VS Naipaul, Nobel Prize winning author dies at 85
It was announced on Saturday that Nobel Prize-winning author, VS Naipaul, met his demise at age 85.
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in Trinidad. He was the son of an Indian civil servant. He studied English at Oxford University on a scholarship. He was critical of colonialism but set himself apart from any movements.
In his long-running literary career, he wrote more than 30 books. These include books like A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr. Biswas.
His wife, Lady Naipaul, called him a “giant in all that he achieved”. She said he died at his home in London “surrounded those he loved, having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour”.
Geordie Greig, editor of the Mail on Sunday and a close friend, said his death leaves a “gaping hole in Britain’s literary heritage”, but there is “no doubt” that his “books live on”.
American travel writer Paul Theroux, who had a bitter 15-year feud with Sir Vidia before reconciling, said: “He will go down as one of the greatest writers of our time.”
Paying tribute to his friend, who he said had been in poor health, Theroux added: “He also never wrote falsely”.
“He was a scourge of anyone who used a cliché or an un-thought out sentence. He was very scrupulous about his writing, very severe, too.”
Salman Rushdie, who also disagreed repeatedly with Sir Vidia, said he was “as sad as if I just lost a beloved older brother”.
Sir Vidia, who was a broadcaster for the BBC’s Caribbean service between 1957 and 1961, was one of the first winners of the Booker Prize, for In A Free State, in 1971. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2001.
We wish peace to the spirit of VS Naipaul. There is no doubt in the fact that his novels shall act as his immortal legacy, gifted to the world.
