Muriel Spark (1918–2006)
Auteur de Le bel âge de miss Brodie
A propos de l'auteur
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 afficher plus 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) afficher moins
Œuvres de Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie / The Girls of Slender Means / The Driver's Seat / The Only Problem (2004) 353 exemplaires
Tribute to Wordsworth: a Miscellany of Opinion for the Centenary of the Poet's Death (1950) — Directeur de publication — 3 exemplaires
The Fanfarlo & Other Verse 3 exemplaires
The Portobello Road [short story] 2 exemplaires
You Should Have Seen the Mess 2 exemplaires
The ballad of Peckham Rye, with, The bachelors; The go-away bird, and, Robinson [4 books] 1 exemplaire
HLa Ifinestra francese e altri racconti 1 exemplaire
Η τέχνη του οδηγού: για σας και το αυτοκινητό σας 1 exemplaire
The Young Man Who Discovered the Secret of Life 1 exemplaire
Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse 1 exemplaire
Spark Muriel 1 exemplaire
The Leaf-Sweeper 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers (1994) — Contributeur — 183 exemplaires
The Second Penguin Book of English Short Stories (1972) — Contributeur, quelques éditions — 119 exemplaires
The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers (2005) — Contributeur — 57 exemplaires
Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights (2021) — Contributeur — 50 exemplaires
Letters of John Henry Newman: A Selection Edited and Introduced by Derek Stanford and Muriel Spark (1957) — Directeur de publication — 21 exemplaires
The Other voice : Scottish women's writing since 1808 : an anthology (1988) — Contributeur — 9 exemplaires
My Best Mary: The Selected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley — Directeur de publication — 4 exemplaires
Modern Choice 2 — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire
The Teaching Experience: An Introduction to Education Through Literature (1976) — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom légal
- Camberg, Muriel Sarah
- Autres noms
- Camberg, Muriel Sarah (birth)
Spark, Dame Muriel Sarah
Stanford, Muriel Sarah Spark
Cavallo, Evelyn - Date de naissance
- 1918-02-01
- Date de décès
- 2006-04-13
- Lieu de sépulture
- Oliveto, Tuscany, Italy
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- UK
- Pays (pour la carte)
- Scotland, UK
- Lieu de naissance
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Lieu du décès
- Florence, Tuscany, Italy
- Lieux de résidence
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Southern Rhodesia, Africa
Rome, Italy
Civitella della Chiana, Tuscany, Italy
New York, New York, USA
London, England, UK - Études
- James Gillespie's High School for Girls
Heriot Watt College - Professions
- novelist
poet
literary critic
essayist
editor
short-story writer (tout afficher 9)
children's book author
biographer
playwright - Relations
- Taylor, Alan (friend)
Jardine, Penelope (Companion) - Organisations
- Royal Society of Edinburgh
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Society of Authors
Authors Guild
PEN
Poetry Review (editor) - Prix et distinctions
- 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) (tout afficher 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
Membres
Discussions
Group Read, October 2021: Memento Mori à 1001 Books to read before you die (Octobre 2021)
BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE NOVEMBER - SPARK & BOYD à 75 Books Challenge for 2015 (Décembre 2015)
Muriel Spark Reading Week (23-29 April) à Virago Modern Classics (Mai 2012)
Critiques
Listes
Booker Prize (3)
Female Author (2)
Nifty Fifties (1)
Teens (1)
1970s Thrillers (1)
AP Lit (1)
Franklit (1)
Backlisted (1)
Europe (1)
Big Jubilee List (1)
United Kingdom (1)
Women's Stories (1)
1950s (1)
Book Club 2021 (1)
1960s (2)
A Novel Cure (3)
Five star books (3)
AlphaKIT: Brown (1)
Review 3 (1)
Unread books (1)
Folio Society (1)
Short and Sweet (1)
Prix et récompenses
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 91
- Aussi par
- 52
- Membres
- 20,153
- Popularité
- #1,076
- Évaluation
- 3.7
- Critiques
- 700
- ISBN
- 745
- Langues
- 26
- Favoris
- 102
Mais j’en ressors moins enthousiaste que je ne l’ai commencée. L’idée me plaisait bien : un « casting » exclusivement de personnes âgées (à deux ou trois exceptions près, mais ce sont alors des rôles plus que secondaires), est-ce d’ailleurs plausible, ces gouvernantes qui, dans les années d’après-guerre (la mondiale, la deuxième) continuent à travailler après 70 ans bien sonnés ? ; un mystérieux personnage appelant nos petits vieux en se contentant de leur déclarer : « Rappelez-vous qu’il faut mourir »… Tout cela me paraissait grinçant à souhait.
Grinçant ça l’est, car Muriel Spark n’est pas tendre avec ses personnages dont elle dépeint avec férocité les travers, que ce soient leurs petits et leurs grands défauts, leurs ennuis de santé, la perte de leurs facultés intellectuelles, leur intérêt jamais démenti pour l’écriture et la réécriture de leur testament… Mais ce n’est que grinçant, lorsque j’espérais trouver aussi de la réflexion, et c’est cette attente déçue qui a gâché ma lecture. Je me serais contentée d’une nouvelle sur ce thème et ce ton, mais 250 pages bien tassées, c’était trop pour moi.
Un livre à réserver à ceux qui aiment l’humour anglais et les livres caustiques, de ce point de vue c’est une vraie réussite, mais il ne faut pas en attendre davantage. Après tout, « sans la conscience permanente de la mort, la vie devient insipide. C’est un peu comme si on se nourrissait exclusivement de blanc d’oeufs. » (p.194, Chapitre 11).… (plus d'informations)