To many literary critics, the answer to the question of who is the greatest living English Language writer is V.S Naipaul.
V.S Naipaul has enthralled readers with his captivating novels and non-fiction writing. He has a distinctive writing style full of authority, charm and the ability to transplant his readers to another time and place.
Born in the small Caribbean Island of Trinidad, Naipaul’s grand parents had made the voyage from India in the 19th century and much of his finest work deals with the world of the migrant in Trinidad, a world far detached from Indian culture.
Of his dozens of superb works of fiction these are perhaps his finest novels.
Miguel Street is an often hilarious fictional account of Naipaul’s childhood in Trinidad and the lives of ordinary Trinidadian Indians. Sadness is never far away, but comedy is the driving narrative.
A House for Mr Biswas. Naipaul’s first successful book is set in Trinidad and follows the ups and downs of Mr Biswas in business and family life. Full of marriage and family politics the book has some of the greatest prose ever written.
In a free state. This book has three separate short tales, but with an overriding story. The first tale is of an Indian servant who accompanies his diplomat master to the USA. The second story is of rural third world migrants moving to London in the 1950’s. The third is a story of wealthy English settlers in Africa.
A bend in the River. The story is about an intrepid Indian shopkeeper moving his business to an unnamed country in central Africa while all around him colonial Africa is breaking up.
Half a life. The story of the son of a Brahmin father and a Dalit mother leaves India as a young man to study in London. He struggles as a writer, falls in love and wanders through life looking for direction. A poignant powerful piece of work is concluded in a second book Magic Seeds.
