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1981 In Literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1981. Events *May 31 – The burning of Jaffna Public Library in Sri Lanka is begun by a mob of police and government-sponsored paramilitaries. They destroy over 97,000 volumes in one of the worst examples of ethnic book burning in the modern era. *August – Sefer ve Sefel opens as an English used bookstore in Jerusalem. *''unknown dates'' ** John Gardner successfully revives the James Bond novel series originated by Ian Fleming with '' Licence Renewed'' (not counting a faux biography of Bond and a pair of film novelizations, the first original Bond novel since 1968's ''Colonel Sun''). The revived Bond book series will run uninterrupted until 2002. ** Colin MacCabe is denied tenure at the University of Cambridge, apparently because of a dispute within the English Faculty about the teaching of structuralism. **The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is given for the first time. New books Fiction * Er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Structuralism
Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel. Alternatively, as summarized by philosopher Simon Blackburn, structuralism is: Blackburn, Simon, ed. 2008. "Structuralism." In '' Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy'' (2nd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . p. 353."The belief that phenomena of human life are not intelligible except through their interrelations. These relations constitute a structure, and behind local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of abstract structure." History and background The term ''structuralism'' is ambiguous, referring to different schools of thought in different contexts. As such, the movement in humanities and social sciences called structuralism r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tragicomic episodes of life, often coupled with black comedy and literary nonsense. A major figure of Irish literature and one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, he is credited with transforming the genre of the modern theatre. Best remembered for his tragicomedy play ''Waiting for Godot'' (1953), he is considered to be one of the last Modernism, modernist writers, and a key figure in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd." For his lasting literary contributions, Beckett received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation." A resident of Paris for most of his adult life, Beckett wrote in both Frenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Une Rose Au Paradis
''Une rose au paradis'' is a science-fiction novel written by René Barjavel, and first published in 1981. Buried far beneath what used to be Paris, the last members of the human race live in an automated shelter. They are Mr. and Mrs. Jonas, their twin teenage children Jim and Jil, and Mr. Gé, who is directly responsible for setting the bombs that entirely destroyed the surface of the planet and at the same time for saving the Jonas family, whom he hopes will repopulate the world once it is safe to go out. But innocent games lead the twins to unwittingly start the repopulation right then and there, putting in jeopardy the delicate air exchanges balance of the shelter. There are now too many people in the shelter, and Mrs. Jonas' family instincts activate - she pushes Mr Gé into 'the hole', where everything from food remains to clothes are processed and recycled. Doing so, she accelerates the events so that soon there is only one choice left - die in the shelter, or try to reach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
René Barjavel
René Barjavel (24 January 1911 – 24 November 1985) was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeastern France. He is best known as a science fiction author, whose work often involved the fall of civilisation due to technocratic hubris and the madness of war, but who also favoured themes emphasising the durability of love. René Barjavel wrote several novels with these themes, such as '' Ravage'' (translated as ''Ashes, ashes''), ''Le Grand Secret'', '' La Nuit des temps'' (translated as ''The Ice People''), and '' Une rose au paradis''. His writing is poetic, dreamy and sometimes philosophical. Some of his works have their roots in an empirical and poetic questioning of the existence of God (notably ''La Faim du tigre''). He was also interested in the environmental heritage which we leave to future generations. Whilst his works are ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cat And The King
''The Cat and the King'' (1981) is a work of historical fiction about the court of French King Louis XIV (1638–1715) by novelist Louis Auchincloss. The novel's narrator— Louis de Rouvroy, the second Duc de Saint-Simon—was a real-life French noble who observed life at the court and recorded in his memoirs all that he saw and felt about the reign of the Sun King. Saint-Simon (1675–1755) is mentioned in many of Auchincloss’ works and in ''The Cat and the King'' he fantasizes that the Duc kept on writing after his real-life memoirs were published. Synopsis Mixing fact and fiction, the Duc de Saint-Simon recounts three episodes in which he and his wife involve themselves in the notorious schemings of King Louis XIV's Versailles. Throughout, the famous courtier's attitudes toward the King and court shift. In the first story, the young Duc, appalled at the King's calculating matches of his illegitimate offspring with prominent aristocrats, works to subvert the wedding of one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Auchincloss
Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novelist who parlayed his experiences into books exploring the experiences and psychology of American polite society and old money. His dry, ironic works of fiction continue the tradition of Henry James and Edith Wharton. in He wrote his novels initially under the name Andrew Lee, the name of an ancestor who cursed any descendant who drank or smoked. Early life Born in Lawrence, New York, Auchincloss was the son of Priscilla Dixon (née Stanton) and Joseph Howland Auchincloss. His brother was Howland Auchincloss and his paternal grandfather, John Winthrop Auchincloss, was the brother of Edgar Stirling Auchincloss (father of James C. Auchincloss) and Hugh Dudley Auchincloss (father of Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr.). He grew up among the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If There Be Thorns
''If There Be Thorns'' is a novel by Virginia C. Andrews which was published in 1981. It is the third book in the Dollanganger series. The story takes place in the year 1982. A Lifetime movie of the same name premiered on April 5, 2015. Plot The book is narrated by two half-brothers, Jory and Bart Sheffield. Jory is a handsome, talented fourteen-year-old boy who wants to follow his mother Cathy in her career in the ballet, while nine-year old Bart, who sees himself as plain and clumsy, feels inferior to his brother. Bart spends his time in his own world of pretend—often covering bad things that he does with fantasies he creates. He also has congenital analgesia and cannot feel pain as a result, putting him at serious risk of injury or death by infection. By now, Cathy and Chris live together as husband and wife. To hide their history, they tell the boys and others that Chris was Paul's younger brother. Cathy is a loving mother to her sons but shows some favoritism towards ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Other People (novel)
''Other People: A Mystery Story'' is a novel by British writer Martin Amis, published in 1981. Plot Mary, an amnesiac young woman, wakes in a hospital and cannot remember who she is, what has happened to her, or even simple things such as how to blow her nose or what clouds are. She leaves the hospital and takes the name "Mary Lamb" after overhearing a nursery rhyme. Mary befriends a woman named Sharon, an alcoholic who seems well-meaning to the naïve Mary until she prostitutes her for money. After enduring painful sex, Mary smashes the man's mouth in once he passes out. She flees, coming into contact with a policeman named Prince, who knows about Mary's past. Mary lives for a while with Sharon's parents, also alcoholics, but eventually she moves into a shelter for "fallen women." She receives a letter from Prince that includes a newspaper clipping concerning her before she lost her memory. Mary learns that her real name is Amy Hide and that her past was quite dark, a fact whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Amis
Sir Martin Louis Amis (25 August 1949 – 19 May 2023) was an English novelist, essayist, memoirist, screenwriter and critic. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and '' London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir ''Experience'' and was twice listed for the Booker Prize (shortlisted in 1991 for '' Time's Arrow'' and longlisted in 2003 for '' Yellow Dog''). Amis was a professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing from 2007 until 2011. In 2008, ''The Times'' named him one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Amis's work centres on the excesses of late capitalist Western society, whose perceived absurdity he often satirised through grotesque caricature. He was portrayed by some literary critics as a master of what ''The New York Times'' called "the new unpleasantness.”Stout, Mira"Martin Amis: Down London's mean streets", ''The New York Times'', 4 February 1990. He was i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social criticism, social and literary criticism. He is best known for satirical comedies such as ''Lucky Jim'' (1954), ''One Fat Englishman'' (1963), ''Ending Up'' (1974), ''Jake's Thing'' (1978) and ''The Old Devils'' (1986). His biographer Zachary Leader called Amis "the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century." In 2008, ''The Times'' ranked him ninth on a list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. He was the father of the novelist Martin Amis. Life and career Kingsley Amis was born on 16 April 1922 in Clapham, south London, the only child of William Robert Amis (1889–1963), a clerk—"quite an important one, fluent in Spanish and responsible for exporting mustard to South America"—for the mustard man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Care Of Time
''The Care of Time'' (1981) is the last novel by British spy fiction writer Eric Ambler. It deals with the theme of international terrorism, using fictional unpublished memoirs of Russian terrorist Sergey Nechayev as a plot device. Plot Robert Halliday is forced by Karlis Zander to help edit the memoirs of a 19th century Russian terrorist Sergey Nechayev, otherwise Zander will detonate a bomb. Halliday soon discovers that Zander and his daughter are themselves threatened by a Middle Eastern terrorist group. Reception Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book is "elaborately farfetched" and "doesn't quite triumph by the more conventional criteria for suspense". However, P.D. James wrote "Ambler controls his complicated plot with brilliant expertise". Writing in 2015, John Gray described the book as "prescient". Adaptations The book was adapted for television in 1990, directed by John Davies, with Michael Brandon as Robert Halliday and Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
