Summary

“Paradise” by Matthew Kneale tells the story of Neville, a British writer of tourist guidebooks, who is in a village in Nepal, called Drughat. When he wakes up, his host, Thakali, brings him tea and the host’s wife prepares him yak meat for breakfast. Neville is impressed by their hospitality and finds the village (which is unknown to Westerners) a paradise. He compares the selfless village society in Nepal with the materialistic Western society he comes from.

Neville recalls how he reached the village five days earlier when he met an old man in an army jacket who advised him to visit it. He spent the five days visiting the area and getting to know the villagers.

Now, as he prepares to leave he feels guilty. As the villagers bid him goodbye and give him a silver medallion, Neville decides to...