A trip to the United States

For China people, the name vidiadhar surajprasad naipaul may be a little strange.

There is no doubt that he is a genius.

Naipaul is definitely a prolific writer. He wrote as many as thirty or forty novels, short stories, travel notes and essays in his life, and he was proficient in all kinds of styles. What's more, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 200 1 year for his unparalleled travel notes, which is unique in the history of the Nobel Prize 1 14.

There is no doubt that he is also a complete villain in life.

Naipaul himself admitted that his extramarital affairs, prostitution and abuse ruined his first wife's life. -"I killed her, so to speak." This is what he admitted in his autobiography.

Naipaul also admitted that his wife died of cancer, mostly related to his long-term abuse. When he said this, he had no scruples and seemed to have no regrets. Naipaul once told his wife bluntly that he was infatuated with an Argentine woman. Naipaul remarried two months after his wife died. But his second wife was not his Argentine mistress, and he found another lover.

If love rat's characteristics in life can be ignored by the majority of male compatriots, his racial discrimination, gender discrimination and violent tendencies make him more controversial.

"For Africans, you have to kick with your feet, because this is the only thing they can understand." Naipaul said of Africans. Although he is of Indian origin, Naipaul's works never pity Indians.

Naipaul believes that no woman writer can compare with him since ancient times, because he is "poor in writing", "sentimental and narrow in world outlook".

Naipaul is also selfish, stingy and excitable. His Argentine mistress was pregnant three times, but only had three miscarriages. Naipaul once beat her black and blue, making her unable to go out.

What's even more outrageous is that Naipaul's Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech is-thanks to prostitutes. Naipaul doesn't have to spend time chasing other women because of prostitutes. Pursuing women is tantamount to giving up his career in Naipaul's eyes.

So, let's see how this "little man" got Nobel Prize in Literature.

Naipaul was born in Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean island country (Trinidad was then a British colony). He is a descendant of Indian immigrants, and his ancestors were indentured laborers in British India. Although his family belongs to the Brahmin caste (Brahmins are responsible for offering sacrifices in the Hindu caste system), his father is passionate about English literature and is not impious. It was under the influence of his father that Naipaul was full of longing for English culture.

After graduating from Oxford University, Naipaul settled in London and began his literary career. Maugham Prize/KOOC-0/962, Booker Prize/KOOC-0/97/KOOC-0/,Jerusalem Prize/KOOC-0/983, Italian Nonino International Literature Prize/KOOC-0/993, Nobel Prize in Literature 200/KOOC-0/.

Nobel Prize in Literature laureates do have different styles (such as historian Monson, philosopher Ou Ken, Bergson, Russell, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, musician Bob Dylan), but writers generally win prizes for novels, poems and plays. Naipaul is really the only person who can write travel notes and win the Nobel Prize. I'm not saying Naipaul's novels are not excellent (actually quite excellent), but his travel notes are excellent. His non-fiction works can be said to be unprecedented, and there is no one after him.

"Naipaul's works combine insightful narration with exploration that is not influenced by the secular, which is the driving force for people to explore the truth from the repressed history." -This is Nobel Prize in Literature's award speech.

I don't know what "not exploring for the sake of the world" is. From Naipaul's travels, I really feel the "insightful narrative". The word "epiphany" is the deepest evaluation of Naipaul's works. It can be said that after reading Naipaul's book, my original vague and ambiguous views and conclusions on some things suddenly became as clear as clouds.

Take us Shanghainese as an example. Shanghai has a fast pace and great pressure. Shanghainese don't have much quality of life, especially the old Shanghainese who live in the "old and young" houses in the city center. However, most old Shanghainese are still unwilling to sell their 40-50 square meters old houses in the city center and go to the suburbs for a 100 square meter elevator.

Growing up in Shanghai, I have long been used to it. It is more convenient to travel and shop in the city center; After living for decades, moving to the suburbs will not be used to it; Relatives and friends are in the city, so it is inconvenient to move to the suburbs; Far from work, it is not convenient for children to study ... you can hear countless such reasons.

Of course, these reasons are all true, and they are all facts. But that's not the essence.

After reading Naipaul's "The Turn of the South", I realized that the reason why old Shanghainese are willing to live in shabby huts in the center of the city is that for those poor people at the bottom of Shanghai, they have no skills. Living in the center of Shanghai is the only way for them to confirm their identity and the only dignity they have left.

As Naipaul tells us in his book, race is identity for poor white people in the southern United States. There are many ways for the rich to realize their self-esteem, but the self-esteem of the poor white only comes from his white blood. This is the fundamental reason why southern whites hate blacks more than northern whites.

Genius, absolute genius. Naipaul is not only a genius, but also knowledgeable. From his series of nonfiction works such as India Trilogy, America Trilogy, Believers' Country and Our Cosmic Civilization, we can see that he has a good understanding of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and even Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

Don't expect Naipaul to say anything nice. Naipaul's critical literature can be described as bitter and ironic. For half of his motherland, India, Naipaul went from criticism to worry, and then from worry to helplessness. No one is mean except Naipaul. This is Naipaul, who is critical of every civilization.

So, I fell in love with this "villain". Naipaul became my spiritual mentor.

I like traveling, too. Traveling, reading and writing (I dare not call it writing at my level) are my life goals. I will never waver on this point. I always tell myself that writing travel notes must be like Naipaul.

20 18 Naipaul died suddenly in London. The idol is gone, and I can't listen to the master's teachings anymore. I wish I had Naipaul's perceptual ability to measure China and the world with "intelligence and inner strength".