V.S. Naipaul, the Trinidad-born Nobel laureate whose precise and lyrical writing in such novels as "A Bend in the River" and "A House for Mr. Biswas" and brittle, misanthropic personality made him one of the world's most admired and contentious writers, died Saturday (Aug 12) at his London home, his family said. He was 85.
Novelist Sir VS Naipaul, who won the Nobel Prize in literature, has died aged 85, his family have said. Sir Vidia, who was born in rural Trinidad in 1932, wrote more than 30 books including A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr Biswas.
His wife, Lady Naipaul, called him a "giant in all that he achieved". She said he died at his home in London "surrounded by those he loved, having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour".
Geordie Greig, editor of the Mail on Sunday and a close friend, said his death leaves a "gaping hole in Britain's literary heritage", but there is "no doubt" that his "books live on".
- Source: News websites
