The Critic Profile Shiva Naipaul

The younger brother of a controversial Nobel Prize winner who has been unjustly overlooked

George Cochrane

HE WAS A PRO-COLONIALIST AND misogynist. That’s the not-inaccurate line on V. S. Naipaul nowadays. A less established writer would find it a hard charge to shake. But Naipaul won a Nobel Prize, which will always ensure him a readership. The books of his little brother Shiva, on the other hand, have never had the acclaim they deserve. The association with V. S. could put readers off entirely, but they would be missing out. In his obituary for Shiva, who died in 1985 aged just 40, Martin Amis wrote, “The moment I finished his first novel, Fireflies [1970], I felt delight in being alive at the same time as such a writer … there are many people with whom I can initiate a long train of quotation — and laughter…

You're reading a preview of

The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.