Famous English authors. Contemporary British Writers. A study in Scarlet
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07.05.14 12:34
Brilliant classic detective stories and love stories full of tragedy, lengthy biographies and incomparable subtle humor, a world of bewitching fantasy and adventurous adventures. British literature is rich in masterpieces!
Famous British writers and their best works
Pioneer geniuses
In order to tell about all the most worthy representatives of Great Britain who created wonderful works (from plays and poems to stories and novels), you will need a voluminous volume. But let’s get acquainted (more or less adhering to the chronology) at least with some of them!
Geoffrey Chaucer is considered to be the pioneer of English literature. It was he (this was in the 14th century) who was the first to write his works in his native language (and not in Latin). Among his “programmatic” creations, we note the ironic “Canterbury Tales” and the voluminous heroic-romantic poem “Troilus and Chryseis”. In Chaucer, the earthly is intertwined with the sublime, vulgarity is adjacent to moralizing, and everyday pictures are replaced by passionate scenes.
Recently, here and there, controversy has arisen regarding another recognized classic - William Shakespeare. They doubted his authorship and attributed his works to other personalities (up to Queen Elizabeth the First). We will adhere to the traditional point of view. The immortal lines of sonnets, the colorful characters of tragedies, the life-affirming optimism of the Great Bard's comedies are still contemporary today. His plays are leaders in theater repertoires (in terms of the number of productions), and they are endlessly filmed. More than fifty “Romeo and Juliet” films alone have been filmed (counting from the silent film era). But Shakespeare worked in the distant 16th-17th centuries!
Novels for ladies, and not only
“Women’s” prose in British classics is vividly represented by Jane Austen (who hasn’t read the book “Pride and Prejudice”, which was transferred more than once to the silver screen!). And also the Bronte sisters. Emily's emotional and tragic Wuthering Heights and Charlotte's very popular (again, thanks to film adaptations) Jane Eyre are the best examples of literature of the first half of the 19th century. But both sisters died very early, and many of their plans remained unrealized.
Powerful prose writer Charles Dickens is the pride of Britain. In his works one can find realism and sentimentalism, fairy-tale beginnings and riddles. He did not have time to finish “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” and readers are still scratching their heads over it. But this novel could have become the best detective work of that era.
Mysteries and adventures
In general, the founder of this genre is Dickens's friend, Wilkie Collins. His "The Moonstone" is considered the first detective story written in English. The novel “The Woman in White” is very interesting and full of mysticism and secrets.
Two Scots - Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson - made their contribution to British literature. These were unsurpassed masters of historical adventure novels. “Ivanhoe” by the first and “Treasure Island” by the second are masterpieces.
Two more personalities stand out: the dark romantic John Gordon Byron and the ironic Oscar Wilde. Read their lines! It `s Magic. Life did not spoil both of them, but the emotions in the works were even stronger.
Elegant prose, humor and detective masters
Wilde was persecuted for his homosexuality. Another of his compatriots, Somerset Maugham, also suffered from it. An English intelligence officer, he is the author of the most elegant prose. If you are in a bad mood, re-read “Theater” or watch a movie - even with Via Artmane, or even an American one, with Annette Benning, a wonderful medicine!
Other authors who do a great job of bringing back the spirit are Jerock K. Jerome and Palham G. Wodehouse. Didn’t you chuckle when reading about the adventures of “three men in a boat” or the misadventures of the stupid aristocrat Bertie Wooster, under the care of the prim valet Jeeves?
Even those who do not like detective stories will sooner or later turn to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After all, his hero Sherlock is the favorite subject of modern filmmakers.
What can we say about Lady Agatha! Christie is perhaps the most famous detective (may she forgive us such a dissonant word!) of all times. And words are unnecessary here. Poirot and Marple glorified the British woman for centuries.
In the arms of fantasy
A huge amazing world - with its own language, geography, funny (courageous, terrifying, cute, and not very different!) inhabitants - was invented by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, honor and praise to him. The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy fans what the Bible is to believers.
Among contemporary British writers, JK Rowling has achieved the greatest fame and success. Having once seen some images while half asleep and decided to write down a story about an orphan boy that came to mind, a poor housewife became one of the revered prose writers of our days. The film adaptation of Potter was seen by millions, and the author herself became a multimillionaire.
The erotic escapades of David Lawrence's characters, the throwing of John Fowles' heroes, the other worlds of H.G. Wells, the tragic plots of Thomas Hardy, the evil satire of Jonathan Swift and Bernard Shaw, the ballads of Robert Burns, the realism of Galsworthy and Iris Murdoch. This, too, is the wealth of British literature. Read and enjoy!
English literature– this is a centuries-old history, magnificent writers, unique works that reflect the characteristics of the national character. We grow up with the books of these great authors, we develop with their help. It is impossible to convey the importance of English writers and the contribution they made to world literature. We offer you 10 internationally recognized masterpieces of English literature.
1. William Shakespeare - “King Lear”
The story of King Lear is the story of a man blinded by his own despotism, who in his declining years is confronted for the first time with the bitter truth of life. Endowed with unlimited power, Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters Cordelia, Goneril and Regan. On the day of his abdication, he expects flattering speeches and assurances of tender love from them. He knows in advance what his daughters will say, but he longs to once again listen to the praises addressed to him in the presence of the court and foreigners. Lear invites the youngest of them and the most beloved Cordelia to talk about his love in such a way that her words will prompt him to give her a “more extensive share than his sisters.” But proud Cordelia refuses to perform this ritual with dignity. A fog of rage obscures Lear’s eyes and, considering her refusal an attack on his power and dignity, he curses his daughter. Having deprived her of her inheritance, King Lear abdicates the throne in favor of his eldest daughters Goneril and Regan, not realizing the dire consequences of his action...
2. George Gordon Byron - “Don Juan”
“I am looking for a hero!..” Thus begins the poem “Don Juan”, written by the great English poet George Gordon Byron. And his attention was attracted by a hero well known in world literature. But the image of the young Spanish nobleman Don Juan, who became a symbol of the seducer and womanizer, takes on new depth in Byron. He is unable to resist his passions. But often he himself becomes the object of harassment from women...
3. John Galsworthy - “The Forsyte Saga”
“The Forsyte Saga” is life itself, in all its tragedy, in joys and losses, a life that is not very happy, but accomplished and unique.
The first volume of “The Forsyte Saga” includes a trilogy consisting of novels: “The Owner,” “In the Loop,” “For Rent,” which presents the history of the Forsyte family over many years.
4. David Lawrence - “Women in Love”
David Herbert Lawrence shocked the consciousness of his contemporaries with the freedom with which he wrote about the relationship of the sexes. In the famous novels about the Brenguin family - “The Rainbow” (which was banned immediately after publication) and “Women in Love” (published in a limited edition, and in 1922 a censorship trial of its author took place) Lawrence describes the story of several married couples. Women in Love was filmed by Ken Russell in 1969 and won an Oscar.
“My great religion is the belief in blood and flesh, that they are wiser than the intellect. Our minds may make mistakes, but what our blood feels, believes, and says is always true.”
5. Somerset Maugham - “The Moon and a Penny”
One of Maugham's best works. A novel about which literary critics have been arguing for many decades, but still cannot come to a common opinion - should the story of the tragic life and death of the English artist Strickland be considered a kind of “free biography” of Paul Gauguin?
Whether this is true or not, “The Moon and a Penny” still remains the true pinnacle of English literature of the 20th century.
6. Oscar Wilde - “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Oscar Wilde is a great English writer who gained fame as a brilliant stylist, an inimitable wit, an extraordinary personality of his time, a man whose name, through the efforts of enemies and a gossip-hungry mob, became a symbol of depravity. This edition includes the famous novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” - the most successful and most scandalous of all the books created by Wilde.
7. Charles Dickens - “David Copperfield”
The famous novel “David Copperfield” by the great English writer Charles Dickens has gained the love and recognition of readers all over the world. Largely autobiographical, this novel tells the story of a boy forced to fight alone against a cruel, bleak world inhabited by evil teachers, selfish factory owners and soulless servants of the law. In this unequal war, David can only be saved by moral firmness, purity of heart and extraordinary talent, capable of turning a dirty ragamuffin into the greatest writer in England.
8. Bernard Shaw - “Pygmalimon”
The play begins on a summer evening in Covent Garden in London. A sudden torrential downpour of rain caught the pedestrians by surprise and forced them to take shelter under the portal of St. Paul's Cathedral. Among those gathered were professor of phonetics Henry Higgins and researcher of Indian dialects Colonel Pickering, who specially came from India to see the professor. The unexpected meeting delights both. The men begin a lively conversation, into which an incredibly dirty flower girl intervenes. While begging the gentlemen to buy a bouquet of violets from her, she makes such unimaginable inarticulate sounds that it horrifies Professor Higgins, who is discussing the advantages of his method of teaching phonetics. The disgruntled professor swears to the colonel that thanks to his lessons, this dirty woman can easily become a saleswoman in a flower shop, where now she won’t even be allowed to enter the door. Moreover, he swears that in three months he will be able to pass her off as the duchess at the envoy's reception.
Higgins gets down to business with great enthusiasm. Obsessed with the idea of turning a simple street girl into a real lady at any cost, he is absolutely confident of success, and does not think at all about the consequences of his experiment, which will radically change not only the fate of Eliza (that’s the girl’s name), but also his own life .
9. William Thackeray - “Vanity Fair”
The pinnacle of creativity of the English writer, journalist and graphic artist William Makepeace Thackeray was the novel “Vanity Fair”. All the characters in the novel - positive and negative - are involved, according to the author, in an “eternal circle of grief and suffering.” Rich in events, rich in subtle observations of the life of its time, imbued with irony and sarcasm, the novel “Vanity Fair” took pride of place in the list of masterpieces of world literature.
10. Jane Austen - “Sense and Sensibility”
“Sense and Sensibility” is one of the best novels by the wonderful English writer Jane Austen, who is rightly called the “first lady” of British literature. Among her most famous works are such masterpieces as “Pride and Prejudice”, “Emma”, “Northanger Abbey” and others. “Sense and Sensibility” is a so-called novel of morals, representing the love stories of two sisters: one of them is restrained and reasonable, the other is passionately devoted to emotional experiences. Heart dramas against the background of the conventions of society and ideas about duty and honor become a real “education of feelings” and are crowned with well-deserved happiness. The life of a large family, the characters and the twists and turns of the plot are described by Jane Austen easily, ironically and heartfeltly, with inimitable humor and purely English restraint.
The greatest writer of England, William Shakespeare, is the world's most famous playwright. He is the author of a dozen plays and hundreds of sonnets, and also owns the most famous poems and epitaphs.
Shakespeare's works have been translated into virtually all languages of the world, and William became truly famous only in the 19th century.
It is he who owns such works as “King Lear”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Macbeth”, “Othello” and “Hamlet”. Today there is no person who does not know the famous expression: “To be or not to be? - that is the question!”
Arthur Conan Doyle
The well-known and beloved writer Arthur Conan Doyle was actually a doctor by training.
It is thanks to him that we know today about the brilliant Sherlock Holmes and the popular Professor Challenger, as well as the brave officer Gerard. Sir Arthur wrote a huge number of adventure, historical and humorous stories. He was passionate about cricket, politics and medicine all his life.
In 2004, documents and personal letters from politicians and the US President were found, valued at more than £2 million.
Agatha Christie
Her real name is Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. She is the second most popular author in the world after William Shakespeare.
Her work has been translated into almost all languages of the world and today the reader enjoys such masterpieces as “The Curious Incident at Styles”, “The Mysterious Assailant”, “Murder on the Golf Course”, “Poirot Investigates” and much more.
Charles Dickens
During his lifetime, this great writer achieved popularity and became world famous. Charles John Huffam Dickens is a classic of world fiction. Dickens was born in 1812, lived for almost 60 years, but managed to write as many famous works as, perhaps, almost no one else could.
Charles received the great honor of Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. They say about him that he became the darling of fate and everyone’s favorite, especially among women. He is the author of such works as “Oliver Twist”, “Our Mutual Friend”, “Great Expectations”, “Bleak House”, “Copperfield” and much more.
Dickens came from a poor family, but thanks to his decent fees, he was able to provide himself and his loved ones with a comfortable life.
Rudyard Kipling
In 1865, the famous short story writer, poet and writer Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born in India. When the boy was 5 years old, his family safely moved to England.
He became the author of numerous poems, prose and poems, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1907, and also received awards from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh. Kipling owns such famous works as “Kim”, “The Jungle Book”, “Brave Captains”, “Ganga Din”.
Rudyard was fond of journalism, thanks to which he perfectly understands the life of the country. And the travels that he regularly made as a writer helped him convey all the flavor of Asia and the USA.
Oscar Wilde
The great and talented Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. The writer's father was a good doctor, for which he was knighted. The family was proud of the breadwinner, but Oscar decided to go his own way and began writing books about archeology and folklore.
Oscar studied at the Royal School and spoke French and German. At an older age, the guy began to become interested in antiquity and showed interest in ancient languages. Oscar Wilde traveled a lot and strived for knowledge all his life. He dedicated his works to his family and friends, as well as to the events that left a mark on his life.
The most popular works are “Sonnet to Liberty”, “Milton”, “Phaedra”, “Shelley’s Grave” and much more.
Joanne Rowling
JK Rowling is considered one of the most famous modern writers. Due to the family's frequent moves, the girl had no permanent friends, except that she was inseparable from her sister.
One day a girl meets an interesting person with the last name Potter, after which Joan comes up with the idea of a brilliant work. So after some time, his studies at Hogwarts were born. Of course, the world did not see the book right away, however, it is thanks to it that today every schoolchild and student knows this brilliant English writer.
In the 90s, Joan moved to Portugal, where she taught English and continued working on the Potter books. There she meets her soulmate and gets married.
John Tolkien
There is probably no person today who has not watched or read “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again.” But the author of these most famous creations is Oxford University professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. In 2008, the writer was in the top five best UK authors.
The family moved several times when the boy was still a child and then he lost his father. Nevertheless, the guy was very smart, well-read thanks to the efforts of his mother.
As a young man, he was inquisitive and read a lot, he already liked girls, and at the age of 21, Tolkien wrote a letter to his beloved proposing marriage. Their union turned out to be strong: they lived a long and happy life.
H.G. Wells
His family was poor, his father tried to trade, however, the business did not bring any income. The writer's family lived due to the fact that the father often played cricket. However, the boy was able to get an education and become a doctor of biology.
George taught and was actively involved in political life. After his death, many memorials were erected, and it is also said that George Wells brought light to many lives as he selflessly committed himself to the education of the poor.
Robert Lewis Stevenson
Stevenson Robert Lewis is a famous Scottish writer and author of many adventure stories and short stories. The boy was born into a wealthy family, graduated from Edinburgh Academy and entered university.
The child suffered several serious illnesses in childhood, and in his youth, under family pressure, he got married. Stevenson's first edition was issued with his father's money, and it was then that the guy developed an interest in the history of his native Scotland. His stories were published in local newspapers and magazines.
The writer traveled a lot, but did not stop creating his masterpieces until his last day. The great author died in Samoa from a stroke.
Daniel Defoe
In 1660, the great writer Daniel Defoe was born in London. The beloved work “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” made the author famous throughout the world and was translated into many languages.
By the way, it was Defoe who was recognized as the founder of the English novel. Throughout his life, Daniel published about 500 books, based on the plot of which films were made.
Defoe's family hoped that their son would become a shepherd, but the boy chose art and his first works were written on religious themes. Defoe received a good education, met influential people and even went to prison. Daniel Defoe met his death far from his family in 1731 in London.
Jonathan Swift
In 1667, poet and public figure Jonathan Swift was born. The Anglican priest dreamed of making the world a better place, changing people, so he came up with the idea of writing about human vices. This is how the work “Gulliver's Travels” appeared.
The writer was born into a poor Protestant family, his father died very early, so the child grew up in the family of a wealthy relative. I hardly saw my mother.
Nevertheless, the boy was able to get a good education, found a decent job, and wrote an “Autobiographical Fragment” in memory of his childhood and family history. He is the author of such works as “The Battle of the Books”, “Diary for Stella”, “A Butterfly’s Tale” and many poems and poems.
George Byron
George Gordon Byron, more commonly known as Lord Byron, is a writer who captured the imagination of not only Europe, but the whole world. A boy was born into a poor family: his father lost his fortune, and his mother returned from Europe with the little that was left.
The boy studied at a private school, then at a gymnasium, however, according to him, his nannies taught him more than all the teachers at school. In addition, his mother did not feel great love for her son and often threw things at him that didn’t hit him.
He received the title of lord from his late grandfather, along with the family estate. In his youth, the writer loved to read and travel, which he was very proud of later. Byron wrote throughout his life.
He owns such famous works as “The Bride of Abydos”, “Jewish Melodies”, “Parisina”, “Tasso’s Complaint”, “Darkness”, “The Christian and His Comrades”. A city in Greece was named in memory of the great writer, and his portrait is also depicted on postage stamps.
Lewis Carroll
One of the most versatile personalities in England is Lewis Carroll. He was a writer and was interested in photography, mathematics and philosophy. His most famous works were “Alice in Wonderland”, “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, and “The Hunting of the Snark”.
The boy was born into a large family. There wasn’t much money, so his father took care of his education. Lewis was a smart and quick-witted child; he was left-handed, which made his family very unhappy.
After some time, the boy went to school, and then in college he began his career as a writer. He sent his work to local newspapers and magazines. In 1867, Lewis went on his first and only trip, visiting Moscow and other European cities.
Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham is one of the most successful English writers of the 20th century. The future author was born into a successful French family. The parents hoped that the child would choose a career as a lawyer in the future, but the boy was not attracted to law. Until the age of 10, the child spoke only French, so his father sent him to live with relatives in England.
There he became interested in medicine, studied at the hospital's school and wrote his first work, Lisa of Lambeth, about this experience. During the war, William even worked as a scout and was sent to Russia for a specific purpose.
After the war, the writer traveled a lot around Asia, which he talked about in his work. He also wrote "The Hero", "The Creation of the Saint", "The Conqueror of Africa", "Carousel" and many other novels.
Thomas More (1478 - 1535), from whom famous English writers actually originate, despite his “serious” origins from the family of a famous judge in London, had exceptional cheerfulness from childhood. For 13 years he found himself in the service of the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Morton.
However, not only his wit, but also his thirst for knowledge contributed to the fact that his stern mentor predicted the fate of an “amazing man” for him.
Beginning in 1510, the young lawyer became interested King Henry VIII of England, and this meant the beginning of a political career for Thomas. 11 years later he was so successful at it that he was knighted, with the prefix “sir” added to his name. And for the manifesto “In Defense of the Seven Sacraments,” he was awarded the title Defender of the Faith of England by Pope Leo X.
Researchers still do not know whether to classify his “History of Richard III” as a historical or a work of fiction. It is similar to the chronicles of those years, but it also represents the point of view of the author, who gives an assessment of the events of 1483; this version was very popular in the works of writers of the 19th century.
Thomas More had other talents - poet and translator. He is credited, in particular, with the authorship of 280 Latin epigrams, translations from Greek and poems.
More's most significant creation is Utopia, which remains relevant in England today. Her ideas were used by Russian writers of the 19th century. In the genre of the novel, he laid down a powerful message of socialist thought.
It can be considered a kind of manifesto for utopian socialism of the 19th century. A master of epigrams, he himself spoke of his work as useful and funny. The ideas of abolishing private property and exploitation of labor are also used by modern writers.
Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) is known to the general public only as the author of the famous Gulliver's Travels. However, this talented satirist of England proved himself to be a courageous publicist, philosopher, poet and public figure, who most of all advocated for solving the problems of his native Irish. Famous writers of the 19th century consider him their confessor.
Swift came from a poor family. His father, his full namesake, died in the rank of a minor judicial official when his wife was pregnant with the future classic of English literature. Therefore, his uncle Godwin took upon himself all the work of raising the baby, and Jonathan practically did not know his own mother.
He studied at Trinity College (Dublin University) with a bachelor's degree, but this study left him with a lifelong skepticism towards science. He was much better at languages - Latin and Greek, as well as French, plus he had excellent makings of a writer who influenced the literature of England in the 19th century.
Even before receiving his master's degree at Oxford (1692), he made his debut in the literary field as a poet.
Two years later, Jonathan became a confessor and was sent to Ireland. The religious fervor of the future critic of morals did not last long, and already in 1696-1699 he returned to English literature with satirical stories, parables and poems, which were developed in Russian literature of the 19th century.
Nevertheless, having lost his patrons in London, he was forced to return to the bosom of the church, without ceasing to create in the field of satire. In 1702, he became a doctor of divinity at the same Trinity College from which he had previously graduated.
One of the two parables he had previously written, “The Tale of the Barrel,” brought him popularity in England. In 1713, he took the position of dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, thus entering big politics. The main theme of his aspirations was the struggle for Irish autonomy, which English writers actively glorified in their works of the 19th century.
It is interesting that the first two volumes of Gulliver were published anonymously in England (1726). The remaining two, however, were not long in coming (1727) and, despite some successes of censorship, which slightly spoiled the book, Travels instantly became incredibly popular. Suffice it to say that within a few months the book was reprinted three times, and then its translations began, which continued into the 19th and 20th centuries.
Samuel Richardson (1689 – 1761) can rightfully be called the founding father of the “sensitive” literature of England, which was continued by writers of the 19th century. With three novels - "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded", "Clarissa, or the Story of a Young Lady" and "The Story of Sir Charles Grandison" - he formed the foundation of his worldwide fame.
He was not only a wonderful writer, but also a reputable printer and publisher in England. He survived the death of his wife and five sons, married again, and his second wife bore him four daughters. However, Samuel himself was from a large family, in which, in addition to himself, eight more children grew up.
Already in adolescence, Samuel gravitated toward writing. At the age of 13, girls he knew begged him to write answers for them to love letters sent to them. Thus, with simple research into girls’ hearts, he prepared the ground for his “three pillars”, on which their fruits grew in the 19th century.
As a 17-year-old boy, he became a printer, and for seven long years he worked as a laborer for the master, who disliked Richardson so much that he, the only one of his workers, did not give him any concessions. After leaving him, Samuel opened his own printing house, and then married for convenience the daughter of his former employer.
Richardson wrote his first novel at the age of 51, and this creation instantly became a bestseller, and its author a lifetime classic.
Each of Samuel's three novels tells the story of the life of a certain class of England, from the lowest to the highest. Their main advantage is a fundamental analysis of feelings and abundant moral teaching. The most successful critics unanimously call it “Clarissa, or the Story of a Young Lady,” the ideas of which came to court in the 19th century and are also used by modern authors.
Henry Fielding (1707 - 1754) is the founder of the realistic novel in England, the author of The History of Tom Jones, Foundling, and a prolific playwright. Coming from a general's family, a hereditary nobleman, he graduated from Eton, studied for two years in Leiden, but was forced to return to London and earn a living as a playwright.
His first opuses with a clearly satirical slant came under fire from official criticism, and after the release of The Golden Rump from his pen, the authorities adopted the Law on Theater Censorship, which was still relevant in the 19th century.
Fielding had to quit the theater, enter Templely and concentrate on his legal career in order to support his family. Along the way, he became interested in journalism, but was often poor, and only the patronage of the wealthy benefactor Ralph Allen (later the prototype of Olvetri in Tom Jones) helped his children, after Henry’s death, receive a decent education.
However, the attractiveness of satire did not allow him to leave dramaturgy forever, and the success of his “Thumb Boy” in England became a continuation of his career in this field. His first major success was “Shamela”, in this novel he takes the baton from Jonathan Swift and successfully criticizes the melodramatic genre, which was in great favor at that time and most fully developed in the 19th century.
However, neither in this nor in the subsequent Joseph Andrews did Fielding achieve the same level of mastery as in The History of the Life of the Late Jonathan Wild the Great. The theme of fraud begun in this novel continued in The Effeminate Spouse.
The crowning achievement of Fielding's work is undoubtedly his Tom Jones. Here the genre of the picaresque novel is almost completely formed in order to sail further on the waves of English literature, accessible to followers.
And the tilt towards sentimentalism that he made in “Emilia” only testifies to the multifaceted talent of this great English writer.
Walter Scott (1771 – 1832) was the first to use the today fashionable word “freelancer” (in “Ivanhoe”), and he was not a free artist, but a hired medieval warrior. In addition to writing and poetry, history and advocacy, the founder of the historical novel of the 19th century was not alien to collecting antiquities.
He was born the ninth child in a family of intellectuals, where his father was a wealthy lawyer, and his mother was the daughter of a medical professor. However, at the age of one, little Walter suffered from infantile paralysis, and therefore, despite repeated treatment, his right leg lost mobility forever.
The future novelist of the 19th century spent his childhood with his grandfather, a farmer, amazing those around him with his liveliness of mind and unique memory. His years of study were connected with his native Edinburgh; here the boy developed a craving for studying the ballads and tales of Scotland and the works of German poets.
At the age of 21 he became a certified lawyer., and then starts his own legal practice. At this time, he travels a lot around Britain, collecting his favorite English legends and ballads.
The writer meets his first love in the same lawyer family. However, the girl chose a banker over him, which forever broke his heart, pieces of which littered all his subsequent literary opuses.
Unfortunately, childhood illnesses made themselves felt in 1830 with apoplexy. Now his right arm is losing mobility. Over the next two years, he suffered two more such strokes, and died in 1832 from a heart attack.
Now his Abbotsford estate houses a museum containing all the relics associated with his life's achievements. They began with translations of the ballads of one of his favorite German poets, Burger - “Lenora” and “Wild Hunter”. The next one in his translation was Goethe's drama Goetz von Berlichingham.
It is therefore clear that Scott’s debut in the literature of the 19th century could only be a poetic work - the ballad “Midsummer’s Evening” (1800). Already in 1802, he burst into a two-volume work, which included both Scott’s original ballads and his revised English legends.
A year later, the literary world witnessed the birth of the first novel in verse, Marmion. In addition, he holds the throne of the founder of the historical poem, and his work in the years 1805-1817 popularized the lyric-epic poem.
So, having already become a famous poet, he graduated from Waverley in 1814 and began a career that brought him worldwide fame, which is the envy of writers all over the planet. Despite his poor health, Walter Scott was phenomenally productive. He published less than two novels a year.
This was the Honoré de Balzac of 19th century English literature! It is interesting that from the very beginning he sought his path in the genre of the historical novel of England. And, judging by the success of Rob Roy, Woodstock, Ivanhoe, Quentin Dorward, The Antiquarian and his other novels that followed Waverley, he completely succeeded!
Nick Hornby is known not only as the author of such popular novels as Hi-Fi and My Boy, but also as a screenwriter. The writer’s cinematic style makes him very popular in adapting books by various authors into film adaptations: “Brooklyn”, “An Education of Sentiments”, “Wild”.
In the past, an ardent football fan, he even expressed his obsession in the autobiographical novel “Football Fever.”
Culture is often a key theme in Hornby's books; in particular, the writer does not like it when pop culture is underestimated, considering it to be limited. Also, the key themes of the works are often the hero’s relationship with himself and others, overcoming and searching for himself.
Nick Hornby now lives in the Highbury area of North London, close to his favorite football team's stadium, Arsenal.
Doris Lessing (1919 - 2013)
After the second divorce in 1949, she moved with her son to London, where at first she rented an apartment with a woman of easy virtue.
The topics that worried Lessing, as often happens, changed during her life, and if in 1949-1956 she was primarily occupied with social issues and communist themes, then from 1956 to 1969 her works began to be psychological in nature. In later works, the author was close to the postulates of the esoteric movement in Islam - Sufism. In particular, this was expressed in many of her science fiction works from the Canopus series.
In 2007, the writer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The novel "Bridget Jones's Diary", which was born from the column that Helen wrote in the Independent newspaper, brought the writer worldwide success and the love of millions of women.
The plot of "The Diary" repeats in detail the plot of Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice", right down to the name of the main male character - Mark Darcy.
They say that the writer was inspired to write the book by the 1995 TV series and especially Colin Firth, since he migrated without any changes to the film adaptation of “The Diary.”
In the UK, Stephen is known as an esthete and a great original, driving around in his own cab. Stephen Fry incomparably combines two abilities: to be the standard of British style and to regularly shock the public. His bold statements about God confuse many, which, however, does not in any way affect his popularity. He is openly gay - last year, 57-year-old Fry married a 27-year-old comedian.
Fry does not hide the fact that he used drugs and suffers from bipolar disorder, about which he even made a documentary.
It’s not easy to define all of Fry’s areas of activity; he jokingly calls himself “a British actor, writer, king of dance, prince of swimsuits and blogger.” All of his books invariably become bestsellers, and interviews are analyzed for quotes.
Stephen is considered a rare owner of a unique classic English accent; an entire book has been written about the art of “speaking like Stephen Fry.”
Julian Barnes has been called the "chameleon" of British literature. He is excellent at creating works that are different from each other without losing his individuality: eleven novels, four of which are detective stories, written under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh, a collection of short stories, a collection of essays, a collection of articles and reviews.
The writer was repeatedly accused of francophony, especially after the publication of the book “Flaubert's Parrot,” a kind of mixture of a biography of the writer and a scientific treatise on the role of the author in general. The writer's attraction to everything French is partly explained by the fact that he grew up in the family of a French teacher.
His novel “The History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters” became a real event in literature. Written in the dystopian genre, the novel seeks answers to a number of philosophical questions about the essence of man, his past, present and future.
A favorite of children and adults around the world, the restless Paddington Bear was “born” in 1958, when Michael Bond realized at the last moment before Christmas that he had forgotten to buy a gift for his wife. Out of hopelessness, the author, who had already written many plays and stories by that time, bought his wife a toy bear in a blue raincoat.
In 2014, a film was made based on his books, where London became one of the characters in the story. It appears before us as if through the eyes of a little guest from dense Peru: at first rainy and inhospitable, and then sunny and beautiful. In the picture you can recognize Notting Hill, Portobello Road, streets near Maida Vale station, Paddington station and the Natural History Museum.
Interestingly, the writer now lives in London just near Paddington station.
Rowling went from welfare dole to author of the best-selling book series in history in just five years, which became the basis for films that in turn are recognized as the second highest-grossing franchise.
As Rowling herself said, the idea for the book came to her during a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. .
Neil Gaiman is called one of the main modern storytellers. Hollywood producers are lining up for the film rights to his books.
He also wrote scripts himself more than once. His famous novel Neverwhere was born from just such a script for a mini-series filmed at the BBC in 1996. Although, of course, the opposite is more often the case.
Neil's scary tales are also loved because they blur the lines between intellectual and entertaining literature.
The writer is a winner of prestigious awards; many of Ian’s works have been filmed.
The writer's first works were distinguished by cruelty and great attention to the theme of violence, for which the author was awarded the nickname Ian Macabre. He was also called the black wizard of modern British prose and a world-class expert on all types of violence.
In subsequent work, all these themes remained, but seemed to fade into the background, running like a red thread through the fate of the heroes, without lingering in the frame.
The writer spent his childhood on the run: he was born in Czechoslovakia into an intelligent Jewish family. Due to her nationality, his mother moved to Singapore and then to India. Almost all of the writer’s relatives died during the Second World War, and his mother, having married a British military man for the second time, raised her children as real Englishmen.
Stoppard became famous for the play “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” a reimagined tragedy of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” which, under Tom’s pen, turned into a comedy.
The playwright has a lot in common with Russia. He visited here in 1977, working on a report about dissidents who were kept in psychiatric hospitals. "It was cold. Moscow seemed gloomy to me,” the author shares his memories.
The writer also visited Moscow during the staging of a play based on his play at the RAMT Theater in 2007. The theme of the 8-hour performance is the development of Russian political thought of the 19th century with its main characters: Herzen, Chaadaev, Turgenev, Belinsky, Bakunin.
