Muriel Spark (1918–2006)
Autor von Die Blütezeit der Miss Jean Brodie
Über den Autor
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 mehr anzeigen 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) weniger anzeigen
Werke von Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie / The Girls of Slender Means / The Driver's Seat / The Only Problem (2004) 345 Exemplare
Tribute to Wordsworth: a Miscellany of Opinion for the Centenary of the Poet's Death (1950) — Herausgeber — 3 Exemplare
The Fanfarlo & Other Verse 3 Exemplare
The Portobello Road [short story] 2 Exemplare
You Should Have Seen the Mess 2 Exemplare
Spark Muriel 1 Exemplar
The Driver's Seat (Penguin Modern Classics) by Muriel Spark (27-Apr-2006) Paperback (1600) 1 Exemplar
The Leaf-Sweeper 1 Exemplar
Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse 1 Exemplar
Zugehörige Werke
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers (1994) — Mitwirkender — 182 Exemplare
The Second Penguin Book of English Short Stories (1972) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 116 Exemplare
The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers (2005) — Mitwirkender — 57 Exemplare
Ghosts of Christmas Past: A chilling collection of modern and classic Christmas ghost stories (2017) — Mitwirkender — 52 Exemplare
Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights (2021) — Mitwirkender — 36 Exemplare
Letters of John Henry Newman: A Selection Edited and Introduced by Derek Stanford and Muriel Spark (1957) — Herausgeber — 21 Exemplare
The Other voice : Scottish women's writing since 1808 : an anthology (1988) — Mitwirkender — 9 Exemplare
The Teaching Experience: An Introduction to Education Through Literature (1976) — Mitwirkender — 1 Exemplar
Modern Choice 2 — Mitwirkender — 1 Exemplar
Getagged
Wissenswertes
- Rechtmäßiger Name
- Spark, Muriel Sarah
Camberg, Muriel Sarah - Andere Namen
- Camberg, Muriel Sarah (birth)
Spark, Dame Muriel Sarah
Stanford, Muriel Sarah Spark
Cavallo, Evelyn - Geburtstag
- 1918-02-01
- Todestag
- 2006-04-13
- Begräbnisort
- Oliveto, Toskana, Italien
- Geschlecht
- female
- Nationalität
- Schottland
Grossbritannien - Geburtsort
- Edinburgh, Schottland, Grossbritannien
- Sterbeort
- Florenz, Toskana, Italien
- Wohnorte
- Edinburgh, Schottland, Grossbritannien
Rhodesien
Rom, Italien
Civitella della Chiana, Toskana, Italien
New York, New York, USA
London, England, Grossbritannien - Ausbildung
- James Gillespie's High School for Girls
Heriot Watt College - Berufe
- novelist
poet
literary critic
essayist
editor
short-story writer (Zeige alle 9)
children's book author
biographer
playwright - Beziehungen
- Taylor, Alan F. (friend)
Jardine, Penelope (Companion) - Organisationen
- Royal Society of Edinburgh
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Society of Authors
Authors Guild
PEN
Poetry Review (editor) - Preise und Auszeichnungen
- 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) (Zeige alle 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) - Agent
- Bruce Hunter (David Higham Associates) - Estate
Mitglieder
Diskussionen
Group Read, October 2021: Memento Mori in 1001 Books to read before you die (Oktober 2021)
BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE NOVEMBER - SPARK & BOYD in 75 Books Challenge for 2015 (Dezember 2015)
Muriel Spark Reading Week (23-29 April) in Virago Modern Classics (Mai 2012)
Rezensionen
Mädchen mit begrenzten Möglichkeiten von Muriel Spark
Wie der Club May of Teck selbst, "dreimal das Fenster seit 1940 zertrümmert, aber nie direkt getroffen", tun die jungen Londonerinnen nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg ihr Bestes, um so zu tun, als sei die Welt wieder normal: Sie üben sich in der Rhetorik, drängeln sich um Bewerberinnen und ein einziges Schiaparelli-Kleid. Von Anthony Burgess als einer der besten modernen Romane in der Sunday Times of London ausgewählt, ist The Girls of Slender Means ein straffer und unheimlich perfekter Roman eines Autors, den die New York Times als "eine der besten Schöpferinnen komisch-metaphysischer Unterhaltung dieses Jahrhunderts" bezeichnet hat.… (mehr)
A dance of death, funny and macabre. And always remember: you must die.
Muriel Spark is one of my favourite English writers.
(VIII-11) ****
Muriel Spark is one of my favourite English writers.
(VIII-11) ****
Es gab drei Überlebende bei der Flugzeugkatastrophe. Die Lissabon-Maschine war über Robinsons kleiner vulkanischer Insel abgestürzt, tausend Meilen fern von jeder Zivilisation. Robinson führte dort ein Einsiedlerleben. Während die drei Überlebenden gesundgepflegt werden, zeichnen sich nach und nach ihre verschiedenen Charaktere immer deutlicher ab, was zu verhängnisvollen Konflikten führt.6"Sie ist die Meisterin des Kammerspiels." (Frankfurter Rundschau)
"Muriel Spark läßt ihren Roman nur beinahe einen Kriminalroman sein. Wie sie ihre Lösung findet, das ist psychologisch einwandfrei und sauber erzählt." (Kölner Stadtanzeiger)
"Subtil und scharfsinnig zugleich erzählt - ein literarischer Leckerbissen." (Brigitte)… (mehr)
"Muriel Spark läßt ihren Roman nur beinahe einen Kriminalroman sein. Wie sie ihre Lösung findet, das ist psychologisch einwandfrei und sauber erzählt." (Kölner Stadtanzeiger)
"Subtil und scharfsinnig zugleich erzählt - ein literarischer Leckerbissen." (Brigitte)… (mehr)
Absurdes Theater, Sexualität , Dekadenz und Moral werden thematisiert.
Nicht wirklich mein Fall
Nicht wirklich mein Fall
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