Norman Douglas (1) (1868–1952)
Auteur de South Wind
Pour les autres auteurs qui s'appellent Norman Douglas, voyez la page de désambigüisation.
A propos de l'auteur
Author Norman Douglas was born in Austria on December 8, 1868 and was educated in England, Germany, and France. In 1893, he joined the British Foreign Office and worked as a diplomat in Russia and Italy. He left the service in 1896 apparently as the result of an indiscreet love affair. He wrote afficher plus numerous travel books and his only popular success was the novel South Wind, published in 1917. He died in 1952. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins
Crédit image: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten collection, Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-117957 DLC
Œuvres de Norman Douglas
Some limericks : Collected for the use of students, and ensplendourd'd with introduction, geographical index, and… (1928) 50 exemplaires
Footnote on Capri 7 exemplaires
The Norman Douglas limerick book: Collected for the use of students, & ensplendour'd with introduction, geographical… (1969) 6 exemplaires
Norman Douglas; a selection from his works 5 exemplaires
Respectful ribaldry : a selection of letters from Norman Douglas to Faith Compton Mackenzie (2008) 2 exemplaires
South wind. Volume 1 1 exemplaire
Dear Doug! : letters to Norman Douglas from Eric Wolton, René Mari, Marcel Mercier and Ettore Masciandaro and a… (2008) 1 exemplaire
Norman Douglas correspondence 1 exemplaire
Goût de l'espace : letters of Oscar Levy to Norman Douglas and a selection of letters from Douglas to Levy (2010) 1 exemplaire
Unprofessional tales 1 exemplaire
The angel of Manfredonia 1 exemplaire
One day 1 exemplaire
South wind. Volume 2 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
Then and Now. A Selection of Articles, Stories & Poems, Taken from the First Fifty Numbers of ‘Now & Then’,… (1935) — Contributeur — 2 exemplaires
Contact collection of contemporary writers — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom légal
- Douglas, George Norman
- Autres noms
- Bey, Pilaff
Normyx - Date de naissance
- 1868-12-08
- Date de décès
- 1952-02-07
- Lieu de sépulture
- Cimitero acattolico, Capri, Italy
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- UK
- Lieu de naissance
- Thuringia, Austria
- Lieu du décès
- Capri, Italy
- Lieux de résidence
- Thuringia, Austria
Tilquhillie, Deeside, Scotland, UK
Capri, Italy
Naples, Italy
Florence, Italy
London, England, UK (tout afficher 7)
St Petersburg, Russian Empire - Études
- Gymnasium, Karlsruhe, Germany
Uppingham School, Uppingham, Rutland, England, UK - Professions
- novelist
essayist
diplomat - Relations
- Orioli, Giuseppe (partner and publisher)
- Courte biographie
- His last words: "Get those fucking nuns away from me."
Norman Douglas (1868-1952) was born in Austria and educated in England, Germany and France. Much of his life was spent in exile, in Italy and the south of France. His first work, Siren Land, was published in 1911, followed by Fountains in the Sand (1912) and Old Calabria (1915). Publication of his most famous novel, South Wind, in 1917 established his reputation as one of the foremost writers of his generation. Douglas returned briefly to England in 1942 but spent the last five years of his life on Capri, where he died after a long illness. Though his life was surrounded by controversy, Douglas's prose reflected an elegance and beauty acclaimed by critics. His novels and travel books are now widely regarded as classics.
Membres
Critiques
Old Calabria (Picador Travel Classics) par Norman Douglas
A stupendous erudite collection of impressions and reportage about the most neglected part of Italy from the early Twentieth Century. Douglas was a polymath who firmly held that life was there to be enjoyed. This book rather proves his point.
Fondamentale per arrivare alla fine, riuscire a capire dalle prime righe di ciascun capitolo cosa si può saltare e cosa si può provare a leggere alla ricerca di qualcosa di interessante. Douglas è un poligrafo erudito che discetta di qualunque cosa, salta di palo in frasca, apre parentesi infinite che possono chiudersi anche venti pagine dopo, sembra avere come interesse principale quello di produrre un tomo di un determinato spessore. Di tutti i libri letti sulla Calabria finora, sicuramente il più noioso.… (plus d'informations)
"Alone" is only nominally a travel book. Douglas does tell you where he's going, and what you're likely to see if you follow his lead, but he frequently abandons you to describe his own thoughts, which tend to anecdote and social commentary. In the chapter "Viareggio" he discusses snakes and lizards, and eulogizes the author Ouida, who died here in 1908, with whom he often corresponded. In Olevano he shares a local tale about bears, and marks the harsh toll of war [WWI] on the lives of those left behind. In Valmontone we meet an overheated pig, and he searches for evidence of Athena's temple. In Soriano he seeks out authentic macaroni and discusses taxidermy and Peruvian mummies. In Pisa he takes a forlorn view of the Arno:
"In the hour of evening, under a wintry sky amid whose darkly massed vapours a young moon is peering down upon this maddened world, I wander alone through deserted roadways towards that old solitary brick-tower. Here I stand, and watch the Arno rolling its sullen waves. In Pisa, at such an hour, the Arno is the emblem of Despair. Swollen with melted snow from the mountains, it has gnawed its miserable clay banks and now creeps along, leaden and inert, half-solid, like a torrent of liquid mud -- irresolute whether to be earth or water; whether to stagnate here forever at my feet, or crawl onward yet another league into the sea."
Norman Douglas is an egoist of a high order, a writer with a clear, unselfconscious style, a skeptic, a hedonist, an epicure, an anti-vulgarian, and other states of being pleasant and unpleasant. He is indifferent to your presence, yet convivial, he is knowledgeable without pretension or condescension, curious, critical, and amusing.… (plus d'informations)
"In the hour of evening, under a wintry sky amid whose darkly massed vapours a young moon is peering down upon this maddened world, I wander alone through deserted roadways towards that old solitary brick-tower. Here I stand, and watch the Arno rolling its sullen waves. In Pisa, at such an hour, the Arno is the emblem of Despair. Swollen with melted snow from the mountains, it has gnawed its miserable clay banks and now creeps along, leaden and inert, half-solid, like a torrent of liquid mud -- irresolute whether to be earth or water; whether to stagnate here forever at my feet, or crawl onward yet another league into the sea."
Norman Douglas is an egoist of a high order, a writer with a clear, unselfconscious style, a skeptic, a hedonist, an epicure, an anti-vulgarian, and other states of being pleasant and unpleasant. He is indifferent to your presence, yet convivial, he is knowledgeable without pretension or condescension, curious, critical, and amusing.… (plus d'informations)
I really enjoyed this book, especially the first quarter or so with bits and pieces afterward. I enjoyed the author's cutting wit and pithiness. A few of his observations truly span space and time and ring true today others are very much of their time. His comment on the imbibing of hashish was artful and framed within a somber remembrance of a long-disappeared Arab cafe. He found the effects "beneficent and clarifying; intellectually provocative." However, it seems that these effects were tied more to the place, the old cafe, as it refused "to be operative as I like to be operative save in a specific environment: it must have the proper local background." (pgs.14-15).
Most of the book has a somber tone to it, reminiscing on people that had passed, places and features that no longer existed due to war or simply time. This along with a few well-placed laments on the changing times of the mid-1940s effacing the seemingly more familiar late 19th century, 1910s, and 20s. This malaise is kept in check by some piquant quips here and there. The only part of the book that was mired in its own day was the last part: Book Reviews. I thought I would have enjoyed this part the most when I first cracked the table of contents. I did not.
However, overall I did enjoy the book with some occasional hurdles. I would recommend this book to those looking for a calm but interesting read. This book granting a glimpse of another time and places that have long since changed.… (plus d'informations)
Most of the book has a somber tone to it, reminiscing on people that had passed, places and features that no longer existed due to war or simply time. This along with a few well-placed laments on the changing times of the mid-1940s effacing the seemingly more familiar late 19th century, 1910s, and 20s. This malaise is kept in check by some piquant quips here and there. The only part of the book that was mired in its own day was the last part: Book Reviews. I thought I would have enjoyed this part the most when I first cracked the table of contents. I did not.
However, overall I did enjoy the book with some occasional hurdles. I would recommend this book to those looking for a calm but interesting read. This book granting a glimpse of another time and places that have long since changed.… (plus d'informations)
Listes
Franklit (1)
Prix et récompenses
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 40
- Aussi par
- 7
- Membres
- 1,443
- Popularité
- #17,818
- Évaluation
- 3.8
- Critiques
- 26
- ISBN
- 174
- Langues
- 5
- Favoris
- 3