VS Naipul is an international treasure. Interestingly enough, my fave of his is “Miguel Street”, one of his earlier books about growing up in Trinidad.
My favorite is “Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey” A true masterpiece, if there is ever one. Muslims who hate Sir Naipaul for his supposed “Islamophobia” have probably never read his books. The muslim subjects in “Beyond Belief” and “Among the Believers” are often treated with understanding and affection by the author - even as he condemns Islam.
VS Naipaul blames Islam for muslim society’s ills and not muslims. To paraphrase one of his lines from his travelogues, “there was life in muslim societies before Islam.” A profound statement to those of us who have spent considerable time in Islamic/muslim majority communities.
My favorite book, too, and we both live in New Jersey!
I have been thinking about the story whose title I believe was “The Thing that has no Name” ever since I first read it at about age 19. And that was a lotta years ago. His travel book from the mid 60s AN AREA OF DARKNESS, still resonates with me. I had never read such elegant prose.