About this title: Writing with unique access to his memories and his private papers, and with great love for his formidable body of work, Patrick French brings us unique and often surprising insights into the most enigmatic and compelling literary figure of the last fifty years.Beginning in rich and evocative detail in Trinidad, where V. S. Naipaul was born into an East Indian family, he examines their early privations, Naipaul's first recollections, his life in the house on Luis Street, and his talent and fierce ambition at school, which won him a specially created scholarship to Oxford at the age of ...
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Description: Like New. 2009-Paperback-May contain minor shelf-wear. Otherwise, volume un-read and in "As-New" condition. -Used-Like New-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2008-11-04
ISBN-13:9781400044054ISBN:1400044057
Description: New. New, unread, unused & in perfect condition with no damaged or missing pages. This is a pre-release collectible paperback with plain cover. This book is the same isbn, but is a paperback. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780330433501ISBN:0330433504
Description: Very Good. Bumping to edges and extremities, otherwise brand new & unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400079803ISBN:1400079802
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PAN MACMILLAN Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780330440097ISBN:0330440098
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 450 pages. A biography of v s naipaul, nobel prize winner and one of the most compelling literary figures. it looks sensitively and unflinchingly at his relationsh1ps, his development as a writer and as a man, his outspokenness, his peerless creativity, and, his extraordinary and enduring position both outside and at the very centre of literary culture. illustrations (some col. ) (Paperback) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
Date Published: 2008-11-04
ISBN-13:9781400044054ISBN:1400044057
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781400044054. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781400044054ISBN:1400044057
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400079803ISBN:1400079802
Description: Good. Cover and pages may have some wear or writing. Binding is tight. We ship daily Monday-Friday. Delivery Confirmation included on all domestic orders. read more
Description: Good. 1400044057 HARDCOVER-IN GOOD CONDITION. Ex-library copy with normal library marks in front and back of book. Library code sticker on back and side of dust cover. If you do not mind this still a good reading copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780330440097ISBN:0330440098
Description: New. A biography of V S Naipaul, Nobel Prize winner and one of the most compelling literary figures. It looks sensitively and unflinchingly at his relationships, his development as a writer and as a man, his outspokenness, his peerless creativity, and, his... read more
"The beginning of the book, and even the first half or maybe three quarters is really interesting, but the last bit just sort of turns into a laundry list of all the things Naipaul has done that make him a horrible bastard. Whether this is wholly accurate, or simply how P. French chose to portray him (Naipaul requested no changes upon reading a manuscript, so it's doubtful that it's too misleading on Naipaul's character), it doesn't make for very enjoyable reading."
"This book was well-written and it shows Sir Vidia with all of his warts, of which there are very many. However, Naipaul is just such an odious character that I couldn't stay interested in his life. He treated his first wife just abysmally. He carried on an affair for 23 years of his marriage and, as soon as his first wife died, he dropped the mistress and married another woman many years younger than him. While there are some of his books that I have liked, especially some of the early ones, I just don't think the body of work stands up to the arrogant little p...k that he is."
"When asked to explain the symbolism of the bindi he said, "The dot means: my head is empty."
And what of Khomeini's fatwa on the author Salman Rushdie? "It's an extreme form of literary criticism."
With gems like these, it hard to decide if I will absolutely never or absolutely must read any of Naipaul's writing. The biography is long and sometimes dry. The beginning which details his childhood in Trinidad is, sadly, the best part of the 500-page book.
A bigoted, misogynistic racist who beat his mistress Margaret and humiliated his wife Pat by telling the New Yorker he was "a prostitute man," Naipaul married his second wife the day after his first wife's funeral! His private writing showcase a disgusting selfishness when he says he wishes Pat would die sooner so he could continue his work and make his transition easier. He alerted Margaret of his second marriage via a newspaper announcement after a 24-year long affair that sometimes left her face a pulpy mess.
As the book ends with the succinct closer: "Enough" ; I think I can agree."
"This has got to be one of the most detailed autobiographies I have ever read. His childhood days in Trinidad are chock full of those details - His father was a great writing teacher!"
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