While Gods Are Falling

Earl Lovelace

In 1962 his first novel, While Gods Are Falling, won the Trinidad and Tobago Independence literary competition. 

Earl Lovelace, (born July 13, 1935, Toco, Trinidad), West Indian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright celebrated for his descriptive, dramatic fiction about West Indian culture. Using Trinidadian speech patterns and standard English, he probes the paradoxes often inherent in social change as well as the clash between rural and urban cultures.

Exposing the political and cultural failure to address the challenges of postcolonial Trinidad, this insightful novel portrays a world where the working man must face the crime and violence that is destroying the social body. Walter Castle is dissatisfied with his regular job in the Laventille slum in Port of Spain. As the prospect of promotion is bleak and crime and lawless youth become insupportable, he dreams of going back to the village community he grew up in. Unfortunately, the force of nostalgia is not supported by actual memories and as Walter abandons his dreams he is forced to choose between turning into a drone who passes through life without leaving a mark, or standing up for himself. Originally published in 1965, this story remains surprisingly contemporary with its astringent critique of the top-down authoritarianism of nationalist politics.

Binding:  Hard cover with dust jacket

Book Condition: The book is in fairly good condition. The dust jacket has a few tears and the bottom of the spine is missing - see photos.

Edition: First Edition. Published by Collins, 1965

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