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Aug 11, 2022·edited Aug 11, 2022

Naipaul appeals to white liberals, and even more to white conservatives. His rating among his own brown-skinned folk has thankfully plummeted. Not least due to his pervasive racism and proud bigotry. The takedown by Pankaj Mishra upon his death was definitive.

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"The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it"

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Thanks for these thought-provoking reflections Branko. I've always appreciated Naipaul's insightful commentary. I might give Theroux another chance, after these positive comments. I never knew about Andric's dissertation - and *that book*, I would love to read.

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Thank you, April. Hope to get together in DC (will be there in Sept/October). Andric's dissertation was not published until the early 1980s. It was forgotten for a long time, and them, I think, it was not politically correct to publish in the socialist Yugoslavia. It is not, as far as I know, ever translated. But it is extremely powerful and suggestive, so much so that I had to stop reading it..

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Delighted to hear you'll be in DC soon(ish). I'd like nothing better than an opportunity to catch up "in real life". I'm disappointed to learn that Andric's monograph hasn't been translated. Translation is so much cheaper now.... I hope some publisher will remedy this oversight. It's my impression that a little critical reflection on that part of Balkan history would not go amiss either.

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