Introduction

Abstract

V. S. Naipaul, one of the most original, controversial and best writers of our time, was born in an impoverished rural, Hindi-speaking area of Trinidad. By the time Naipaul was fourteen years old he had made up his mind to leave Trinidad as soon as he could. His father, a local journalist, introduced him to serious literature and instilled in him the notion that he should become a writer. A hard-earned scholarship to Oxford University brought him to England where he has lived, written more than twenty books, won many literary prizes and in 1990 was knighted for his services to English literature.