Julian Barnes: Difference between revisions
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== Personal Life == | == Personal Life == | ||
Julian Barnes was born in Leceister. His parents were both teachers of French. He has said that his support for Leicester City Football Club was, aged four or five, "a sentimental way of hanging on" to his home city | Julian Barnes was born in Leceister. His parents were both teachers of French. He has said that his support for Leicester City Football Club was, aged four or five, "a sentimental way of hanging on" to his home city.<sup>1</sup> | ||
At the age of 10, Barnes was told by his mother that he had "too much imagination". | At the age of 10, Barnes was told by his mother that he had "too much imagination".<sup>1</sup> | ||
He was educated at the city of London School from 1957 to 1964 and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He graduated in modern languages with honours in 1968, after that he worked as a lexicographer for the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' for three years. | He was educated at the city of London School from 1957 to 1964 and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He graduated in modern languages with honours in 1968, after that he worked as a lexicographer for the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' for three years. | ||
In 1977 Barnes began working as a reviewer and literary editor for the ''New Statesman'' and the ''New Review''. From 1979 to 1986 he worked as a television critic first for the ''New Statesman'' and then for ''The Observer''. | In 1977 Barnes began working as a reviewer and literary editor for the ''New Statesman'' and the ''New Review''. From 1979 to 1986 he worked as a television critic first for the ''New Statesman'' and then for ''The Observer''. | ||
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His eleventh novel ''The Sense of an Ending''(2011) was awarded with the Man Booker Prize. | His eleventh novel ''The Sense of an Ending''(2011) was awarded with the Man Booker Prize. | ||
The head judge Stella Remington, said ''The Sense of an Ending'' was a "beautifully written book" and the panel thought it "spoke to humankind in the 21st Century." | The head judge Stella Remington, said ''The Sense of an Ending'' was a "beautifully written book" and the panel thought it "spoke to humankind in the 21st Century."<sup>2</sup> | ||
== List of works == | == List of works == | ||
Revision as of 17:19, 15 June 2012
Born 19 January 1946 (Leicester). British novelist. Author of, among others, Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998) as well as Arthur & George (2005). 2011 he won the Man Booker Prize, for his book The Sense of an Ending, his three earlier books had been nominated for the Booker Prize: Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998) and Arthur & George (2005). He also writes Crime Fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh.
Personal Life
Julian Barnes was born in Leceister. His parents were both teachers of French. He has said that his support for Leicester City Football Club was, aged four or five, "a sentimental way of hanging on" to his home city.1 At the age of 10, Barnes was told by his mother that he had "too much imagination".1 He was educated at the city of London School from 1957 to 1964 and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He graduated in modern languages with honours in 1968, after that he worked as a lexicographer for the Oxford English Dictionary for three years. In 1977 Barnes began working as a reviewer and literary editor for the New Statesman and the New Review. From 1979 to 1986 he worked as a television critic first for the New Statesman and then for The Observer.
His wife, literary agent Pat Kavanagh, died of a brain tumor on 20 October 2008, he uses her surname as a pseudonym. Today he lives in London.
Career
Julian Barnes has written several novels and, short stories and essays.
His first novel Metroland (1980) has autobigraphical traits. It is a story about Christopher, a young man from London, who travels to Paris as a student and then returns to London. The novel is about idealism, sexual fidelity it has the three-part structure which is common for Barnes' novels.
In 1983 he published his second novel Before She Met Me, it is about a jealous man who becomes obsessed by his second wife's past.
His breakthrough novel Flaubert's Parrot broke with the linear structure of his previous novels, it featured a fragmentary biographical story. The story is about an elderly doctor who is fixed obsessively on the life of French writer Gustave Flaubert. The novel established Barnes as one of the best writers of his generation.
In 1986 the novel Staring at the Sun was published, it deals with a young woman growing up in post-war England and dealing with love, truth and mortality.
1989 Barnes published A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, it is a novel in fragments, using pastiche and parody.
His next novel Talkin it Over was published in 1991, it is a story about a love triangle, in which the three characters take turns at adressing the reader. Ten years later the novel Love etc. visits the three characters ten years later.
His book The Porcupine (1992) deals with a fictional Communist dictator.
His 1996 published book Cross Chanel deals with the relationship between England and France, he returns to the topic France in Something to Declare, a collection of essays on French subjects.
In 1998 he published the novel England, England, a satire on Britishness and the culture of tourism.
His tenth novel Arthur & George(2005) is about the life of Arthur Conan Doyle and his involvement in the Great Wyrley Outrages (In 1903 Great Wyrley (a village in South Staffordshire) was scene of the Great Wyrley Outrages, a series of cuttings of animals).
His eleventh novel The Sense of an Ending(2011) was awarded with the Man Booker Prize. The head judge Stella Remington, said The Sense of an Ending was a "beautifully written book" and the panel thought it "spoke to humankind in the 21st Century."2
List of works
Novels
Metroland (1980)
Before She Met Me (1982)
Flaubert's Parrot (1984) – shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Staring at the Sun (1986)
A History of the World in 10½ Chapters (1989)
Talking It Over (1991)
The Porcupine (1992)
England, England (1998) – shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Love, etc (2000) – sequel to Talking it Over
Arthur & George (2005) – shortlisted for the Booker Prize
The Sense of an Ending (2011) – winner of the Booker Prize
Collections and non-fiction
Letters from London (Picador, London, 1995) – journalism from The New Yorker
Cross Channel (1996) – stories
Something to Declare (2002) – essays
The Pedant in the Kitchen (2003) – journalism on cooking
The Lemon Table (2004) – stories
Nothing to Be Frightened Of (2008) – memoir
Pulse (2011) – stories
Works as Dan Kavanagh
Duffy (1980)
Fiddle City (1981)
Putting the Boot In (1985)
Going to the Dogs (1987)
References
Childs, Peter, Julian Barnes, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011.
Guignery, Vanessa & Ryan Roberts, eds. Conversations with Julian Barnes, [place??]: University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
Moseley, Merritt, Understanding Julian Barnes, [place??]: University of South Carolina Press, 1997.
Pateman, Matthew, Julian Barnes: Writers and Their Work, [place??]: Northcote House, 2002.