“without memories, regrets and hopes.”
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V. S. Naipaul
Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was a Trinidad and Tobago-born British writer renowned for his works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienation in the wider world, and his vigilant chronicles of life and travels. He wrote in prose that was widely admired, but his views sometimes aroused controversy. He published…
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culture · Trinidadian writer (1932–2018) · writer · novelist · journalist · essayist · short story writer · travel writer · also V. S. Naipaul, Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, V.S. Naipaul, Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, Naipaul
Born 17 August 1932 · Died 11 August 2018 · Q44593
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2026· 3 entries
“lived hectically, going out to kill again and again.”
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“t mind the abuse. I certainly did mind.”
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2023· 1 entry
The Guardian: Patrick French: the biographer of VS Naipaul was a generous collaborator with twinkling wit
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2018· 23 entries
Publishers Weekly: Books by V. S. Naipaul and Complete Book Reviews
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The Guardian: Letter: VS Naipaul obituary
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The Guardian: VS Naipaul remains a champion for immigrants and their children
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The Guardian: Diana Athill on VS Naipaul: ‘I worked very hard at keeping affection for him'
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The Guardian: VS Naipaul archive interview: 'a querulous, complaining traveller' - 4 October 1971
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Vulture: Remembering V.S. Naipaul, a Pioneer of Postcolonial Literature
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Wall Street Journal: Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul Dies at 85
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The Guardian: VS Naipaul's legacy is complex – but his writing must be celebrated
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NPR: Remembering Nobel Laureate And Author V.S. Naipaul
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CNN: This is the gift V.S. Naipaul gave me
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Yahoo: V.S. Naipaul, Nobel Prize-winning author, dies at 85
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The Washington Post: V.S. Naipaul, Nobel winner who offered ‘a topography of the void,’ dies at 85
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Died 2018-08-11.
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“It turns out now that the Arabs were the most successful imperialists of all time; since to be conquered by them (and then to be like them) is still, in the minds of the faithful, to be saved.”
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“If a writer doesn’t generate hostility, he is dead.”
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“Jestem pisarzem, o którego książkach ludzie myślą, że to inni je czytają.”
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“To this day, if you ask me how I became a writer, I cannot give you an answer. To this day, if you ask me how a book is written, I cannot answer. For long periods, if I didn't know that somehow in the past I had written a book, I would have given up.”
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Naipaul died at his home in London on 11 August 2018.
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“Moje siostry powychodziły za mąż zgodnie z tradycją; zakładano, że ja też się ożenię, gdy przyjdzie na mnie pora, i że przejmę dom rodzinny. Ale dość szybko uświadomiłem sobie, jeszcze będąc w szkole, że nasz sposób życia jest przestarzały i zbliża się jego kres.”
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“One isn't born one's self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people's ideas — and you have to work through it all.”
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“Opis: słowa rozpoczynające powieść”
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“Everybody is interesting for an hour, but few people can last more than two.”
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“One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.”
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2011· 1 entry
On the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of A House for Mr Biswas, and ten years after Naipaul had won the Nobel Prize in Literature, he dedicated the book to his late wife Patricia Anne Hale, who had died in 1996
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2003· 1 entry
Adopted Nadira's daughter, Maleeha, who was then 25
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2001· 1 entry
Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (2001).
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1995· 1 entry
As he was travelling through Indonesia with Gooding, his wife Patricia was hospitalised with cancer
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1993· 1 entry
Awarded International Nonino Prize (1993).
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1990· 2 entries
Awarded Knight Bachelor (1990).
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And the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001
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1987· 1 entry
The Enigma of Arrival, a novel in five sections, was published
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1983· 4 entries
Awarded Jerusalem Prize (1983).
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“A prologue to an autobiography”
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Would write:The book took three years to write
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And was awarded the Trinity Cross, Trinidad and Tobago's highest national honour, in 1990
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1980· 1 entry
Joan Didion offered the following portrayal of the writer:
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1979· 1 entry
Marks the beginning of his exploration of native historical traditions, deviating from his usual "New World" examinations
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1974· 1 entry
Naipaul wrote the novel Guerrillas, following a creative slump that lasted several years
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1973· 1 entry
Naipaul was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Artur Lundkvist of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee
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1972· 1 entry
Naipaul met and began an affair with Margaret Murray Gooding, a married Anglo-Argentine mother of three
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1971· 1 entry
Awarded Booker Prize for In a Free State (1971).
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1964· 1 entry
Awarded Hawthornden Prize (1964).
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1961· 1 entry
Awarded Somerset Maugham Award (1961).
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1958· 1 entry
And Miguel Street the Somerset Maugham Award in 1961, W
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1953· 1 entry
“That death and cremation were his private wound.”
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1952· 1 entry
At a college play, Naipaul had met Patricia Ann Hale, a history student
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1932· 1 entry
Born 1932-08-17.
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1929· 1 entry
Had begun contributing stories to the Trinidad Guardian, and in 1932 he joined the staff as the provincial Chaguanas correspondent
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1833· 1 entry
Slave labour was still in demand, and indenture was the legal contract being drawn to meet the demand
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