Peter Van Greenaway (1929 – 1988) was a British novelist, the author of numerous thrillers with elements of horror and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. He was born and educated in London, worked briefly in

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

and acted in theatre. His first novel, ''The Crucified City'', is the story of the aftermath of a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

on London. A motley group of people, accompanied by a mysterious, apparently mute man, undertake a last pilgrimage to

Aldermaston Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingstoke ...

. The action of the book takes place at

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, and it appears that the mute, the last survivor, is the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. Several of Van Greenaway's books are topical political thrillers. ''Take the War to Washington'' deals with the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and ''Suffer! Little Children'' with

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In ''The Man Who Held the Queen to Ransom and Sent Parliament Packing'', a British army captain stages a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in the United Kingdom; the government he attempts to establish is seen as more democratic and far more benign than the establishment he (temporarily) overthrows. Other of his novels incorporate elements of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

. In ''Manrissa Man'',

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...

experiments result in a highly advanced species of ape which can reason and talk, while in ''Mutants'' a national emergency results from the production of a rapacious species of

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. Van Greenaway is probably best known for ''

The Medusa Touch ''The Medusa Touch'' is a 1973 novel by Peter Van Greenaway, which was adapted fairly faithfully into a feature film in 1978. The novel tells the story of a radically disenchanted novelist with highly destructive telekinetic powers. ''The Medu ...

'', which was made into a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

starring

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

. The story of a radically disenchanted

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

with highly destructive

telekinetic Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...

powers, its dialogue was described by

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

as "incredibly

misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...

". ''The Medusa Touch'' is one of several books featuring the character Inspector Cherry of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. Van Greenaway remains an interesting character in literature. Like fellow British writer

Gerald Kersh Gerald Kersh (26 August 1912– 5 November 1968) was a British and later also American writer of novels and short stories. Biography Born in 1912, Kersh began to write at the age of eight. After leaving school, he worked as, amongst other thin ...

he resists pigeon-holing and easy classification with many of his works treading the terrain between literary and pulp fiction, science fiction and the thriller making him, in some regards, a forerunner to such authors as

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on ''The New Y ...

and

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

. Despite having set a number of his books in the USA he is a distinctly British author whose unique style is somewhat oddly mannered and whose characters don't quite speak like those of any other author; it is described in his ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' entry as "the astringent, side-of-the-mouth pessimistic voice which became a trademark".

Bibliography

*''The Crucified City'' (1962) *''The Evening Fool'' (1964) *''The Man Who Held the Queen to Ransom and Sent Parliament Packing'' (1968) *''Judas!'' (1972, aka ''The Judas Gospel'') *''

'' (1973) *''Take the War to Washington'' (1974) *''Doppelganger'' (1975) *''Suffer! Little Children'' (1976) *''A Man Called Scavener'' (1978) *''The Destiny Man'' (1979) *''The Dissident'' (1980) *''"Cassandra" Bell'' (1981) *''Edgar Allan Who? Tales of Detection, Mystery and Horror'' (1981) *''The Lazarus Lie'' (1982) *''Manrissa Man'' (1982) *''Graffiti'' (1983) *''The Immortal Coil'' (1985) *''Mutants'' (1986) *''The Killing Cup'' (1987)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Greenaway, Peter English thriller writers English mystery writers English horror writers 1929 births 1988 deaths 20th-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers