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Original poster

VS Naipaul finds no woman writer his literary match – not even Jane Austen

42 replies

msrisotto · 03/06/2011 21:50

I could have just called the thread "What a twat"

www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/02/vs-naipaul-jane-austen-women-writers

How arrogant can you get? I can't imagine even coming close to such levels of twattery.

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SybilBeddows · 03/06/2011 22:42

I have read a little bit of Naipaul but it was not so amazing as to make me want to read more, when there is so much other good stuff out there.
Some Amis is good but much isn't worth bothering with. I think Hogsback is right, it is an incestuous world where they boost each other up all the time and maintain their delusion that they are better than everyone else especially women.

'Sentimental' is an incredibly inept thing for him to say about Austen but then I guess he doesn't get her because her perspective is so feminine and he is only interested in the mighty male viewpoint which has convinced itself it is universal.

beanlet · 03/06/2011 22:39

Ignore. He's also an out and out racist. Comes across as a complete dickhead. Think his books are tendentious ru bish too.

claig · 03/06/2011 22:37

I've never read him. But I agree that George Eliot is fantastic, and I bet he comes nowhere near.

Daisy Hayes is right. The media constantly boosts him up, and it has evidently gone to his head and he actually believes it. The Gods have messed with his mind and this is an example of hubris.

ohmyfucksy · 03/06/2011 22:32

true hogsback

One of my favourite ever writer quotes was by Martina Cole, who said the Booker prize money wouldn't keep her in cigarettes.

I have never read her books, and they're probably not my kind of thing (am squeamish) but I LOVED that.

StewieGriffinsMom · 03/06/2011 22:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hogsback · 03/06/2011 22:21

I used to get really upset about Naipaul, Amis and the rest of the lauded literary classes. Then I realised I didn't actually enjoy reading their books, I just did it out of force of habit - and guess what, no-one else reads them either; they exist in a tiny literary wankfest which only a handful of broadsheet cheerleaders give two fucks about.

I now only read genre (scifi, fantasy and historical mainly) and I'm a lot happier.

SybilBeddows · 03/06/2011 22:16

so does he think he is better than George Eliot? LOL.

DaisyHayes · 03/06/2011 22:09

Bidisha wrote an article (last December, so totally unrelated to this current woman hating shit) in which she describes:

"V S Naipaul, who I witnessed at a book reading openly jeering at any woman who asked a question about his work, a male colleague said, 'Yes, he was a rotter to women wasn?t he but my God, what wonderful, wonderful books.'?

Why does the man keep getting oxygen from the media? Oh yes, I forgot. It's okay to think of women as a lesser species.

The fact that Naipaul is an enormous misogynistic cock is bad enough, but it is the fact that it is tolerated - celebrated - by the media which sickens me.

hogsback · 03/06/2011 22:08

The thing to bear in mind with VS Naipaul is that, along with the vast majority of 'literary' authors, he's a massive egotistical cock.

Hassled · 03/06/2011 22:07

His spat with Theroux has entertained me - although they apparently shook hands recently.

I'm too much of a Janeite to be dispassionate - but I can't see that she was ever sentimental. She was a realist - realism disguised by the love story.

piprabbit · 03/06/2011 22:04

I think the least said about Mr Naipaul, the better. He seems to enjoy the attention and I don't suppose he is in the least concerned about the opinions of a bunch of women.

Prolesworth · 03/06/2011 22:03

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BeerTricksPotter · 03/06/2011 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ohmyfucksy · 03/06/2011 22:02

Doris Lessing beats him in The Times's 50 greatest British writers list.

Original poster
msrisotto · 03/06/2011 21:59

I haven't read any of his books, maybe he's just acting out because she's way more famous than he is.

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ohmyfucksy · 03/06/2011 21:54

Well I find his books massively tedious, so who cares?

Not bothered about Jane Austen myself though - much prefer George Eliot.

Original poster
msrisotto · 03/06/2011 21:50

Oh, automatic link button didn't work. Here:
Naipaul finds no woman writer his literary match ? not even Jane Austen

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