Nepal Letters - Core Works of Nepal

Author: (British) V.S. Naipaul
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: "Even without opening the exquisite cover of this book, you can tell it is a rare and precious masterpiece. If modern writers could truly pause and step into the long tradition of letters, one day they would finally cultivate the discipline of V.S. Naipaul." – Robert Wondra, "New Leader" "A deeply moving book. The father figure throughout the book is commendable. Unlike many parents who place immense pressure on their children, he never made his beloved son feel guilty." – James Wood, "London Review of Books" "An engaging and introspective history of a soul." – Jason Cowley, "The Times" I really don’t know how I became a writer. I can provide exact dates and background about my writing career, but the process has always been mysterious. For example, the moment I decided to make writing my life’s ambition—to become a writer with fame and recognition—was mysterious; the aspiration had secretly come to me before I even dreamed of writing. – Naipaul: "On Writing" "The Death of the Novel"? For us, it’s better to view it this way: important literary forms are always evolving, new forms emerge, and new things take the lead. Nineteenth-century Europe held special significance and value for the development of the novel. I believe since then, Europeans might have felt there was nothing left to write about, but for the rest of the world, the nineteenth century held little such meaning. For instance, Asia lacks a literary tradition comparable to that of nineteenth-century Europe; it needed its own literature of the nineteenth century." – Naipaul Naipaul, the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, gained fame as a novelist, and this was deeply connected to his father. Although his son’s writing talent was not nurtured by his father, he expressed his earnest hopes for his son in every letter. This book is written in chronological order, serving as both a chronicle of Naipaul’s upbringing and an extraordinary, touching collection of correspondence. It is an extraordinary and moving collection of letters. In these exchanges between father and son, we see an aging man with unfulfilled ambitions and a heavy burden on his family, as well as a young man determined to till the vast fields of literature.