An Area of Darkness - Sir V.S. Naipaul

mbhcsf

in a way he was a bit struggled in finding / defining his identity in  those parts of the world . he was searching in which particular spot he could fit in...well he is not alone i guess

searching for an identity....

any psychoautobiograhy profiling being done on him?

thamrong

To commemorate the coming of Indian Summer today I offer to dig up my collections about India..To my surprise I have plenty of them. As I said earlier one of my favorite  title is 'Freedom by Midnight' which I share with my wife. Other collection are:

The last days of the Raj-Trevor Royle
Plain Tales from the Raj-Charle Allen
India- A Wounded Civilization-VS Naipaul
City of Joy-Dominique Lapierre
Maximum City ( Bombay lost and found)- Suketu Mehta
Delhi a Novel- Khushwant (Vulgar) Singh

thamrong

any psychoautobiograhy profiling being done on him?

Try this.Perhaps
V.S.Naipaul: a Critical Introduction by L. White (1975); CriticalPerspectives on V.S. Naipal, ed. by R.D. Hamner (1977);

thamrong

Hami! please read my posting #20 for clarification.

mbhcsf

Originally posted by thamrong at 19-5-2008 02:09 AM

Try this.Perhaps
V.S.Naipaul: a Critical Introduction by L. White (1975); CriticalPerspectives on V.S. Naipal, ed. by R.D. Hamner (1977);  

i was not born yet ....my oh my

mbhcsf

but it is rather intersting to see the appraisal made by the author ( the British ) on this gentleman jugak....hmm..
but the question when would that be..as i have not printed out my thesis as yet let alone for hard binding...

thamrong

Kerala a very fascinating state west of Tamil Nadu facing the Indian Ocean. Vegetation somewhat similar to peninsular Malaysia and you will  never miss home once you are in Cochin. I missed my chance to be there last year because I have to sit for my examination. It has long tradition of traders from the early day. Jews settled in Cochin since  1200 years ago. Long interaction with the Gulf Arabs brought Islam to  Malabar coast. Subsequently the Malabaris traders from Kerala introduced, Islam,spices and santan cookings to the Malays. Imagine what our cookings will taste like  without those early Mamak Kerala....hahaha.

hamizao

Hmmm.......... anglophile is perhaps a better word.

My sojourn with India or anything Indian was, apart from the tales told by my dear dad(God bless) from his pre-retirement world trip where he and mum (God bless) were left with little else but the clothes on their back. You see their luggage did not arrive! It was a public holiday and all shops were closed......Dad was a good story teller I assure you....

...is a book on Poolen Devi.....a revealation that I thought existed only in Bollywood story line.

Then "Hindu Manners, Customs And Ceremonies" by Dubois.....motivated by the Caste System and "The Big Bang" by Simon Singh. Am not sure the latter qualifies but at least the writer is an Indian descent. Heheh, am yet to move beyond page 22 (In The Beginning). The brain just couldn't move on!!!

Talking about "Darkness" have you tried "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, a somewhat influential novel of the 20th century.......speaks of the darkness the wanderer encounters in the dark continent, in both moral and physical................

hamizao

Tamil Country, ah, this is where the remification of caste is most numerouse to some. There are caste names like Moodelly, Agambady, Totiyar, Valeyan, Pallen and Pancalas to name a few. The latter are castes of artisans such as carpenters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, founders and general metal workers)

It seems that the Nair woman may take several husbands but usually maintain one at a time. The Nambudiris have a somewhat strange culture over girls who were usually married off before they reach puberty etc......etc....

Don't get me wrong...........I have high respect for the level of service the system had produced though. It's the details that can be mind blowing.

thamrong

Caste system, I believe, a misunderstood phenomena...

thamrong

Talking about "Darkness" have you tried "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, a somewhat influential novel of the 20th century.......speaks of the darkness the wanderer encounters in the dark continent, in both moral and physical................

Absolutely true! Conrad's style and narration has great influence on Naipaul...he even copy the title....But Conrad never step into Oxford he was only an l officer in the Merchant Navy..
Indian airports services are much to be desired..As I said earlier a real nightmare..the crowds and the traffics. Kalau nak board aircraft lagi teruk. I have seen a deputy minister from Malaysia being mishandled at Chennai because he insist to have extra hand luggage for boarding served him right.

[ Last edited by  thamrong at 19-5-2008 07:13 PM ]

thamrong

To VS Naipaul India is a difficult country.It is not his home and can never be his home. No matter how remote it is yet he cannot reject or indifferent to it.He is yearning to know and understand his ancestors motherland. The religious rituals, the people and the culture.
His ancestors migrated from the Gangetic plain a hundred years ago. India which he visited in 60s turned out to be a very strange land and repulsive. A hundred years had been enough to wash clean of many of his Indian attitudes and perceptions.

seribulan

Heart of Darkness...a psychological journey...the book refered to in the latest KING KONG movie...the scene on the ship...

mbhcsf

Originally posted by thamrong at 21-5-2008 10:43 AM
To VS Naipaul India is a difficult country.It is not his home and can never be his home. No matter how remote it is yet he cannot reject or indifferent to it.He is yearning to know and understand ...

that's to be expected i guess due to colonialisation. He would be , i rather say too "idealistic" if he would think that this South Asian continent  had not undergone social changes in the process... but then i am surprised for his being rather critical to his ancestoral motherland , he well could take a better stand i guess

mbhcsf

any interesting "conflict" between hsi expectation and the originaly held values / pre conceived ideas on what faced by the author?

redsinner

my gosh...u guys can keep on talking and finish each others sentences!

me...i only has V.S. Naipaul`s Beyond Belief.
while i know nothing about India, i can talk about Burmese glass palaces and its golden temple kingdom... aahhh so zen just imagining about it.

thamrong

Let us romencing about India...

Hyderabad originally a state perching on the Deccan plateau and has a  long history of Muslim rulers. Plenty of sunshine and clear sky akin to sunny California. Nizam of Hyderabad once the richest man on earth. Queen Victoria loves the Nizam for his collection of diamonds A free state within  post-independent India but freedom was short-lived when the Union abrogated the perjanjian and Hyderabad was broken into smaller states.

What is left of Hyderabad,  the capital of Andhra Pradesh  a bustling 400 year old metropolis with an urban population of 4.2 million people approximately. The city is cosmopolitan, and is richly endowed with a  variety of cultures. The city presents an attractive amalgam of old world charm together with ebullience of growth and enterprise ...high-tech stuffs. Beautiful old edifices built in the medieval, large glass and chrome temples of commerce.

hamizao

Tolonglah detailkan sikit.

thamrong

In chapter 2, the degree, tells us about Indian obsession anything English which includes English Education. Today, Indian top universities can be said as  among the elites in the world. IIT ( Indian Institute of Technology) located in 5 different locations in the subcontinent ARE among the world's top engineering schools. IIM ( Indian Institute of Management), four locations are comparable to MIT's Slone and University of Pennsylvania's Wharton  business  school.  University entrance are  competative and  alumni are readily accepted in the United State. An alluring heaven for good Indian youths. Power, wealth and dowry.

However, India has its own flaws and shortcomings. India has the third-largest pool of technical labour in the world, but a third of its one billilon people cannot read or write. An Indian scientist can design supercomputer, but it would not work because the junior technician cannot maintain it properly.The country produces some of the best technical brains in the world but neglects to teach the plumber how lto fix a toilet so it stays fixed. The education system is very much a  Brahmin-orientated. Education is about reading and writing, plus abstracations,with higher thought.

seribulan

Another book would be Jewel In The Crown...