What will you learn from this book
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Complex Personality: The biography reveals V.S. Naipaul as a complex and enigmatic figure, with both admirable qualities and significant flaws.
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Literary Genius: Despite his personal shortcomings, Naipaul's literary genius is celebrated throughout the biography, highlighting his contributions to English literature and his impact on the literary world.
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Roots in Colonialism: Naipaul's upbringing in Trinidad and his Indian heritage are explored, providing insights into how his colonial background influenced his worldview and writing.
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Struggles with Identity: The biography delves into Naipaul's struggles with identity and belonging, as he grappled with questions of race, ethnicity, and cultural heritage throughout his life.
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Impact of Family: Naipaul's relationships with his family members, particularly his complicated dynamics with his father and his troubled marriage to Patricia Hale, are examined in detail.
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Exploration of Colonial Legacy: Through Naipaul's work, the biography explores the lasting impact of colonialism on postcolonial societies, including themes of displacement, cultural dislocation, and identity crisis.
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Controversial Views: Naipaul's controversial views on race, religion, and politics are scrutinized, shedding light on the criticism and controversy that surrounded his public persona and literary works.
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Mentorship and Influence: The biography discusses Naipaul's relationships with mentors and literary figures who influenced his development as a writer, as well as his own mentorship of younger writers.
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Global Perspective: Naipaul's extensive travels and global perspective are highlighted, illustrating how his experiences in different countries and cultures shaped his writing and worldview.
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Legacy and Impact: The biography concludes with reflections on Naipaul's legacy and lasting impact on literature, as well as his complicated and sometimes contradictory place in the literary canon.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0330433504 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780330433501 |
| No of pages | 499 |
| Font Size | Medium |
| Book Publisher | Picador |
| Published Date | 04 Apr 2008 |
About Author
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Researched with the full co-operation of its Nobel Prize-winning subject, this is the first major biography of one of our greatest writers V.S. Naipaul is the most compelling literary figure of the last fifty years. Producing, uniquely, masterpieces of both fiction and non-fiction, his is a gift born of a forceful, visionary impulse.
With great feeling for his formidable body of work, and exclusive access to his private papers and personal recollections, Patrick French has produced a luminous and astonishing account of this enigmatic genius. V.S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad, into an Indian family. French examines early privations, Naipaul’s life within a displaced community and his talent and fierce ambition at school, which won him a scholarship to Oxford at the age of seventeen.
He describes how, once in England, homesickness and depression struck with great force, and the ways in which Naipaul, supported by his first wife, overcame his ‘double exile’, culminating in the production of early masterpieces such as A House for Mr Biswas, An Area of Darkness and In a Free State . Through the uncertainties of life in London, and later in Wiltshire, Naipaul and his wife were to stay together for over four decades, even after he embarked on an intense twenty-five-year love affair.
As his reputation grew, as prizes and accolades were bestowed, as a second wave of breathtaking creation generated A Bend in the River, Among the Believers and The Enigma of Arrival, Naipaul found and sustained an extraordinary position both outside and at the centre of literary culture. Researched with the full cooperation of its Nobel Prize-winning subject, Patrick French traces with sympathetic brilliance and devastating insight the roots of V.S. Naipaul’s unparalleled gift, in what will become a landmark in biography.