Talk:V. S. Naipaul

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A news item involving V. S. Naipaul was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In the news section on 12 August 2018.

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Trinidad(ian) vs Trinidad and Tobago

@FreeEncyclopediaMusic: Please use the talk page instead of repeatedly editing the article. Onus is on the person making the change.

It's pretty simple though: the country's name is Trinidad and Tobago. Yes, something from Trinidad is "Trinidadian" the same way someone from New York is a New Yorker. But we use subnational entities to describe people, especially when those subnational entities have no legal standing. (This isn't like English vs British - England is a constituent country of the United Kingdom. There is no political entity called Trinidad. Guettarda (talk) 14:57, 21 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

General Incompleteness of the biography from 1970 onwards.

Biography is incomplete from 1970 onwards. There is large gaps in chronology. Also, major works and the creative ideation behind them are missing. Personal life should have been a separate paragraph with two distinct sections - his partners and the background of his family. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.245.86.244 (talk) 04:20, 12 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, at least I am aware of it. Much personal life appears in his biography, for example, his family background; his relationship with the woman who was to became his first wife, Patty Hale; Shiva Naipaul; his father; and so forth. Have it in my mind to complete the biography. Thanks. Fowler&fowler «Talk» 10:28, 12 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

VS Naipaul 2016 Dhaka.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 15:37, 12 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

India

With regards to Jhy.rjwk's edits, I don't support adding this to the lead as is, but it does make me think that we could use a section that delves into thematic patterns in Naipaul's work. After all, the Indian subcontinent (predominantly, but not only India), the Caribbean, and Africa are his three major areas of focus. But before we add information about the to the lead, we need to ensure that we have reliably-sourced information about this in the body of the article. And obviously, India shouldn't be singled out - that creates NPOV issues - but I could see it included with these other topics.

We can't do that without sourcing, obviously, and we can't do that without adding an appropriate section. But I think it's an interesting possibility if this is something Jhy.rjwk would want to work on. Pinging Fowler&fowler and Grueslayer. Guettarda (talk) 20:19, 11 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I’m taking a few days off from WP for reasons explained on my talk page. Jh* made some entirely irrelevant and forgettable additions involving vacuous promotion of India. Two edit summaries refer to “ Indian triology sic” Area of Darkness was written in 1963 after his visit to India during which he wrote Mr Stone and the Knight’s Companion in Kashmir. He had a violent first reaction to India. India,A Wounded Civilization is not really a book but a collection of essays published earlier in the NY Review of Books at Bob Silver’s invitation. They were impatiently critical of India during its so-called emergency. India: A Million Mutinies Now is a better book written in 1992 and haas some haunting passages of the Sikhs and Kashmiri Muslims that are hardly complimentary to India. I’ve read all three books.

I was attempting to write this article earlier and would have finished it had editors not kept sabotaging my efforts. The talk page is littered with the interactions including the late user:Brianboulton’s intervention. After I return to WP by early next week I have to spend another week on the Darjeeling FAR, but after that I’d like to beg permission to complete the article, starting at where I had left off (ca. Guerillas’’ and continue to the end. The biography bit that is. This is harder than it sound as the associated books have to summarized as well, e.g. The Mimic Men and not superficially as Jh* has done with the IAWC book. I’m sorry I’m having a bit of a violent reaction, which has nothing to do with you @Guettarda:, for as you know I have deepest respect for you and your knowledge of the region, but my request to be allowed to complete the biography bit first is in earnest. Fowler&fowler «Talk» 22:52, 11 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I also have in the back of my mind that in mid August his 90th birthday is coming up and it would be good to have the article in some form of completion. Fowler&fowler «Talk» 23:38, 11 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Guettarda (talk), Well, I think it is a good idea to have some thematic sections in this page, including one on India. But, I do not see any good reason why India triology cannot have brief mention in the lead as this is the only triology about any country that Naipaul wrote. Also, the charges of Boosterism are inappropriate, as all his books are highly critical and almost defaming of India, so there is nothing complimentary about India in that. It is Important NPOV Information that needs to mentioned on this page Jhy.rjwk (talk) 00:06, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

So again. Have you read any book of Naipaul? Fowler&fowler «Talk» 01:42, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

As you can see on Goodreads, these 3 books are also packaged together as India Triology & are among the popular books of Naipaul

https://www.goodreads.com/series/240931-india-trilogy

The lead is very short, and missing important information, so it should be expanded to include some important brief points from the sections. We can remove the mention of his wide travels to India in the lead but atleast need a neutral statement about an India triology of these three books. And, there can be mention of other books that go together as a group, or were written together in some context, so that it's not just India triology but some more books that are mentioned in the lead.Jhy.rjwk (talk) 00:06, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Have you read any of those three books? Fowler&fowler «Talk» 01:30, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Have you read the Area of Darkness or just copied my section on the book in this page to the book in addition to copying the promotional blurb by the publisher? If so please tell me how it begins? What is part 2 about? Fowler&fowler «Talk» 01:40, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Have you read ‘’India A Wounded Civilization’’? If so, please tell me what Naipaul gleans from his conversations with psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar? Fowler&fowler «Talk» 01:50, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Have read ‘’India A Million Mutinies Now’’? If please tell me what the traffic jam in Bombay with which the book begins all about? Fowler&fowler «Talk» 01:53, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]