Reviews

Between Father and Son: Family Letters by Gillon R. Aitken, V.S. Naipaul

richa087's review against another edition

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4.0

It's a really good book. I loved the rawness in it. It's not written by a famous​ author or his equally famous father, it's written by a father and son who knows what writing is all about, they live for writing and they put their heart and soul into it. That's what all their discussions are all about. They pull each other up and keep reminding themselves that they have what it takes to be an intriguing and sensible storyteller. Yes they do lament about their financial conditions but they take it in their stride (especially his father). The letters keep painting a picture of Trinidad and Oxford and London, at times Paris and a bit of Benares too. So you keep shuttling between all these cities and across continents. Naipaul wasn't a very obedient son but he sure as hell loved his family especially his father and you can feel that through the letters, his father ofcourse loved all his kids but then Vido had a special place because in a way Vido's life, his accomplishments, his journey to Oxford, his experiences were a continuation of what his own life could be like, had he had the resources. I loved the exchange. Also such brilliant titles have been mentioned in the book by both of them, that it was hard not to make a list of those and harbour hopes of reading them myself one day.
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