POSTMODERN WRITERS

POSTMODERN WRITERS

1.      ANGELA OLIVE CARTER-PEARCE [1940-1992]

·         Prolific writer of fiction.

·         Published under the pen name Angela Carter.

·         English novelist, short story writer and journalist.

·         Known for her feminist, magical realism and Picaresque works.

·         Best known for her book, The Bloody Chamber – published in 1979

·         Died of developing lung cancer.

WORKS

Novels

·         Shadow Dance (1966) -  also known as Honeybuzzard – her first novel

·         Several Perceptions (1968) – The title is from David Hume, ‘ The mind is a kind of theatre, where several perceptions make this appearance..’

·         Love (1971) – 5^th Novel – it follows the destructive love triangle between a psychologically unstable girl, her charming husband, and her volatile brother-in-law.

·         Her novels Shadow Dance, Several Perceptions and Love are sometimes referred to as the “Bristol Trilogy”

·         Wise Children (1991) – novel follows the fortunes of twin chorus girls Dora and Nora Chance, and their bizarre theatrical family.

·         The Magic Toyshop (1967) – 2^nd novel - it follows the development of the heroine, Melanie, as she becomes aware of herself, her environment, and her sexuality. – won The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

·         The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman(1972) – also known as The War of Dreams.

Short Fiction Collections

·         1^st collection - Fireworks

·         The Bloody Chamber (1979)– also known as  The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories – the stories share a theme of being closely based upon fairy tales of folk tales.

·         widely known for her fearless examination of forbidden topics such as pornography, sexual fetish, rape, incest and cannibalism.

2.      JULIAN PATRICK BARNES [born 19 Jan 1946]

·         Julian Barnes is an English novelist, essayist and short story writer.

·         Won the Man Booker Prize for his book, The Sense of an Ending (2011).

·         Three of his earlier books had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize: Flaubert’s Parrot (1984), England, England (1998), and Arthur & George (2005).

·         He has also written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan

·         His writings has earned him considerable respect as an author who deal with the themes of history, reality, truth and love.

WORKS

·         Metroland (1980) – 1^st novel – it is the story of Christopher, a young man from the London suburbs who travels to Paris as a student, finally returning to London – awarded Somerset Maugham Award in 1981.

·         Before She Met Me (1982) – 2^nd novel

·         Flaubert’s Parrot (1984) – the novel recites the amateur Gustave Flaubert expert Geoffrey Braithwaite’s musings on his subject’s life, and his own, as he looks for a stuffed parrot that inspired the great author.

·         A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters (1989) – collection of short stories in different styles – most are fictional but some are historical.

·         England, England (1998) – humorous novel – explores the idea of national identity as the entrepreneur Sir Jack Pitman creates a theme park on the Isle of Wight that duplicates the tourist spots of England.

·         Arthur & George (2005) – a fictional account of true crime that was investigated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

·         Cross Channel (1996) – collection of 10 stories charting Britain’s relationship with France.

·         Something to Declare – collection of essays on French subjects.

·         The Sense of an Ending (2011) – 11^th novel – written under his own name – narrated by a retired man named Tony Webster, who recalls how he and his clique met Adrian Finn at school and vowed to remain friends for life.

·         works as Van Kavanagh: Duffy( 1980), Fiddle City (1981), Putting the Boot In (1985), Going to the Dogs (1987).

3.      IAN RUSSEL MCEWAN( born 21 June 1948)

·         Ian McEwan is an English novelist and screenwriter.

·         He began his career writing sparse, gothic short stories.

·         The Cement Garden (1978) and The Comfort of Strangers (1981), his first two novels, earned him the nickname Ian Macabre.

WORKS

·         First Love, Last Rites (1975) – his first published work – collection of short stories – won Somerset Maugham Award in 1976.

·         In Between the Sheets (1978) – 2^nd collection of short stories.

·         The Cement Garden (1978) – 1^st novel.

·         The Comfort of Strangers (1981) – 2^nd novel – set in an unnamed city (though the detailed description strongly suggests Venice).

·         Enduring Love (1997) – novel – plot concerns two strangers who become perilously entangled after witnessing a deadly accident.

·         Amsterdam (1998) – novel – for which he awarded the 1998 Booker Prize.

·         Atonement (2001) – metafiction novel – concerning the understanding of and responding to the need for personal atonement – set in three time periods: 1935 England, Second World War England and France, and present-day England.

Other Novels  

·         Saturday(2005)

·         On Chesil Beach (2007)

·         Solar (2010)

·         Sweet Tooth (2012)

·         The Children Act (2014)

·         Nutshell (2016).

MARTIN LOUIS AMIS (born 25 August 1949)

·         Martin Amis is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screen writer.

·         Son of Kingsley Amis, noted English novelist.

·         Best known novels are Money (1984) and London Fields (1989).

·         Received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir Experience (2000).

·         Served as professor of creative writing at University of Manchester until 2011.

·         His works centers on the excesses of late-capitalist western society.

·         He has been portrayed as a master of what The New York Times called ‘the new unpleasantness’.

WORKS

·         His first novel The Rachel Papers (1973) – won Somerset Maugham Award – the most traditional of his novels – tells the story of a bright, egotistical teenager (which Amis acknowledges as autobiographical) and his relationship with the eponymous girlfriend in the year going before to university.

·         Wrote screenplay for the film Saturn 3.

·         Success (1977) – story of two foster brothers, and their rising and falling fortunes.

·         Other People: A Mystery Story (1981) – about a young woman coming out of a coma – transitional novel.

·         Amis’s best known novels Money, London Fields and The Information, commonly referred to as his “London Trilogy”.

·         Money (1984, subtitled A Suicide Note) is a first person narrative by John Self, an advertising man and would be film director, who is ‘addicted to the twentieth century’ – a satire of Thatcherite amorality and greed.

·          London Fields (1989) – his longest work – it describes the encounters between three main characters in London in 1999, as a climate disaster approaches – the characters have typically Amisian names and broad caricatured qualities: Keith Talent, the lower-class crook with a passion for darts; Nicola Six, a femme fatale who is determined to be murdered; and upper middle-class Guy Clinch, “the fool, the fail, the poor foal” who is destined to come between the other two.

·         Time’s Arrow: or The Nature of the Offence (1991) – short novel – it is the autobiography of a Nazi Concentration Camp doctor.

PETER ACKROYD (born 5 October 1949)

·         Peter Ackroyd is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a particular interest in the history and culture of London.

·         He wrote novels about English history and culture.

·         He wrote biographies of William Blake, Charles Dickens, T.S Eliot, Charles Chaplin and Sir Thomas More.

WORKS

·         London Lickpenny (1973) – poetry

·         The Diversions of Purley (1987) – poetry

·         The Great Fire of London (1982) – his first novel – it is a reworking of Charles Dicken’s novel, Little Dorrit.

·         The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (1983)– novel – a fake autobiography of Wilde.

·         Hawksmoor (1985) – novel

·         London: The Biography – it is an extensive and thorough discussion of London through ages.

·         Chatterton (1987) – a similarly layered novel explores plagiarism and forgery and was shortlisted for Booker Prize.

·         The House of Doctor Dee (1993) - novel.

GRAHAM COLIN SWIFT (born 4 May 1949)

·         Graham Swift is an English writer.

·         Born in London

·         His notable works are Shuttlecock, Waterland, and Last Orders.

WORKS

·         The Sweet Shop Owner (1980) – first novel.

·         Shuttlecock (1981) – second novel – psychological thriller – won Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 1983.

·         Waterland (1983) – novel – won Guardian Fiction Prize – it is considerd as the author’s  premier novel

·         Last OrderH (1996) – Booker Prize winning novel.

·         The Light of Day (2003)

·          Tomorrow (2007) – novel about the impending disclosure of a family secret.

·         Wish You Were Here (2011)