Braine, John. (1922 - 1986).
L i f e
- involved with a local theatre > inspired the themes of his Room at the Top & other novels
- suffered from TBC, treated in a sanatorium > inspired his The Vodi
W o r k
- author of some 15 books of fiction and some non-fiction x but: chiefly remembered for his first novel
Room at the Top (1957):
- his first novel, on the Faustian theme of a young man selling his soul for riches and paying a terrible price
- puts emphasis on writing from experience: rejects exotic ‘literary’ environments in favour of a less glamorous setting, emphasises the psychology of the protagonist
- offers a sharp picture of the period obsessed with wealth and social status
- the unscrupulous and opportunistic protagonist chooses to marry wealth and success rather his true love and has to come to terms with the disenchantment by the spiritual emptiness he finds in the ‘top’ society
- conclusion: the death of his true love and his ‘true and authentic self’
> won him immediate recognition
Life at the Top (1962):
- a sequel
The Vodi (1959):
- draws heavily on the time he spent in a tuberculosis sanatorium
The Jealous God (1964):
- also strongly autobiographical
Quote
"Being a writer in a library is rather like being a eunuch in a harem."
John Braine. (The author worked as a librarian).
Basics
(Photo: Wikipedia).
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Author
John Gerard Braine. (1922 - 1986). British. -
Work
Novelist. Author of Room at the Top (1957).
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Genre
Angry Young Men. Modern novel.
Literature
Abrams, Meyer Howard, ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993.
Barnard, Robert. Stručné dějiny anglické literatury. Praha: Brána, 1997.
Baugh, Albert C. ed. A Literary History of England. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967.
Coote, Stephen. The Penguin Short History of English Literature. London: Penguin, 1993.
Sampson, George. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1946.
Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. New York: Clarendon Press, 1994.