Book Reviews - Contemporary Fiction

[Oldposts]

Udhaya,
I read your review of Rushdie's Midnight's Children and I agree with all you say. But I dont know why you brought in Naipaul in the category of holier-than-thou expatriate writers. I have read 2 of Naipual's India travelogues. "An Area of darkness" and "India:A million..". In the first, Naipaul visits India for the first time and is confused more than anything else, by his experiences. He struggles to understand the country and his attempts for the most part take him only as far as the British rule. I didnt see much snickering in this, though you can argue that he did narrate the events, especially about some Indians he met and lived with, in a rather "snickery" fashion. In any case, I didnt see any malice or presumptousness. His second book was different. More mature, more insighful, more content.. and best of all, he found a lot to celebrate about the people he met and the country in large.

Vijay