The Dragon Can't Dance

1 About this book

The Dragon Can't Dance (1979) is a novel by Trinidadian author Earl Lovelace, his third to be published. Set in Port of Spain, the novel centres on the life of Aldrick Prospect, a man who spends the entire year recreating his dragon costume for Carnival.

Aldrick's interactions with other people who live in his neighbourhood (including Fisheye, a local hoodlum, and Pariag, a rural Indian who moves to the city to get away from his familial heritage) form the backdrop for their individual struggles for self-definition in a society dominated by its racial divisions and colonial legacies. The story culminates with Aldrick and Fisheye, along with a small number of followers, hijacking a police van and taking two police officers hostage.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

• Caribbean area
• Carnival
• Poor
• Social life and customs
• Social conditions
• Manners and customs
• Pauvres