The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 1 May 2007
by V. S. Naipaul
At just sixty-four pages, this is a short but rich essay written by Naipaul for the Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust in 2000. In it, the Nobel-winning author reflects upon his childhood, his youth, and his development as a writer of novels and of another unnamed genre. The first part takes place in Trinidad, where Naipaul spent his childhood in a multicultural society and within a particularly British style of education. He recalls his father's literary ambitions, and the color of his own reading as a result of that influence. He yearns to be a writer, and waits to feel the inspiration flow over him. But the inspiration takes its time, and it is years and thousands of miles later when Naipaul finally finds his writerly footing. And when he does, we enter the second half of this book. Here, Naipaul reflects upon the difficult business of storytelling. Novels, he says, are a good place to start. The history of the novel is already played out, though, and the idea and purpose of a novel now necessarily have nothing new to offer. At least to Naipaul, as he explores the intricate cultural history of his roots in India. He delved into travel writing and memoir, but finds no specific genre or style to be sufficient to the task. Certainly, his focus is on the limitations of the novel. But the implication is that there is some other, perhaps hybrid, structure through which he can hope to approach the emotional and historical complexities of a place like India. This is a thoughtful and rich piece of writing, even in so small a space. The author doesn't offer any definitive answers, but does offer quite a lot of food for thought.
(Naipaul was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize for literature.)
Also by Naipaul: [The Enigma of Arrival]