural statues but also pride of perseverance and roots.
January 5, 2024
Don't bother ... its awful
August 10, 2024
i’m not sure that i liked a single character but i still loved this book and the way it was written
February 6, 2017
Riveting read. In the enigma called life, ambitions can make you achieve anything. Alas ! life is never glossy. Your frailties lingers around you all the time. It is such a difficult book to read yet so enthralling. Jealousy, freedom of making your own mistakes, poverty, ambition, lack of it, needs - can make you do weird and miraculous things.
Read Shiva Naipaul for the boldness and compelling narration. What a talent he has been and Alas ! what he would have been, had life been on his side.
Simply impactful !!
Read Shiva Naipaul for the boldness and compelling narration. What a talent he has been and Alas ! what he would have been, had life been on his side.
Simply impactful !!
May 13, 2007
Okay, so I am a bit obsessed with Trinidad, but I really liked this novel by V.S.'s younger brother (who isn't as well known mainly because he died tragically young). For all the same reasons as I like Naipaul: unforgiving realism, amazing dialogue, great social commentary.
February 25, 2009
The story of a man called Egbert Ramsaran. Wanted to read something by Shiva Naipaul. It wasn't an easy read as it wasn't in a style I was used to. I liked reading about the 'East' Indian community in Trinidad and the characters stayed with me.
Want to read
September 5, 2012KOBOBOOKS
Reviewed by The Guardian (23 Mar 2012)
Reviewed by The Guardian (23 Mar 2012)
May 26, 2008
1977 Whitbread Novel
An interesting look at one family's life in Trinidad.
An interesting look at one family's life in Trinidad.
April 16, 2020
A book so depressing it is hard to really think about whether it is good or not.
February 26, 2024
a book about mostly awful people… i loved it
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews