Twitter Acclaims and Disdains V S Naipaul, Who Passed Away at 85

A brilliant writer or a misogynist?

Trinidad-born Nobel laureate V S Naipaul passed away on Saturday, 11 August, at the age of 85. Social media, to no one’s surprise, was immediately flooded with reactions. But this time around, the chatter was significantly divided.

While some remembered Naipaul as a stalwart, who’s left behind a legacy that needs preservation, others pointed out the problematic aspects of his work, thus raising the age-old question: Can the artist be dissociated from his work?

In 2001, Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for “having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.”

Remembered as a Brilliant Writer by Many

For his many of his fans, Naipaul’s body of work, especially his post-colonial scholarship, reflects his intellectual scrutiny and skill.

Astounded by how few people on here seem to be mourning the death of V. S. Naipaul, one of the most brilliant writers of the 20th century--and someone who had greater insight about issues of poverty, race, and colonialism than all the hot takes of the past years combined. R.I.P.

— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) August 12, 2018

We disagreed all our lives, about politics, about literature, and I feel as sad as if I just lost a beloved older brother. RIP Vidia. #VSNaipaul

— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) August 12, 2018

RIP VS Naipaul, a giant among us. Even if you disagreed with much that he wrote, particularly about India, you couldn't help be stimulated, influenced & catalysed by the brilliance of his laser sharp vision. It was a great honour that his last appearance was @ZEEJLF

— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) August 12, 2018

Also Read: PM Modi Condoles Demise of Nobel Prize-Winning Author VS Naipaul

With VS Naipaul's passing i wonder how simple it is to define a complex life and legacy these days with just 4-5 words. Secular this, communal that, racist this, anglophile that. These labels make it so easy for us to ignore the contributions made by an otherwise brilliant writer

— Rahul Y. Sharma (@ThisRys) August 13, 2018

V.S. Naipaul is out of fashion today because he wrote what he felt, he kept cross-examining himself and he refused to stay within anyone’s ideas of him. But no one gave more eloquent voice to the poignancy of crossing borders--and the possibilities--than he and Derek Walcott.

— Pico Iyer (@PicoIyer) August 12, 2018

Also Read: Nostalgia and Grief on Twitter As VS Naipaul Passes Away at 85

“Let’s Not Forget the Problems,” Say Critics

However, for his numerous critics, Naipaul’s writing is perturbing, and some even consider it bigoted.

The sexism and misogyny by the most celebrated male writers is often omitted in their obituaries. #naipaul https://t.co/GrFOEcKgJ6

— Neha Dixit (@nehadixit123) August 12, 2018

Breaking my Twitter fast to observe that VS Naipul was a vile, racist, misogynist, bag of festering putrescence, who inflated himself by torturing women and dehumanizing Black people. The world smells cleaner today, on the heels of his long~overdue departure. #Naipul

— Shailja Patel (@shailjapatel) August 12, 2018

The flux of diversity of culture was a wound according to #Naipaul. He would have considered the whole of present day world wounded. He would have preferred if all the world was white, brahminical, wore suits and had tea. .@PicoIyer .@GhoshAmitav .@ShashiTharoor

— Prem Palanivel (@PremPalanivel) August 13, 2018

“He was the man who grew angry when a woman contradicted him, the man who told women to leave the table, the man who interrupted women speaking. I paid less attention to him, more to other writer...whose work seemed to mean more to me.” Must read https://t.co/mk5F7E4k4v

— Priya Ramani (@priyaramani) August 13, 2018

@ all the people writing his obituaries today: let them not be hagiographies. In a world where we’re finally *finally* not tolerating men in creative arts getting away with being assholes because of their ‘contributions’, your eulogising is going to push us back by years.

— harnidh kaur (@PedestrianPoet) August 12, 2018

@ folks my age: you have access to reading so much more and in such nuanced ways! There’s a world of literature that doesn’t exploit, but celebrates. Read women of colour, read queer experiences, read authors from the ‘islamic trails’ that Naipaul so derided!

— harnidh kaur (@PedestrianPoet) August 12, 2018

Also Read: VS Naipaul: Fear, Loathing and Racism, But in Luminous Prose

Can We Separate the Writer from the Work?

A few on Twitter asked this question, highlighting the complexity inherent in literature.

At such times, one wonders if one can really separate the artist from the art, the dancer from the dance. #VSNaipaul

— Nidhi Mahajan (@NidhiMahajn) August 12, 2018

Naipaul was a great writer, a deeply flawed, racist one, and by many accounts a terrible man. One cannot cancel the other. That's the complexity of literature.

— Amrita Dutta (@damrita) August 12, 2018

All young people must read #VSNaipaul. To condemn his politics one must read his literature and figure out themselves whether it's possible to loathe and love someone's words at the same time. To only read writers without a questionable history is like living with one eye closed.

— Sayantan Ghosh (@sayantansunnyg) August 12, 2018

He was an awful man and a brilliant writer, and it feels like losing a cantankerous, contrarian father. #VSNaipaul

— jeet thayil (@jeetthayil) August 12, 2018

Which side of the debate are you on? Tell us in the comments section.