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V. S. Naipaul

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V. S. Naipaul

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1932-08-17 （Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago）
Died
2018-08-11 （London, England） age 85
Nationality
Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Religion
Hinduism (family background)
Residence History
Chaguanas (childhood) → Port of Spain (youth) → Oxford (education) → London (long-term residence) → Kampala (writer-in-residence)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Travel writer, Essayist
Active Years
1957-2010
Affiliations
Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (FRAS)
Memberships
Royal Asiatic Society (Fellow)
Influenced By
Joseph Conrad, His father Seepersad Naipaul and the household literary environment
Influenced
Writers such as Paul Theroux and other postcolonial authors, Generations of postcolonial writers
Nominations
Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1973) — nominated by Artur Lundkvist

Education

University College, Oxford
Humanities (English) / English
Degree: BA（セカンドクラス）、B.Litt.（未取得）
Period: 1950–1953
Year of Graduation: 1953
Country: United Kingdom
Went to Oxford on a Trinidad government scholarship. Attempted B.Litt. but did not obtain the degree.

Awards

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
1958
Work: The Mystic Masseur
Organization: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (awarding body)
Result: 受賞
Somerset Maugham Award
1961
Work: Miguel Street
Organization: Somerset Maugham Award (awarding body)
Result: 受賞
Booker Prize
1971
Work: In a Free State
Organization: Booker Prize (The Booker Prizes)
Result: 受賞
Jerusalem Prize
1983
Organization: Jerusalem Prize (awarding body)
Result: 受賞
Trinity Cross
1990
Organization: Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Result: 受賞
Knight Bachelor
1990
Organization: The Crown / UK Honours
Result: 叙爵（受章）
Nobel Prize in Literature
2001
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A House for Mr Biswas

1961 Novel (social novel) 320 pages

A novel following Mohun Biswas's life in Trinidad and his struggle for independence, blending humour and pathos; one of Naipaul's breakthrough works.

Colonial societyIdentity and independenceFamily dynamics

In a Free State

1971 Short stories / Novella collection 160 pages

A collection containing short stories and the title novella addressing postcolonial chaos and alienation; awarded the Booker Prize.

DecolonizationAlienationViolence and instability

A Bend in the River

1979 Novel (political fiction) 320 pages

Set in an imaginary interior African state, the novel explores post-independence turmoil and individual fate, examining the legacy of empire and nascent states.

Legacy of empireHistory and the individualPostcolonial anxieties

The Enigma of Arrival

1987 Novel (strongly autobiographical) 272 pages

A reflective novel about travel, settlement in the English countryside, and an author's maturation; noted for its prose and philosophical meditations.

MemoryTravel and arrivalThe act of writing

The Mimic Men

1967 Novel (experimentally structured) 208 pages

An experimentally structured novel set on an imagined island, intertwining politics, personal history, and self-deception during decolonization.

Mimicry and identityPolitical illusionFragmented memory

Miguel Street

1959 Short story collection (linked stories) 160 pages

A linked collection of stories set in Port of Spain, blending humour and acute human observation; an early notable work.

CommunityComing-of-age and lossColonial life

The Mystic Masseur

1957 Novel (satirical) 192 pages

A satirical debut novel set in Trinidadian society; its publication launched Naipaul's literary career.

HumourSocial satireAmbition and deceit

Bibliography

  • The Mystic Masseur (1957)
  • The Suffrage of Elvira (1958)
  • Miguel Street (1959)
  • A House for Mr Biswas (1961)
  • The Middle Passage (1962)
  • An Area of Darkness (1964)
  • The Mimic Men (1967)
  • In a Free State (1971)
  • A Bend in the River (1979)
  • The Enigma of Arrival (1987)
  • A Way in the World (1994)
  • Half a Life (2001)
  • Magic Seeds (2004)
  • The Masque of Africa (2010)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Clear, economical, observational proseIronic and often unsparing viewpointTechnique that moves between fiction and nonfiction
Recurring Motifs
Colonialism and its legacyMovement, travel, and alienationClash between personal memory and history

Health

  • Depression / nervous breakdown
    1952（大学在学中）
    Experienced a period of mental illness while at Oxford in 1952, affecting his writing and life for a time.

Legacy

Internationally acclaimed for piercing portrayals of the legacy of colonialism and migrant societies; awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. His work has also provoked controversy, particularly over portrayals of Africa and Islam.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Asiatic Society (Fellow)

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited in postcolonial literature debates and university courses.
  • Major works translated worldwide and subject to extensive scholarly study.

Quotes

  • Where there had been swamp at the foot of the Northern Range, with mud huts with earthen walls that showed the damp halfway up ... there was now the landscape of Holland...
    Source: The Enigma of Arrival (1987) (1987)

Trivia

  • His father Seepersad Naipaul was an English-language journalist and influenced his literary ambitions.
  • He suffered a period of mental illness while at Oxford.
  • He was knighted in 1990 and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.