2008.04.06: April 6, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malawi: Writing - Malawi: Times Online: Paul Theroux's literary feud with VS Naipaul
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2008.04.06: April 6, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malawi: Writing - Malawi: Times Online: Paul Theroux's literary feud with VS Naipaul
Paul Theroux's literary feud with VS Naipaul
The two men have met only once since Hay, in the street in South Kensington. “He wanted to talk to me about it,” remembered Naipaul. “I was on my way somewhere and could not stop. The conversation was very brief.” He gave Theroux a typically caustic piece of advice: “Take it on the chin and move on.” Author Paul Theroux served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi in the 1960's.
Paul Theroux's literary feud with VS Naipaul
Famous literary feud
Paul Theroux was teaching English at university in Kampala, Uganda, when he met VS Naipaul. It was 1966 and the two became friends – or certainly mentor and student (Naipaul, already a famous novelist, was writer-in-residence).
When Naipaul returned to England, Theroux followed and was introduced to literary London, but Naipaul claimed he had overstayed his welcome and wrote him a dismissive letter. Theroux did not take the hint. “After he left in 1966, he was an absolute bore,” said Naipaul. “I wrote a very ironical letter to him thinking this would put an end to [his] letters . . . but it never did.”
However, Naipaul was not averse to the odd lunch (Theroux paid) and relations worsened as the young American became a successful travel writer. In 1996 both men were invited to the Hay literary festival for a staged discussion. The atmosphere was thick with tension. Naipaul reportedly refused to meet Theroux’s gaze.
Afterwards, Naipaul – now married to his second wife, Nadira – said, “You must not overplay this notion of a friendship after Africa. I hardly knew the man, our meetings were very few. Hay-on-Wye was the moment of breaking. I found it impossible. I just wanted to leave as soon as possible.”
Theroux was further incensed when he discovered that one of the precious first editions of his work that he had given his old mentor was for sale in a book catalogue for $1,500. He rattled off an angry fax but received only a response from Nadira which, in Naipaul’s words: “[Told] him to keep off the grass and stop saying things about me.”
In retaliation, Theroux published Sir Vidia’s Shadow in 1998, a memoir of their friendship in which he decried his former mentor as a bitter, racist snob.
The two men have met only once since Hay, in the street in South Kensington. “He wanted to talk to me about it,” remembered Naipaul. “I was on my way somewhere and could not stop. The conversation was very brief.” He gave Theroux a typically caustic piece of advice: “Take it on the chin and move on.”
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Headlines: April, 2008; RPCV Paul Theroux (Malawi); Figures; Peace Corps Malawi; Directory of Malawi RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Malawi RPCVs; Writing - Malawi
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Story Source: Times Online
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