V.S.奈保爾（V.S.Naipaul）：

英國當代作傢，文化巨匠。1932年生於特立尼達島上一個印度移民傢庭，1950年進入牛津大學攻讀英國文學，畢業後遷居倫敦。

50年代開始寫作，作品以小說、遊記、文論為主，主要有《畢斯沃斯先生的房子》、《米格爾街》、《自由國度》、《河灣》與“印度三部麯”等。其作品在全球享有盛譽，半個世紀裏，將裏斯奬、毛姆奬、史密斯奬、布剋奬、第一屆大衛·柯恩文學奬等收入囊中。1990年，被英國女王封為爵士。2001年，榮獲諾貝爾文學奬。

"An Area of Darkness" is V.S. Naipaul's semi-autobiographical account - at once painful and hilarious, always concerned - of his first visit to India, the land of his forbears. From the moment of his inauspicious arrival in prohibition-dry Bombay, bearing whisky and cheap brandy, he began to experience a sense of cultural estrangement from the subcontinent. It became for him a land of myths, an area of darkness closing up behind him as he travelled...The experience was not a pleasant one, but the pain the author suffered was creative rather than numbing, and engendered a masterful work of literature that is by turns tender, lyrical, explosive and cruel. With spectacular narrative skill, Naipaul provides a revelation both of India and of himself: a displaced person who paradoxically possesses a stronger sense of place than almost anyone. 'A masterpiece of travel-writing' - Paul Theroux. 'Brilliant' - "Observer".

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幽黯國度:記憶與現實交錯的印度之旅