26/08/2018

Since I first came across Naipaul's writing last year I have read almost no other fiction. I've been trying to work out just why his prose is so beautiful to read, and I think it's something to do with his syntax, with the rhythm of his writing. It's never 'stylish' or straining, it seems effortless as though he is talking aloud to someone he's very comfortable with.

There is a feeling of strength and purpose about it, as though there is always a steely framework, a coolness in his inhabiting and observations of the characters and even of his own self. I don't know how much he used his imagination, but I feeel that what he saw was like the raw ingredients of a cook, who makes something new from real ingredients.

My painting of his is a focusing of my mind for a little while on an unrepeatably great man.