The Loss of El Dorado
Encyclopedia
The Loss of El Dorado, by the Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul, is a history book about Venezuela
and Trinidad
. It was published in 1969.
The title refers to the El Dorado
legend.
Naipaul looks at the Spanish/British colonial rivalry in the Orinoco
basin, drawing on contemporary sources written in Spanish and English. The book examines the obsessive quest for gold which was typical of the first Europeans to explore the region. In particular, Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages are examined with a psychological depth more typical of novels than historical works.
In the second half of the book, the focus shifts to Trinidad around the beginning of the nineteenth century under British colonial rule, but Naipaul also looks at Venezuela's struggle for independence from Spain.
Like most of Naipaul's work, "The Loss of El Dorado" has received considerable critical recognition. On publication its admirers included the Cambridge historian John H. Plumb. However, the author has confessed to not being completely happy with his book. He reworked some of its material in a later book, A Way in the World
, where historical narrative is treated in a different way, and is in part rendered as fiction.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
. It was published in 1969.
The title refers to the El Dorado
El Dorado
El Dorado is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dived into a highland lake.Later it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors...
legend.
Naipaul looks at the Spanish/British colonial rivalry in the Orinoco
Orinoco
The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia...
basin, drawing on contemporary sources written in Spanish and English. The book examines the obsessive quest for gold which was typical of the first Europeans to explore the region. In particular, Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages are examined with a psychological depth more typical of novels than historical works.
In the second half of the book, the focus shifts to Trinidad around the beginning of the nineteenth century under British colonial rule, but Naipaul also looks at Venezuela's struggle for independence from Spain.
Like most of Naipaul's work, "The Loss of El Dorado" has received considerable critical recognition. On publication its admirers included the Cambridge historian John H. Plumb. However, the author has confessed to not being completely happy with his book. He reworked some of its material in a later book, A Way in the World
A Way in the World
A Way in the World is a 1994 book by Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul. Although it was marketed as a novel in America, A Way in the World is arguably something different.-Novel or sequence?:...
, where historical narrative is treated in a different way, and is in part rendered as fiction.