Half genius, half villain
This is what most people say about Naipaul. There are many controversial Nobel Prize writers, but the war of words caused by Teacher Nai is particularly strong and persistent, and if you participate in a "Nobel Prize with you", you can always be at the top of the hot search list.
In the words of the writer Lu Min, it is risky to tell Naipaul, "because many people don't like him very much, some don't like him as a person, some don't like his works, and some don't like both." ”
Selfish, snobbish, vicious, ruthless, rude, irritable...
It is hard to imagine that the human design has collapsed into such a teacher, and his works have been read by people all over the world.
However, in the eyes of the Mai family, perhaps because "Nobel is one of the few people on the earth to make the sun, anyone who is fortunate enough to be on this podium will be unfortunately exposed in the splendor, and every hair will be measured in the spotlight and fertile in the saliva." ”
When Naipaul first came to China in 2014, the Mai family, as one of the interlocutors, was able to meet the 82-year-old master, whose impression of Naipaul came from rumors and his works - "There is a fierceness in Naipaul's works, a deep coldness, sadness, and even despair." ”
But this meeting gave the Mai family and many Chinese writers a new understanding of the rumored Naipaul, including the host of the premiere of the Chinese edition of "Great River Bay".
Naipaul and Shinan
The "flammable and explosive" Naipaul in front of the public is not the Naipaul that Shu-an knows. Instead, Shi-an found him "elegant, funny, polite, and even a little shy." ”
Four years later, hearing of Naipaul's death (naipaul died on August 12, 2018 at the age of 85), Ji'an recalled the night when he drank with Naipaul by the Huangpu River, and he was still moved.
Drifters in the literary world
"Naipaul was very old at that time, but he was still able to talk in private. During dinner, we talked about Japan, and Naipaul's wife asked Naipaul, 'Which aspect of Japan are you satisfied with and which aspect is deeply impressed', and Naipaul said, 'Everything'.
Naipaul's wife also introduced that Naipaul liked Kabuki, that she herself liked Noh dramas, and that they had bought some ukiyo-e as a collection. ”
Naipaul once said, "I can't have an answer before I go to a place, I have to read it, and I can't just read the newspapers, I have to go and see how the people over there live." ”
In Shinan's view, this is also the methodology of Naipaul's writing.
The "travel writing" of Naipaul's predecessors— the works of Robert Byron, Evelyn Waugh, and Peter Fleming— often took the form of escape. Naipaul's writing about India, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia is sometimes comical, but it's not the genre.
Naipaul "created the world" by his eyes and ears—
He listened to people: not only their opinions, but also their tone of voice, their precise choice of vocabulary, even their flickering words;
His eyes recorded everything at the same time: the costume, the posture, the expressions, the physical details that would allow him to paint the white precisely, like a lepidoptera expert studying butterflies. ”
Whether writing fiction or non-fiction, Naipaul's voice is personal because he draws material from personal experience.
This is why Naipaul liked Japan so much, but never wrote about it, because he felt that he was less familiar with Japan than he was with India, the Americas and other places.
Insight and prophethood
In The Road to the World, Naipaul once asked, "What is the basis of the writer's opinion?" What other worlds did he learn about, and what other experiences did he bring into his observations? ”
In Shinan's view, Naipaul is a world-class writer who transcends different civilizations and has a deep understanding of various civilizations.
He is the discerning man of our world, the critic of civilization:
"I think Naipaul is a lot like a prophet. It seems to exalt people too much by saying this, but we can understand the prophet as a person who stands at the end and speaks. We usually stand at the starting point and talk, there is a road in front of us, and we feel infinitely broad, but the person who is placed at the end, he can see how bumpy the road is, where it is not well repaired, which place is a pit, these former people can not know at all. ”
Thus, Naipaul's work has a prescient character, as if the whole course of the world is meant to prove his foresight as well as that of a prophet.
As a loyal reader of Naipaul, Shinan has a very high opinion of each of his works, and if he must choose one of them in particular, his choice is "Big River Bay".
In the dialogue, Ji An mentioned that although "Dahewan" is written in Africa' Congo, it is actually very similar to China, and Naipaul asked, why do you say that "Dahewan" is written like China?
……
👆 Click to listen to Shinan talk about Naipaul for an answer
Writing about the present is tantamount to seeing the future
At the launch of the Chinese version of "Big River Bay," Naipaul said:
"I think as long as you write very seriously and intently, it means that you are writing about the future. What you write now is equivalent to you seeing what will happen in the future, which is a way of looking at the world, and it is also my way of writing. That's how I wrote Big RiverBend, and that's how I wrote The False Mask of Africa. ”
In addition to "The Great River Bend" and "The False Mask of Africa", naipaul's writings are probably best known to Chinese readers for his early short story "Miguel Street", which has also influenced many Chinese writers.
The more famous nonfiction works are the "India Trilogy", "The Dark Country", "India's Wounded Civilization", "India's Millions of Rebellions Today", and the "Americas Trilogy" - "Revisiting the Caribbean", "The Lost El Dorado" and "The Turning Point in the South".
In Why Read Naipaul? ——Reminiscing with Shi-an the Master of Literature, Shi-an shares his own insights from reading these works.
For Shinan, there are many kinds of writers in this world, some writers are very talented, some writers maintain the position of intellectuals, and some writers are particularly familiar with a culture or the life underneath the culture, and they are known for their insight.
Naipaul embraces all of this, and even more he offers— he is one of the few writers in the world who is both profound and vast.
Of course, it is through their works that great writers attain eternal life and are with us, and the best way to remember them is probably to re-read them.
At that press conference in 2014, at the end of the conference, Shu An asked:
"Mr. Naipaul has written so many outstanding works, you are now over 80 years old, what regrets do you have in life or writing? If anything, can you say something? ”
Naipaul replied:
"There is a regret ..."
What is Naipaul's regret? Why do we need to read Naipaul? Follow Shinan and reminisce about the creative life of the literary master Naipaul.
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The main speaker of the small class
Zhi An is a biographer and essayist who has published more than 20 kinds of works, such as "Farewell", "Biography of Zhou Zuoren", "Reading Zhuang under the Tree", and "Diary of a Traveler". In August 2014, nobel laureate Naipaul accompanied and hosted the event on his only visit to China.
01 Impression of Naipaul
Villain genius? Wise old man?
Naipaul and Japan
02 The Prophet standing at the end
Discerning people? Critics? prophet?
Point out the symptoms to the world, but do not prescribe medicines
03 Drifters in the literary world
A lifetime of "unsatisfactory water"
Naipaul's writing methodology
04 Critics of civilization
What is the most recommended Naipaul work in Shinan?
Why is it written so much like China?
05 Writers of the Future Observer
What was Naipaul's position in criticizing civilization?
What is the significance of rereading Naipaul today?
Why Read Naipaul? 》
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