Paul Theroux is an author I have come back to many times in the last couple of decades. I read the Mosquito Coast some time ago, but only recently read The Great Railway Bazaar, his 70s breakthrough effort, and the Old Patagonian Express, his follow up.
I picked up Sir Vidia’s Shadow, Theroux’s account of his friendship with V.S. Naipaul, out of curiosity. The book turned out to be a gem not least for what it reveals about Theroux’s own personal life and struggle to become a successful writer. Complaining to Naipaul about the hardscrabble nature of freelancing Naipaul advised that the essence of the freelance life was freedom and that one needed confidence to deal with setbacks and to believe everything would be fine in the end (pp.197).
Thursday 11 September 2008
Friday 29 August 2008
Sunday 17 August 2008
Old Friends, New Beginnings
It was nice to meet up with a couple of old friends of mine from Taiwan who recently passed through my home town. Elena and Manfred are experienced travellers, and they have more than a month touring the UK and Ireland this summer. We went to a local pub which overlooked my childhood playground of Pegwell Bay and drank a Kent ale or two whilst catching up. Elena and Manfred have an interesting blog where they report on their travels. For the future, Elena wishes to pursue fine arts. Manfred is busy looking for a lost baseball cap, and also plans to buy a plot of land on which to build a house.
Tuesday 29 July 2008
Gary Freelance - at your service
Gary Freelance UK has been created specifically to discuss in an informal way my professional freelance editing and writing work. Before returning to the UK last year I lived in East Asia for most of the period 1987-2007. I look forward to keeping in touch with my Taiwan contacts, and to renewing and building relationships in the UK.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
