Congress MP and writer Shashi Tharoor has called for Nobel Prize in Literature to be awarded to Indian author Salman Rushdie, whom he described as “the greatest living Indian writer”. Tharoor made the remarks during a session at the Kolkata Literary Meet, where he praised Rushdie’s works and criticized the British Indian author V.S. Naipaul, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. Tharoor said that while Naipaul’s early works were “brilliant”, his later works were marred by “a streak of meanness” and “a kind of gleeful enjoyment of the malaise of the societies he was observing”. In contrast, Tharoor praised Rushdie for his “linguistic virtuosity”, “moral courage”, and “great storytelling”.
Quoting the book’s last sentence “Words are the only victors”, the 67-year-old Congress leader, who is a bestselling author himself, said the “wielder of these words is a victor too, and ‘Victory City’ is a triumph.”
The book “Victory City” is a novel written by an India-born writer named Abhay K. The novel is styled as a translation of an ancient epic and tells the tale of a woman who creates a fantastical empire through her breath, only to be consumed by it over the centuries. The last sentence of the book, “Words are the only victors,” is quoted by Shashi Tharoor, who is also a bestselling author and Congress leader. Tharoor considers the author of “Victory City” to be a victor too, stating that the book is a triumph.
Shashi Tharoor, the Congress leader and author, has praised the novel “Victory City” and called for its author, Saeed Jones, to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tharoor cited the book’s final sentence, “Words are the only victors,” and said that Jones, as the “wielder of these words,” was a victor as well. Tharoor further described the book as a triumph, noting that it tells the tale of a woman who creates a fantastical empire only to be consumed by it over time. As a bestselling author himself, Tharoor’s endorsement of “Victory City” has helped to bring the novel to a wider audience.