WRITER

V. S. Naipaul

1932 - 2018

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Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienation in the wider world, and his vigilant chronicles of life and travels. He wrote in prose that was widely admired, but his views sometimes aroused controversy. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of V. S. Naipaul has received more than 2,506,906 page views. His biography is available in 97 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 95 in 2019). V. S. Naipaul is the 778th most popular writer (up from 816th in 2019), the most popular biography from Trinidad and Tobago and the most popular Trinidadian Writer.

V.S. Naipaul is a Trinidadian-born British author who is most famous for his novels and essays about the former British colonies in the Caribbean.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 63.55

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 97

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.22

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 6.74

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Miguel Street
Social life and customs, Fiction in English, Fiction
The mystic masseur
Mystics, Fiction, Political fiction, Trinidadian and Tobagonian (English)
A House for Mr. Biswas
Home ownership, Journalists, Family
Naipaul’s breakthrough novel is a marvellous comic tale of a Trinidadian of Indian descent striving to improve his lot. Continually making big plans for himself he constantly finds himself thwarted by his wife’s family and by his own ineptitude and over-reaching ambition.
India
Civilization, Description and travel, Collections
Naipaul, of Indian heritage, was born and raised in Trinidad, but he recognized that it was his ancestral culture that governed who he was and how he thought. In this passionate portrait of a culture, a society, and a country, he returns to India, a nation in turmoil.
The mimic men
Fiction, Exiles, Politicians
The middle passage
Description and travel, Journeys, Travel
Miguel Street
Social life and customs, Fiction in English, Fiction
The mystic masseur
Mystics, Fiction, Political fiction, Trinidadian and Tobagonian (English)
A House for Mr. Biswas
Home ownership, Journalists, Family
Naipaul’s breakthrough novel is a marvellous comic tale of a Trinidadian of Indian descent striving to improve his lot. Continually making big plans for himself he constantly finds himself thwarted by his wife’s family and by his own ineptitude and over-reaching ambition.
The middle passage
Description and travel, Journeys, Travel
India
Civilization, Description and travel, Collections
Naipaul, of Indian heritage, was born and raised in Trinidad, but he recognized that it was his ancestral culture that governed who he was and how he thought. In this passionate portrait of a culture, a society, and a country, he returns to India, a nation in turmoil.
The mimic men
Fiction, Exiles, Politicians

Among WRITERS

Among writers, V. S. Naipaul ranks 778 out of 7,302Before him are Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Arrigo Boito, William McMaster Murdoch, Valerius Maximus, Alexander Blok, and Eleanor Marx. After him are Demetrius Vikelas, Sinclair Lewis, Georg Brandes, Raymond Carver, Tove Ditlevsen, and Ibn al-Muqaffa'.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1932, V. S. Naipaul ranks 48Before him are Roy Scheider, Ted Kennedy, Pat Morita, Stéphane Audran, Oliver E. Williamson, and Francis Lai. After him are Sheldon Lee Glashow, Vytautas Landsbergis, Robert Mundell, Thomas Klestil, Louis Malle, and Harriet Andersson. Among people deceased in 2018, V. S. Naipaul ranks 35Before him are Jens Christian Skou, Arvid Carlsson, Robert Venturi, Stéphane Audran, Charles K. Kao, and Francis Lai. After him are Gudrun Burwitz, Jin Yong, Jamal Khashoggi, Roy J. Glauber, Reynaldo Bignone, and Burton Richter.

Others Born in 1932

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Others Deceased in 2018

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In Trinidad and Tobago

Among people born in Trinidad and Tobago, V. S. Naipaul ranks 1 out of 71After him are Haddaway (1965), Imran N. Hosein (1942), Keith Rowley (1949), Billy Ocean (1950), Nicki Minaj (1982), George Maxwell Richards (1931), Dwight Yorke (1971), Paula-Mae Weekes (1958), Basdeo Panday (1933), Stokely Carmichael (1941), and Steven Pressfield (1943).

Among WRITERS In Trinidad and Tobago

Among writers born in Trinidad and Tobago, V. S. Naipaul ranks 1After him are Steven Pressfield (1943), and C. L. R. James (1901).