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The Avignon Quintet
''The Avignon Quintet'' is a five-volume series of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1974 and 1985. The novels are metafictional. He uses developments in experimental fiction that followed his ''The Alexandria Quartet'' (1957-1960). The action of the novels is set before and during World War II, largely in France, Egypt, and Switzerland. The novels feature multiple and contradictory narrators, often with each purporting to have written the others as characters in a novel. The thematic materials range from a form of Gnosticism blended with Catharism, obsession with mortality, Fascism, Nazism, and World War II to Holy Grail romances, metafiction, Quantum Mechanics,. and sexual identity. The five novels are: :* '' Monsieur'' (1974) :* '' Livia'' (1978) :* ''Constance'' (1982) :* '' Sebastian'' (1983) :* '' Quinx'' (1985) Durrell often referred to the work as a "quincunx." He described them as "roped together like climbers on a rockface, but all indep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial parents, he was sent to England at the age of eleven for his education. He did not like formal education, but started writing poetry at age 15. His first book was published in 1935, when he was 23. In March 1935 he and his mother and younger siblings moved to the island of Corfu. Durrell spent many years thereafter living around the world. His most famous work is ''The Alexandria Quartet,'' published between 1957 and 1960. The best-known novel in the series is the first, '' Justine''. Beginning in 1974, Durrell published ''The Avignon Quintet,'' using many of the same techniques. The first of these novels, '' Monsieur, or the Prince of Darkness,'' won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1974. The middle novel, '' Constance, or Solitary Prac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metafiction
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story-telling, and works of metafiction directly or indirectly draw attention to their status as artifacts. Metafiction is frequently used as a form of parody or a tool to undermine literary conventions and explore the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art. Although metafiction is most commonly associated with postmodern literature that developed in the mid-20th century, its use can be traced back to much earlier works of fiction, such as ''The Canterbury Tales'' (Geoffrey Chaucer, 1387), ''Don Quixote'' (Miguel de Cervantes, 1605), ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (Laurence Sterne, 1759), and '' Vanity Fair'' (William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847). Metafiction became particularly prominent in the 1960 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body that chooses the laureates for the annual Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in memory of the donor Alfred Nobel. History The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. It is said that Gustaf III originally intended there to be twenty members, half the number of those in the French Academy, but eventually decided on eighteen because the Swedish expression ''De Aderton'' – 'The Eighteen' – had such a fine solemn ring. The academy's motto is "Talent and Taste" (''"Snille och Smak"'' in Swedish). The academy's primary purpose is to further the "purity, strength, and sublimity of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize receives international publicity which usually leads to a sales boost. When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, Irish, and South African (and later Zimbabwean) citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2014 it was widened to any English-language novel—a change that proved controversial. A five-person panel constituted by authors, librarians, literary agents, publishers, and booksellers is appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation each year to choose the winning book. A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with anticipation and fanfare. Literary critics have noted that it is a mark of distinction fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, United Kingdom, the prizes were founded in 1919 by Janet Coats Black in memory of her late husband, James Tait Black, a partner in the publishing house of A & C Black Ltd. Prizes are awarded in three categories: Fiction, Biography and Drama (since 2013). History From its inception, the James Tait Black prize was organised without overt publicity. There was a lack of press and publisher attention, initially at least, because Edinburgh was distant from the literary centres of the country. The decision about the award was made by the Regius Chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at the University of Edinburgh. Four winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature received the James Tait Black earlier in their careers: William Golding, Nadine Gordimer and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitford Sisters
The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberland, and Exbury House, Hampshire, descends via the historian William Mitford (1744–1827) and were twice elevated to the British peerage, in 1802 and 1902, under the title Baron Redesdale. The family became particularly known in the 1930s and later for the six Mitford sisters, great-great-great-granddaughters of William Mitford, and the daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife Sydney Bowles. They were celebrated and at times scandalous figures, who were described by ''The Times'' journalist Ben Macintyre as " Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unity Mitford
Unity Valkyrie Freeman-Mitford (8 August 1914 – 28 May 1948) was a British socialite, known for her relationship with Adolf Hitler. Both in Great Britain and Germany, she was a prominent supporter of Nazism, fascism and antisemitism, and belonged to Hitler's inner circle of friends. After the declaration of World War II, Mitford attempted suicide in Munich by shooting herself in the head. She survived but was badly injured. She was allowed safe passage back to England but never recovered from the extensive brain damage. She died from meningitis related to the bullet in her brain on May 28, 1948. Unity was one of the six Mitford sisters, each of whom was notable in her own right for some particular reason or reasons. Her sister Diana was married to Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. Childhood Unity Mitford was the fifth of seven children born in London to David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife, Sydney (1880–1963), daughter of Thomas G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quincunx
A quincunx () is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (depending on the orientation of the outer square), the five-point stencil in numerical analysis, and the five dots tattoo. It forms the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on six-sided dice, playing cards, and dominoes. It is represented in Unicode as or (for the die pattern) . Historical origins of the name The quincunx was originally a coin issued by the Roman Republic c. 211–200 BC, whose value was five twelfths (''quinque'' and ''uncia'') of an as, the Roman standard bronze coin. On the Roman quincunx coins, the value was sometimes indicated by a pattern of five dots or pellets. However, these dots were not always arranged in a quincunx pattern. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (OED) d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quinx (novel)
''Quinx,'' or ''The Ripper's Tale'' (1985), is the 5th and final volume in Lawrence Durrell's "quincunx" of novels, '' The Avignon Quintet,'' published from 1974 to 1985. It explores the activities of Constance, Aubrey Blanford, Robin Sutcliffe, Lord Galen, and most of the other surviving characters (including some who are theoretically fictional from Blanford's novel) as they return to Avignon and Provence in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Plot summary The surviving characters include "two novelists, a psychoanalyst, a German double agent, a Cambridge-educated gypsy, a Jewish lord, a schizophrenic young woman and an Egyptian prince."BARBARA FISHER WILIAMSON, "Links and Winks" ''New York Times,'' 15 September 1985; accessed 23 October 2016 The ex-Nazi double agent Smir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebastian (Durrell Novel)
''Sebastian'', or ''Ruling Passions'' (1983), is the fourth volume in '' The Avignon Quintet'' series by British author Lawrence Durrell, which was published from 1974 to 1985. This novel is set mainly in Switzerland immediately after World War II. It continues the story of Constance and a Gnostic cult, which was introduced in the first novel of the quintet, '' Monsieur'' (1974). Plot summary A letter informs the Egyptian Sebastian Affad that he will die; a mix up has caused major ructions within the Gnostic sect in Egypt. Affad is called back to Egypt for admonishment. Before leaving Switzerland, however, he has asked Constance to use her psychiatric skills to treat his son, who has become autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti .... She is gradually successful in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constance (novel)
''Constance,'' or ''Solitary Practices'' (1982) is the central volume of the five novels of Lawrence Durrell's ''The Avignon Quintet,'' published from 1974 to 1985. It was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1982. Involving some of the characters from the preceding ''Livia,'' the novel also introduces new ones. It is set before and during World War II, in France, Egypt, Poland and Switzerland. Plot summary The novel is set in the period from the outbreak of World War II in 1939 with the Nazi invasion of Poland, to the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Its settings include Avignon, France; Geneva, Switzerland; Poland, and Egypt. The first chapter continues in Avignon, where the previous novel, '' Livia'' (1979), was set. It details Constance's blossoming relationship with her husband Sam. As the clouds of war loom, a group of Europeans is breaking up whose last summer together was explored in ''Livia.'' Novelist Aubrey Blanford takes a post in Egypt, kindly offered to hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Livia (novel)
''Livia'', or ''Buried Alive'' (1978), is the second volume in British author Lawrence Durrell's ''The Avignon Quintet,'' published from 1974 to 1985. Durrell has described the novels as "roped together like climbers on a rockface, but all independent . . . a series of books through which the same characters move for all the world as if to illustrate the notion of reincarnation."Alastair Forbes, "Dwarves Abounding in Provence" ''New York Times,'' 22 April 1979; accessed 17 October 2016 The description of this form for the ''quintet'' actually appears in ''Livia''. The first novel of the (the 'figurative shape' of five used on a die or playing card), ''Monsieu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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