V.S. Naipaul...

I picked up "Vintage Naipaul" as a way of introduction to this prolific writer. I have "The Writer and the World" on my stack of books to read but I will probably won't get to it until next year. So, I retract to the world of fiction again after my most intense clash with philosophy since my undergrad days. I am conceding that the streak of philosophy hit me hard.

Some of the selections in "Vintage Naipaul" include "A House for Mr. Biswas" which I am totally devouring at the present, and is one of the most perfectly crafted pieces of fiction I have read this year. There are some fine passages here about Biswas' emotional state, and the pressures to provide for his family, etc. This story reminds me of my father and the crisis of 1979 (a family secret).

Here's a list of other titles awaiting inclusion. Have you read any of these, please leave a comment telling me about it.

The Dream Life of Sukhanov, by Olga Grushin
The Double, by Jose Saramago
A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
What I loved, by Siri Hustvedt
Glory, by Vladimir Nabokov
Vineland, by Thomas Pynchon

These are not presently on my reading list but I want to motivate myself and see if I can get to them this year.