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Literary Occasions

Literary Occasions

by V.S.Naipaul (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2004

    $3.47

  • Used

    Paperback 2003

    $7.14
Synopsis

Charting half a lifetime spent exploring the written word, these eleven articles include Naipaul's boyhood experiences of reading books and his first youthful efforts at writing them; the evolution of his ideas about the extent to which individual cultures shape identities and influence literary forms; Naipaul's observations on Conrad, his literary forebear; the moving preface he wrote to the only book his father ever published; and his reflections on his career, ending with his celebrated Nobel lecture `Two Worlds'.

A remarkable companion piece to The Writer and the World, Naipaul's previous volume of highly-acclaimed essays, Literary Occasions is a stirring contribution to the fading art of the critic, and a revelation of a life in letters.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 224
 Publisher: Picador
Published: 16 Jan 2004
ISBN 10: 0330420224
ISBN 13: 9780330420228

Media Reviews
He brings to [nonfiction] an extraordinary capacity for making art out of lucid thought. . . . I can no longer imagine the world without Naipaul's writing. --Vivian Gornick, Los Angeles Times Book Review
[Naipaul] has a genius for noticing, a genius for freezing the instant when meaning is born from the accidents of the everyday. . . . Each sentence pounces on its meaning, neat as a cat. -- The New York Review of Books
It is altogether tonic to have a writer such as V. S. Naipaul in our midst. -- The New York Times Book Review
Fascinating. . . . Poignant. . . . He shows an almost scientific precocity at being an observer and historian of his family's life. . . . A lean little guidebook to the making of a Nobel laureate. -- The Miami Herald
[Literary Occasions] shed[s] light on Naipaul's intellectual evolution and on the source of his social insight, his humor, and his gentle melancholy. -- The Boston Globe
Splendid. . . . Affecting. . . . The perfect complement to Naipaul's volume of travel and political essays, The Writer and the World, -- The Oregonian
[A] gift to the reading and writing public. . . . Literary Occasions is . . . an ideal place to make one's first acquaintance with Naipaul's literary universe. -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Deeply affecting. . . . Personally revealing. . . . Thoughtful clarity . . . characterizes all his prose. -- Richmond Times-Dispatch
Fascinating. . . . Naipaul truly is a writer for the world. -- The Tennessean
Nuanced, personal. . . . Naipaul's prose is a perfect combination of lucidity, elegance and gloom. -- The Telegraph (Calcutta, India)
Naipaul's essays play an importantpart in understanding this remarkable writer. . . . Those already familiar with his work will find their understanding greatly enhanced by these essays. -- The Sunday Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)
Superbly written. . . . [Naipaul is] a gifted and articulate writer whose prose, comments, and analysis force readers to closely inspect their own ideas. -- Nashville City Paper
Author Bio
V. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He is the award-winning author of more than fourteen works of fiction, including The Mystic Masseur, A House for Mr Biswas, A Bend in the River and Half a Life, and twelve works of non-fiction, including the acclaimed Indian trilogy comprising An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now . In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize in recognition of a 'lifetime's achievement of a living British writer'. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lives in Wiltshire.