。 In an exclusive interview with The Paper, the elderly Naipaul still showed his usual wisdom and sharpness.
In August 2014, Naipaul (center) and his wife Nadira (left) attend a forum at the Shanghai Book Fair. The Surging News Kou Cong figure
Naipaul loved the picture so much that he held a lion cub.
In 2014, from August 10 to 12, 82-year-old V.S. Naipaul spent three days in Shanghai, the message conveyed by readers and the media felt very complicated and could not be directly expressed. Naipaul, who appeared at Pudong Airport on Aug. 10, was so weak that there were fears that he would be able to complete his week-long trip to Shanghai; at the media conference on Aug. 11, the protagonist was his wife, Nadira, who was just quietly listening and listening on stage. Everyone was a little disappointed.
At the Shanghai International Literature Week forum on August 12, 2014, Naipaul was described as a "vase." Everyone wants to meet the real Nobel laureate Naipaul. When Naipaul was reluctant to talk about it and wanted to have more communication with Chinese readers and translators, it was the writers and readers present who were not prepared, and in silence, Naipaul had to leave the podium helplessly.
Perhaps, the Naipaul we imagine is not Naipaul himself. He was angry, quarrelsome and had bad relations with most British writers in his youth, but now that he's 82, Nadira says he's become "moderate". This gentle Naipaul has left us at a loss.
"He taught me to use chopsticks, but he can't use chopsticks now, his hands are too weak." Nadira said. During the meal, the waiter poured Naipaul a little wine, and only after a few sips did Nadira say to her husband, "Enough for today!" At the dinner table, Nadira told the www.thepaper.cn that she admitted that she was tough and that she answered many questions for Naipaul, "I have to protect him, this is my duty as a writer's wife." Everyone misunderstood me. ”
Nadira also wanted to be a writer, and she read every book of Naipaul and imitated Naipaul to write, but the editor told her, "You can see that you are imitating Naipaul, but you can never write better than him." Years later, Nadira, a fan, married Naipaul.
Dinner was a typical Chinese banquet meal, and the other Chinese guests at the table were a little nervous, and Nadira asked the surging news reporter: "Why do everyone eat so little?" "Because it's nerve for everyone to sit with you." There wasn't much to eat at the table for them because they were vegetarian.
The delay of coming to China for so many years is actually a pity for Naipaul. Nadira said: "Naipaul actually wanted to come to China for a long time, but one thing he can't accept is your attitude towards animals. ”
"Is it because we eat everything?"
"No, he thinks you don't treat animals well. He loves animals. He would love to write a book about China and live in China for a longer period of time, such as a year in college. But that's impossible, you know, he's too old. Nadira said of her husband, the great writer Naipaul, "now a lion sleeping in winter." ”
Naipaul's "Half a Life"
Naipaul's "Big River Bay"
The following is an exclusive interview with Naipaul by the surging reporter, Naipaul's wife Nadira also added to the question.
The Paper: Have you ever expected to have a lot of readers in China?
Naipaul: I never expected, but then I found out that there would be so many people reading my work in China. I began to think that it was just politeness, but I found that everyone was really familiar with me.
The Paper: Several writers have publicly stated that your work has had an impact on them.
Naipaul: That's great.
The Paper: But when you showed up at the readers' meeting that day (August 11), you surprised us. Because in everyone's impression, you should be an angry person.
Naipaul: I think my images are all made by journalists, and sometimes it's hard for them to look at me out of the box.
The Paper: So what we saw that day was a real Mr. Naipaul?
Naipaul: I don't know.
Nadira: Actually Mr. Naipaul's personality has been changing. In his youth, he was indeed an angry man and had difficulty putting up with stupid people. But as he got older, he became more and more moderate.
The Paper: Actually, everyone came that day because they wanted to hear more about you. But you are so quiet, you say very little, more often you are observing, like a Zen master, you seem to have insight into everything.
Naipaul: I'm happy to be considered a Zen master, and I'm happy to be considered insightful. It's more important to observe, to see, rather than to talk non-stop. As I said, it is up to the reader to judge by what they see, not by listening to the author.
The Paper: What surprised everyone even more was your humility. For example, you say that you can't write books about China because you have too little time to spend.
Naipaul: Writing about a place that requires a lot of information and experience, a few days stay, it's not enough. To write a book about China, I think it will take at least a year.
The Paper: The publisher asked us to use the photo of you holding a lion cub when we published your photo. Why do you love that picture?
Naipaul: Because it's so beautiful. I hope the little lion is still living very well. I feel like in Africa, they're not very good at animals, and I care a lot about that little lion.
Nadira: He really cares about the animals and the welfare of the animals. In fact, the lion was an orphan at the time.
The Paper: You're a Leo!
Naipaul: I don't believe in constellations.
Nadira: He's very sane and has nothing to do with horoscopes.
The Paper: When you were young, was you a lion?
Naipaul: Yes.
Nadira: Now he's a lion sleeping in winter.
The Paper: The first sentence of your work "Great River Bay" is "The world is as it is", which is also the title of the biography written for you by Patrick. What is the relationship between the two?
Naipaul: The name of that biography has nothing to do with me, that sentence is just the beginning of Big River Bend. The publication of that biography was a mistake.
The Paper: But unfortunately, the biography was also translated into Chinese published.
Naipaul: Really!
Nadira: That's terrible!
The Paper: I noticed in some articles that Mr. Naipaul believes that he has no talent for writing, is that really the case?
Naipaul: That's a misquotation.
Nadira: Naipaul thinks that writing is hard work, that he will drain 99% of your efforts, maybe only 1% of your talent, and that's what Naipaul does. He came step by step, he started by writing comedy works, each one is different, like a brick, each piece is on the front piece, so he has long, non-fiction, travelogue... These pieces are like pearls, which end up with a perfect necklace.
The Paper: Turning to the title page, it's a long catalog of creations. At your age, will you be surprised to see that you have written so many works in your life? Your father wanted to be that kind of writer?
Naipaul: Yes, I would be surprised too. But that never made me think of my father. Because a person is working in his own field, with his own talent. And I write, not because my father told me to do it, but by myself. I will respect my father, but I will not regret him because of it.
The Paper: In many of your works, we will see the appearance of your father's figure. We would envy that he didn't stop you from writing.
Naipaul: Actually, if you want to write, you have to write, love to write, insist on writing, don't think about what other people think, don't think about your family.
Nadira: His whole life has been born as a writer, and he is a work. He hadn't done anything else in his life, he was a writer. But when he was young, he also had difficult times, and his works could not be published, but he survived. Because he had faith in his heart, he wanted to be a writer. If you want to be a writer, your family, your father, or your mother can't stop you, but life is still difficult. When our daughter was choosing who to marry, I said, if you choose a writer, I'm going to beat you.
The Paper: Can you say that you have no religious beliefs, but only believe in yourself?
Naipaul: Yes, I only believe in myself.
The Paper: But your wife is religious. Will this be in conflict?
Nadirah: Religion doesn't pose a problem for us. I was born into a Muslim family, but I myself later resisted Islam because it suppressed women, and I think this religion needs reform. Religion doesn't pose a problem, I only believe in myself, so there's no conflict. We also celebrate Christmas, any holiday, we should celebrate.
The Paper: I like "Half a Life", the protagonist willie in it, keeps starting over, constantly looking for his own life. At this age, do you think you have reached your goal in life?
Nadira: He also loves Half Life. Willie has been looking for life, have you found your own life?
Naipaul: I don't know.
The Paper: In "Big River Bend", it begins with Salim coming to River Bay Town and ends with leaving. So where should he go, you didn't give directions.
Naipaul: He might go to London. But that's not to say london is the end, just a stop.
The Paper: As you can see from this, you seem to be asking only questions.
Naipaul: I think that's what writers do, they ask questions but don't give answers, leaving the reader to look for it for themselves. Through reading, find the essence.
The Paper: As a writer who only asks questions, you are certainly not the kind of writer who is willing to get involved in politics, but at the same time, your writing is all about politics.
Nadira: Because he's curious about everything. Once he goes looking for answers out of curiosity, he finds flaws in everything. That's why he's reluctant to get involved in politics. But Naipaul believes in the truth, and although we cannot find the truth, we can approach the truth.
The Paper: "The Great River Bend" predicts many things in Africa, which talks about the development of new territories dominated by big people after the independence of a certain African country. The writer said that this was a prophecy of African reality, but this kind of thing is happening in China, where there are new territories, new areas.
Naipaul: That's so interesting. When I wrote this book, I never considered China, nor did I expect that there would be such similarities in China. Yes, maybe all third world countries have this similarity.
The Paper: "Miguel Street", "Mr. Bisworth's House", "Great River Bay", "Half Life", etc., most of your works actually have your own personal experience. You broke the individual into all your novels, and it reminds me of Proust.
Naipaul: But I'm so different from him. Proust only wrote about his specific class and life, but their lives were so different from mine.
The Paper: So what if you compare them to Conrad, Kipling, Maugham? They also wrote about the overseas colonies of the British Empire.
Nadira: He'll be very happy.
Naipaul: I'll be happy.
Nadira: They are all writers who nourish the world. My husband wants young people to learn about Africa and Islam through his books.
The Paper: It seems that from your work, you don't like life at Oxford University. Is this also the case?
Naipaul: After leaving Oxford, I hated Oxford more and more. I didn't learn anything at Oxford, I taught myself and grew on my own.
The Paper: Do you often think of the difficult days when your writing was in its infancy?
Nadira: When he left Oxford, he had only £5 in his pocket. Tough days are not two days a day, but a year or two. He had a firm conviction that he would become a writer, a true writer, a great writer, and when Miguel Street and Mr. Besworth's House were rejected by the publishers, he continued to write. So, he will become an angry man.
The Paper: In your work, "Our Universal Civilization" is a very special book, and the works in it can even be used as textbooks written by journalists.
Naipaul: I'm glad you'll like it, and I'm glad you see this book that way.
Nadira: This is a book for writers, a model for writers to write.
The Paper: There are two very special articles in it, one about Norman Mailer (American writer) and one about Steinbeck (American writer).
Naipaul: Some people say I'm studying Norman Mailer's character, that's nonsense, I just like the dramatic scenes when he ran for mayor of New York. I like the concept of theater.
The Paper: What about Steinbeck?
Naipaul: It doesn't matter at all.
The Paper: Ask Nadira a question, after the meeting that day, everyone thought you were a very tough woman, would you argue?
Nadira: I'm such a woman. When I was a child, the status of men was like god, and as a girl, there was only constant struggle. That's why I'm willing to marry a fighter. I lived happily with the Gladiator (referring to Naipaul). Sometimes there would be quarrels, but he was very smart, he didn't talk, so he won.
(Final Easter Egg: Unlike most of those present, the Naipauls were actually quite kind and friendly.) After the visit, the couple told the surging news reporter that when they returned to Shanghai from Hangzhou, they would have a meal with the reporter and his big-bellied wife. ）