Muriel Spark (1918–2006)
Autore di Gli anni fulgenti di miss Brodie
Sull'Autore
Muriel Spark has been called "our most chillingly comic writer since Evelyn Waugh" by the London Spectator, and the New Yorker praised her novel Memento Mori ri (1959) as "flawless." Her fiction is marked by its remarkable diversity, wit, and craftsmanship. "She happens to be, by some rare mostra altro concatenation of grace and talent, an artist, a serious---and most accomplished---writer, a moralist engaged with the human predicament, wildly entertaining, and a joy to read" (SRSR). She became widely known in the United States when the New Yorker devoted almost an entire issue to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961). Set in Edinburgh in the 1930s, this is the story of a schoolteacher, her unorthodox approach to life, and its effect on her select group of adolescent girls. Though their idol turns out to have feet of clay, she leaves an indelible mark on their lives. The Girls of Slender Means (1963), also warmly praised, is a sardonic look at the vivacity of youth and the anxieties of young womanhood. Reviewing The Mandelbaum Gate (1965) for the New Republic, Honor Tracy wrote: "There is an abundance here of invention, humor, poetry, wit, perception, that all but takes the breath away. . . . The story, in fact, is pure adventure, with the suspense as artfully maintained as anywhere by Graham Greene, but this is only one ingredient. There are memorable descriptions of the Holy Land, fascinating insights into the jumble of intrigue and piety surrounding the Holy Places, and penetrating studies of Arabs. . . . In each of [Spark's] novels heretofore one of her qualities has tended to predominate over the others. Here for the first time they are all impressively marshaled side by side, resulting in her best work so far." The daughter of an Englishwoman and a Scottish-Jewish father, Spark was born and educated in Edinburgh. After her marriage in 1938, she lived for some years in Central Africa, a period rarely reflected in her work. During World War II, she returned to Britain, where she worked in the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office after the breakup of her marriage. She has been a magazine editor and written poetry and literary criticism. Spark has lived in London's Camberwell section, the setting of The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960), but now makes her home in New York. Her novels reflect her conversion to Roman Catholicism. (Bowker Author Biography) Writer Muriel Spark was born in Edinburgh on February 1, 1918. In 1934-1935 she took a course in commercial correspondence and précis writing at Heriot-Watt College. After her marriage in 1937, she lived for some years in Central Africa. During World War II, she returned to Britain, where she worked in the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office after the breakup of her marriage. After the war, she began her literary career. She became General Secretary of the Poetry Society, worked as an editor and wrote studies of Mary Shelley, John Masefield and the Brontë sisters. Her first book of poetry, The Fanfarlo and Other Verse, was published in 1952 and her first novel, The Comforters, was published in 1957. She wrote over twenty books including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Finishing School. She won numerous awards and honors including the 1965 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Mandelbaum Gate, the 1992 U. S. Ingersoll Foundation T. S. Eliot Award, the 1997 David Cohen British Literature Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and in 1993 she became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her services to literature. The Scottish Arts Council created the Muriel Spark International Fellowship in 2004. She died on April 13, 2006. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno
Opere di Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie / The Girls of Slender Means / The Driver's Seat / The Only Problem (2004) 355 copie
Tribute to Wordsworth: a Miscellany of Opinion for the Centenary of the Poet's Death (1950) — A cura di — 3 copie
The Fanfarlo & Other Verse 3 copie
You Should Have Seen the Mess 2 copie
Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse 1 copia
Spark Muriel 1 copia
The Leaf-Sweeper 1 copia
Opere correlate
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers (1994) — Collaboratore — 183 copie
The Second Penguin Book of English Short Stories (1972) — Collaboratore, alcune edizioni — 119 copie
The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers (2005) — Collaboratore — 58 copie
Letters of John Henry Newman: A Selection Edited and Introduced by Derek Stanford and Muriel Spark (1957) — A cura di — 21 copie
The Other voice : Scottish women's writing since 1808 : an anthology (1988) — Collaboratore — 9 copie
My Best Mary: The Selected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley — A cura di — 4 copie
The Teaching Experience: An Introduction to Education Through Literature (1976) — Collaboratore — 1 copia
Modern Choice 2 — Collaboratore — 1 copia
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome legale
- Camberg, Muriel Sarah
- Altri nomi
- Camberg, Muriel Sarah (birth)
Spark, Dame Muriel Sarah
Stanford, Muriel Sarah Spark
Cavallo, Evelyn - Data di nascita
- 1918-02-01
- Data di morte
- 2006-04-13
- Luogo di sepoltura
- Oliveto, Tuscany, Italy
- Sesso
- female
- Nazionalità
- UK
- Nazione (per mappa)
- Scotland, UK
- Luogo di nascita
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Luogo di morte
- Florence, Tuscany, Italy
- Luogo di residenza
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Southern Rhodesia, Africa
Rome, Italy
Civitella della Chiana, Tuscany, Italy
New York, New York, USA
London, England, UK - Istruzione
- James Gillespie's High School for Girls
Heriot Watt College - Attività lavorative
- novelist
poet
literary critic
essayist
editor
short-story writer (mostra tutto 9)
children's book author
biographer
playwright - Relazioni
- Taylor, Alan (friend)
Jardine, Penelope (Companion) - Organizzazioni
- Royal Society of Edinburgh
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Society of Authors
Authors Guild
PEN
Poetry Review (editor) - Premi e riconoscimenti
- Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature
David Cohen Prize (1997)
Order of the British Empire (Officer, 1967|Dame Commander, 1993)
American Academy of Arts and Letters ( [1978])
L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (1988)
Golden PEN Award (1998) (mostra tutto 11)
Campion Award (2001)
T. S. Eliot Award (1992)
Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (1988)
Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (1996)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1965) - Agente
- Bruce Hunter (David Higham Associates) - Estate
Utenti
Discussioni
Group Read, October 2021: Memento Mori in 1001 Books to read before you die (Ottobre 2021)
BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE NOVEMBER - SPARK & BOYD in 75 Books Challenge for 2015 (Dicembre 2015)
Muriel Spark Reading Week (23-29 April) in Virago Modern Classics (Mag 2012)
Recensioni
Liste
Five star books (3)
Women's Stories (1)
AP Lit (1)
Franklit (1)
Teens (1)
Nifty Fifties (1)
1970s Thrillers (1)
Cooper (1)
Backlisted (1)
Europe (1)
Big Jubilee List (1)
United Kingdom (1)
1950s (1)
Book Club 2021 (1)
Female Author (2)
1960s (2)
A Novel Cure (3)
Booker Prize (3)
Unread books (1)
Review 3 (1)
Folio Society (1)
Short and Sweet (1)
AlphaKIT: Brown (1)
Premi e riconoscimenti
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Autori correlati
Statistiche
- Opere
- 93
- Opere correlate
- 52
- Utenti
- 20,237
- Popolarità
- #1,073
- Voto
- 3.7
- Recensioni
- 700
- ISBN
- 745
- Lingue
- 26
- Preferito da
- 103
Siamo ben lontani da qualunque idealismo, è una storia di grottesca quotidianità in cui non ci sono eroi, solo persone imperfette raccontate con acume e ironia pungente.
Ad un tema così originale non poteva che accompagnarsi uno stile altrettanto inconsueto, che unisce una scrittura estremamente scorrevole ad un impianto narrativo schizofrenico, che frantuma qualsiasi unità di tempo, luogo e azione (per buona pace di Aristotele). Ammetto che si arriva alla fine un po' disorientati, ma mai annoiati.
Questo romanzo è un unicum, l'esempio di come spesso sovvertire le aspettative si riveli una scelta azzeccatissima.… (altro)