HALF A LIFE; by V. S. Naipaul; Knopf, 211 pages; $24.
V.S. Naipaul, the eloquent Trinidad-born British author, has written more than 25 books, both fiction and non-fiction — all of them in some way exploring the themes of exile, dislocation and the problems of post-colonial societies.
Last month, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his impressive body of work.
Naipaul's new novel — "Half a Life" — his first in seven years, cultivates much of the same ground. His characters are a father and son, neither of whom fully succeeds in life. But they are nevertheless interesting characters, if under-educated.
The story begins in India in the 1930s, when the young man who will become Willie Chandran's father makes an insincere gesture of solidarity with Mahatma Gandhi by choosing to marry a woman of a much lower caste, someone he finds repulsive. Eventually, he not only regrets the marriage but also their two children; they remind him too much of their mother.
His son, Willie, grows up during the 1950s, and he despises his father and his way of life, finally escaping to London. Named after "the great writer W. Somerset Maugham," he tries to reinvent himself by working hard to become a writer himself and to have experiences with women, most of whom reject him.
He badly wants a new identity.
Just as his father falls short of accomplishment, Willie struggles and fails in many ways. He writes unoriginal stories heavily based on the works of others, especially movies. When he collects his stories into a manuscript for a book, he is rejected by every publisher he seeks — except one, a corrupt man who specializes in vanity publishing. When Willie tells his sister he has written a book, she mocks him and calls him a failure.
But one young woman in Africa reads his book and strongly identifies with it. She finds "moments in her own life" in the book. She writes him a letter, praising it, and he invites her to visit him in London. "She was young and small and thin and quite pretty. She had a wonderfully easy manner. And what was most intoxicating for Willie was that for the first time in his life he felt himself in the presence of someone who accepted him completely."
He is literally "saved by the love of a good woman."
Entranced by Ana, he marries her and suggests they move to her homeland of Africa. For 18 years they live together in her home province, but he struggles there, too, feeling as if he is living her life. So he strays sexually. Finally, he falls in love with a married woman who eventually drops him.
The title, "Half a Life," suggests that both Willie and his father each live only half a life. In fact, the book ends when Willie is only 44, literally half a life. But there is a strong implication in the story that life for anyone is likely going to be disappointing, distressing, confusing — and in the end, unsatisfying. Desperation and disappointment are in essence the nature of life.
These conclusions are reminiscent of the old "realistic" interpretations novels often followed near the turn of the 20th century. They usually painted life in a realistic way, suggesting that no one achieved their fondest dreams and that they in fact led lives that were constantly unfulfilled and unhappy.
Like those realists, Naipaul's book is powerfully pessimistic.
His critics have suggested that he is a misogynist. If so, it is understated. In this book, his female characters are all underdeveloped, quite unattractive and mostly function as sex objects. But that reflects the cultural norm of arranged marriages about which Naipaul is writing.
Still this book is worth reading. Naipaul's strong narrative writing is graceful, interesting and often mesmerizing.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com