International desk: Novelist Sir VS Naipaul, who won the Nobel Prize in literature, has died aged 85, his family have said.
Sir Vidia, who was born in rural Trinidad in 1932, wrote more than 30 books including A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr Biswas, reports BBC.
His wife, Lady Naipaul, called him a “giant in all that he achieved”.
She said he died at his home in London “surrounded by those he loved, having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour”.
Geordie Greig, editor of the Mail on Sunday and a close friend, said his death leaves a “gaping hole in Britain's literary heritage”, but there is “no doubt” that his “books live on”.
American travel writer Paul Theroux, who had a bitter 15-year feud with Sir Vidia before reconciling, said: “He will go down as one of the greatest writers of our time.”
Paying tribute to his friend, who he said had been in poor health, Theroux added: “He also never wrote falsely.
“He was a scourge of anyone who used a cliché or an un-thought out sentence. He was very scrupulous about his writing, very severe, too.”
Salman Rushdie, who also disagreed repeatedly with Sir Vidia, said he was “as sad as if I just lost a beloved older brother”.
