A FINAL BEND, Mr BISWAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surely, many will comment

with far more accuracy than I

on Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul's death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To me, he meant many hours of most enjoyable reading, long searches for words I guessed but did not quite grasp (most of them pidgin or related to typical Indian garments, food or habits) and numerous links to Lieve Joris and Naguib Mahfouz.

 

Sure, he was a "most peculiar man", now violent and irritable, then sweet and sensitive.

Typically, it is "A House for Mr Biswas" and "A Bend in the River" that I remember best*. I LOVED these books, everything in these books. They rank amongst the cleverests I have ever read. 

 

His critics may argue for ages about his so-called "neo-colonialism" and about his views on Islam. I think the descriptions he made are (were?) accurate and rendered honestly the reality at the time he wrote. Moreover, the politically-correct postures which some adopt nowadays on these topics irritates me.

 

His behaviours towards females in general and his wives or lovers in particular are not commendable, true, but he admitted quite freely to that ... faute avouée est à moitié pardonnée.

 

Coetzee, Mahfouz, García Márquez and Naipaul ... very good indeed.

 

Farewell, Vidia, you gave me a lot.

 

 

PS: don't ask me why, but I connect him to Leonard Cohen as well ... ?!? 

 

 

*: also read : Miguel Street / A Flag on the Island / In a Free State / Guerrillas / A way in the World /  Magic s Seeds and 

    The Middle Passage