Literary Occasions: Essays
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Here the subject is Naipaul’s literary evolution: the books that delighted him as a child; the books he wrote as a young man; the omnipresent predicament of trying to master an essentially metropolitan, imperial art form as an Asian colonial from a New World plantation island. He assesses Joseph Conrad, the writer most frequently cited as his forebear, and, in his celebrated Nobel Lecture, “Two Worlds,” traces the full arc of his own career. Literary Occasions is an indispensable addition to the Naipaul oeuvre, penetrating, elegant, and affecting.
V. S. Naipaul
V.S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession. His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now. In 1990, V.S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 2018.
Related to Literary Occasions
Related ebooks
The Fables of Ivan Krylov Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaras Bulba and Other Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaras Bulba & Other Tales: 'Whatever you may say, the body depends on the soul'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House of the Dead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFathers and Sons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Russian Short Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Slav Soul & Other Stories: 'Perhaps many of the things that I recall never happened to me'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings3 books to know Anti-heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDostoevsky in Love: An Intimate Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The House of the Dead: “Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering...” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adolescence of Zhenya Luvers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5We Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lara: The Untold Love Story and the Inspiration for Doctor Zhivago Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under Western Eyes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Best Russian Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Weavers: The Bestseller of 1907 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHave Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings3 books to know Literary Realism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Precipice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Book of Best Short Stories - Specials - Russia: Volume 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder Western Eyes (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassical Russian Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prison Life in Siberia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBest Russian Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFathers and Sons: 'His excitement seemed even to outdo his son's'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFathers and Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Literature in the Making, by Some of Its Makers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diary of Satan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDEAD SOULS - Gogol Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Criticism For You
Verity: by Colleen Hoover | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Seduction: by Robert Greene | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Man's Search for Meaning: by Viktor E. Frankl | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 48 Laws of Power: by Robert Greene | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Virtues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Behold a Pale Horse: by William Cooper | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Thorns and Roses: A Novel by Sarah J. Maas | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/512 Rules For Life: by Jordan Peterson | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Habit: by Charles Duhigg | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain | Conversation Starters Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Circe: by Madeline Miller | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moby Dick (Complete Unabridged Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Reader’s Companion to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: A National Book Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters to a Young Poet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History: by Donna Tartt | Conversation Starters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.by Brené Brown | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Literary Occasions
20 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From what I have read about him, Naipaul is a harsh person, so I approached this cautiously, but I found his prose thoroughly enjoyable, although I have currently shelved his fiction writing. I was interested in his perceptions as an outsider, an Indian immigrant in Trinidad, and then later as an immigrant to England on scholarship. In this I was completely gratified, as I felt it worked the empathy muscles extensively, expressed in clear prose.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This series of essays was somewhat disappointing. Since many were written at various occasions, they are either very repetitive or, taken out of context, somewhat unsatisfactory. There are however nuggets of wisdom. I particularly enjoyed Naipaul's take on identity, the evolution of the novel and the need to redefine literature in a global context.