I am a fan of the writing of both Paul Theroux and V.S. Naipaul and was interested by this account of their falling out mainly due to a a memorable experience I had that concerned Naipaul. It seems he was being hosted by The Japan Foundation and was appearing at a panel discussion in Tokyo circa 1997. I was familiar with a few of his books and I was absolutely floored at what a pompous ass he was. He said things such as, "I put Africa on the map! No one was writing about Africa until I was!" He dismissed people left right and center, and nonetheless audience members were sucking up to him, "Sir Naipaul, what do you think of George Orwell?" His second wife Naidra, the one he left his dying first wife for, leaned over and took this question for him! "He loves Orwell, he is big fan of Orwell." I was incredulous that this arrogant man would allow his wife to speak for him and that he brings her to panel discussions! These were the things I witnessed. Still, I could not deny that he was a gifted writer and had many interesting and worthwhile things to say in his writing. I also knew that the advance reviews of Theroux's book on their lengthy friendship and break up, Sir Vidia's Shadow (1998), which did not put Naipaul in a good light, had to be true to life, due to what I had witnessed that day. Imagine my chagrin when in the second chapter of Theroux's book, when Naipaul was 34 visiting Kampala, says, without irony:
'I have been compared with Orwell. Imagine. In a review. It was meant to be a compliment.' And he laughed again. 'It was lost on me. I have a very low opinion of Orwell's writing.'
The book is full of other such contentious statements, it seems Naipal likes to provoke people. Interesting that in most cases Theroux would let such remarks pas without challenging him because he valued Naipla's opinion and was grateful for his support and encouragement over the years. Most of the book follows the careers and developments of the two writers as they both gained stature in the world of books. Theeroux's portrait is very forgiving up until the incidents that fuel the falling out (Vidia's wife Pat's death, his new marriage, sharing a stage at a literary festival, the selling of signed first editions of Theroux's to a book seller, a nasty fax from Vidia's new wife, and the ensuing silence, and chance encounter in London where Vidia tells Theroux he has made no mistake about his intentions). That is aside from that, there was somewhat unflattering portrait of Vidia's brother Shiva who died in 2009. In a postscript where the two writers bury the hatchet in 2011 at the literary festival that was the beginning of the end for the friends. I have read more books by Theroux than Naipaul, so his perspective on his career was of great interest to me. That being said I have only read a few of Naipaul's books (A Bend in the River, Guerillas, Among the Believers, and Beyond Belief), all of which I liked, so Theroux's assessment of several of the others has landed them on my to read list. For me it was more of a memoir than a hatchet job, but it is also that.
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