Dazzled by the Light

Somewhere around the middle of A Turn in the South, V. S. Naipaul compares his journey to a film shot in natural light—he is taking his trip as it comes, moving around without a thesis to prove or a desire to “cover” every corner. This randomness makes for the considerable strengths of his book and accounts, in part, for its limitations, some of which Naipaul acknowledges. It also suggests, with a refreshingly humble honesty —Naipaul has never been known for humility—...