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The Roots Of Heaven (novel)
''The Roots of Heaven'' (french: Les Racines du ciel) is a 1956 novel by the Lithuanian-born French writer and WW II aviator, Romain Gary (born Roman Kacew). It received the Prix Goncourt for fiction. It was translated into English in 1957. Synopsis The book takes place in French Equatorial Africa. Morrel, a crusading environmentalist, labors to preserve elephants from extinction. He is assisted in the task by Minna, a nightclub hostess, and Forsythe, a disgraced British military officer in search of redemption. The story is a metaphor for the quest for salvation for all humanity. Adaptation John Huston directed and Darryl Zanuck produced a 1958 Hollywood film of the same title. See also * 1956 in literature * 20th-century French literature 20th-century French literature is literature written in French from 1900 to 1999. For literature made after 1999, see the article Contemporary French literature. Many of the developments in French literature in this period parallel chan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romain Gary
Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew (, and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar), was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt under two names. He is considered a major writer of French literature of the second half of the 20th century. He was married to Lesley Blanch, then Jean Seberg. Early life Gary was born Roman Kacew ( yi, ''Roman Katsev'', russian: link=no, Рома́н Ле́йбович Ка́цев, ''Roman Leibovich Katsev'') in Vilnius (at that time in the Russian Empire). In his books and interviews, he presented many different versions of his parents' origins, ancestry, occupation and his own childhood. His mother, Mina Owczyńska (1879—1941), was a Jewish actress from Švenčionys (Svintsyán) and his father was a businessman named Arieh-Leib Kacew (1883—1942) from Trakai (Trok), also a Lithuanian Jew. The couple broke in 1925 and Arieh-Leib remarried. Gary late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Gaston Gallimard in 1911, the publisher is now majority-owned by his grandson Antoine Gallimard. Éditions Gallimard is a subsidiary of Groupe Madrigall, the third largest French publishing group. History The publisher was founded on 31 May 1911 in Paris by Gaston Gallimard, André Gide, and Jean Schlumberger as ''Les Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française'' (NRF). From its 31 May 1911 founding until June 1919, Nouvelle Revue Française published one hundred titles including ''La Jeune Parque'' by Paul Valéry. NRF published the second volume of '' In Search of Lost Time'', In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, which became the first Prix Goncourt-awarded book published by the company. Nouvelle Revue Française adopted the name "Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are today the countries of Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. History Established in 1910, the Federation contained four (later five) colonial possessions: French Gabon, French Congo, Ubangi-Shari and French Chad. The Governor-General was based in Brazzaville with deputies in each territory. In 1911, France ceded parts of the territory to German Kamerun as a result of the Agadir Crisis. The territory was returned after Germany's defeat in World War I, while most of Cameroon proper became a French League of Nations mandate not integrated into the AEF. French Equatorial Africa, especially the region of Ubangi-Shari had a similar concession system as the Congo Free State and similar atrocities were also c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but results in considerable recognition and book sales for the winning author. Four other prizes are also awarded: prix Goncourt du Premier Roman (first novel), prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle (short story), prix Goncourt de la Poésie (poetry) and prix Goncourt de la Biographie (biography). Of the "big six" French literary awards, the Prix Goncourt is the best known and most prestigious. The other major literary prizes include the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Prix Femina, the Prix Renaudot, the Prix Interallié and the Prix Médicis. History Edmond de Goncourt, a successful author, critic, and publisher, bequeathed his estate for the foundation and maintenance of the Académie Goncourt. In honour of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896), who wanted to create a new way to encourage literature in France and disagreed with the contemporary policies of the Académie Française. Formation and organization Wishing to honor his deceased brother Jules de Goncourt, Jules (1830–1870), Goncourt bequeathed his estate to establish an organization to promote French literature, literature in France. He named his friend, the writer Alphonse Daudet, along with Léon Hennique, to oversee and administer his estate. The society was to consist of ten members, of whom eight were nominated in the will. Each of the members was to receive an annuity of 6,000 French franc, francs, and a yearly prize of 5,000 francs was to be awarded to the author of some work of fiction. Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics, including '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941), '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (1948), ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), '' The African Queen'' (1951), '' The Misfits'' (1961), '' Fat City'' (1972), ''The Man Who Would Be King'' (1975) and ''Prizzi's Honor'' (1985). During his 46-year career, Huston received 15 Academy Award nominations, winning twice. He also directed both his father, Walter Huston, and daughter, Anjelica Huston, to Oscar wins. In his early years, Huston studied and worked as a fine art painter in Paris. He then moved to Mexico and began writing, first plays and short stories, and later working in Los Angeles as a Hollywood screenwriter, and was nominated for several Academy Awards writing for films directed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darryl Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors (the length of his career was rivaled only by that of Adolph Zukor). He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure. Early life Zanuck was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, the son of Sarah Louise (née Torpin), who later married Charles Norton, and Frank Harvey Zanuck, who owned and operated a hotel in Wahoo. He had an older brother, Donald (1893–1903), who tragically died in an accident when he was only 9 years old. Zanuck was of partial Swiss descent, and raised a Protestant. At age six, Zanuck and his mother moved to Los Angeles, where the better climate could improve her poor health. At age eight, he found his first movie job as an extra, but his disapproving father recalled him t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Roots Of Heaven (film)
''The Roots of Heaven'' is a 1958 American adventure film made for 20th Century Fox, directed by John Huston and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Romain Gary and Patrick Leigh Fermor is based on Romain Gary's 1956 Prix Goncourt-winning novel of the same name. The film stars Errol Flynn, Juliette Gréco, Trevor Howard, Eddie Albert, Orson Welles, Paul Lukas, Herbert Lom and Grégoire Aslan. Huston later said that ''Roots of Heaven'' "could have been a very fine film. And largely owing to me was not a good film at all." Plot In French Equatorial Africa, crusading environmentalist Morel sets out to preserve the elephants from extinction as a lasting symbol of freedom for all humanity. He is helped by Minna, a nightclub hostess, and Forsythe, a disgraced British military officer hoping to redeem himself. Cast * Errol Flynn as Maj. Forsythe * Juliette Gréco as Minna * Trevor Howard as Morel * Eddie Albert as Abe Fields * Orson Welles as Cy Sedgewick * Paul Lukas as Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1956 In Literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1956. Events *c. January – The first book in Ed McBain's long-running 87th Precinct police procedural series, ''Cop Hater'', is published in the United States under Evan Hunter's new pseudonym. *February 2 – Eugene O'Neill's semi-autobiographical '' Long Day's Journey into Night'' (completed in 1942) receives a posthumous world première at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm, in Swedish (''Lång dags färd mot natt''), directed by Bengt Ekerot and starring Lars Hanson. Its Broadway debut at the Helen Hayes Theatre on November 7 follows an American première at the Shubert Theatre (New Haven). *February 25 – The English poet Ted Hughes and American poet Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge, England. *March 11 – The U.S. release of Sir Laurence Olivier's film version of Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' plays simultaneously on NBC network television and as afternoon matinée screenings in movie theater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
20th-century French Literature
20th-century French literature is literature written in French from 1900 to 1999. For literature made after 1999, see the article Contemporary French literature. Many of the developments in French literature in this period parallel changes in the visual arts. For more on this, see French art of the 20th century. Overview French literature was profoundly shaped by the historical events of the century and was also shaped by—and a contributor to—the century's political, philosophical, moral, and artistic crises. This period spans the last decades of the Third Republic (1871–1940) (including World War I), the period of World War II (the German occupation and the Vichy–1944), the provisional French government (1944–1946) the Fourth Republic (1946–1958) and the Fifth Republic (1959-). Important historical events for French literature include: the Dreyfus Affair; French colonialism and imperialism in Africa, the Far East (French Indochina) and the Pacific; the Alge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1956 French Novels
Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are killed for trespassing by the Huaorani people of Ecuador, shortly after making contact with them. * January 16 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser vows to reconquer Palestine. * January 25– 26 – Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala, after Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4. * January 26 – The 1956 Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. February * February 11 – British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union, after being missing for 5 years. * February 14– 25 – The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is held in Moscow. * February 16 – The 1956 World Figure Skating Championships open in Garmisch, West Germany. * February 22 – Elvis P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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