I have just finished reading the book "Magic Seeds" by V.S. Naipaul.

[KlatooBNikto]

For those of us who don't know who he is, a quick introduction first.Naipaul is a writer born in Trinidad of Indian parents; who migrated to Britain in his twenties, was educated at Oxford and is one of the most celebrated writers in the English language.He has won many prizes for fiction and non fiction, including the Nobel Prize for Literature. His writings or travelogues would be of special interest to DUers combining as they do his keen observations and elegant prose.I became a fan after reading his work "Among the Believers-- An Islamic Journey" which described his travels through Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries.

Naipaul is not a fan of Third World countries or their leaderships.He is especially searing in his remarks about the Islamic world.Although this may not square with the views of many people here at DU, I think we should read him because he is, above all, an honest writer who prefers to tell the ugly truth rather than comfortable lies.

In his latest book, Naipaul is unsparing in his condemnation of the Muslim world which, he compares to a million Jacks who planted the seeds of violence as an ennobling act only to find to their dismay that the magic seeds sprouted nothing but violence and chaos. He also castigates Western sympathizers of the Arabs/Muslims as narcissistic snobs,obsessed with their own status and class, who do not take a realistic view of the Arab/Muslim world and have instead romanticized them. " There is no such thing as a Moderate Muslim," he declares.

This book comes nearly a quarter of a century after his initial classic " Among the Believers" .That book was extremely prescient in predicting that the rage in Muslim societies, fed by Koranic teachings and the inability of Islamic societies to compete in the modern world, would erupt into violence and chaos.The new book, if nothing else, enhances Naipaul's reputation for fearless truth telling.His world view is that of an outsider, both in the Islamic world and the Western world. As such, I think we should consider him to be an impartial source.As usual his prose is the best.No living writer can match his eye for detail and observational skill.