American writers of the 20th century. Who invented it: The most filmed American writers

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Despite its relatively short history, American literature has made an invaluable contribution to world culture. Although already in the 19th century the whole of Europe was reading the dark detective stories of Edgar Allan Poe and the beautiful historical poems of Henry Longfellow, these were only the first steps; It was in the 20th century that American literature flourished. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, two world wars and the struggle against racial discrimination in America, classics of world literature, Nobel Prize laureates, writers who characterize an entire era with their works are born.

The radical economic and social changes in American life in the 1920s and 1930s provided the ideal soil for realism, which reflected the desire to capture the new realities of America. Now, along with books whose purpose was to entertain the reader and make him forget about surrounding social problems, works appear on the shelves that clearly show the need to change the existing social order. The work of the realists was distinguished by a great interest in various kinds of social conflicts, attacks on the values ​​​​accepted by society and criticism of the American way of life.

Among the most prominent realists were Theodore Dreiser, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner And Ernest Hemingway. In their immortal works, they reflected the true life of America, sympathized with the tragic fate of young Americans who went through the First World War, supported the fight against fascism, openly spoke in defense of workers and without hesitation depicted the depravity and spiritual emptiness of American society.

THEODORE DREISER

(1871-1945)

Theodore Dreiser was born in a small town in Indiana into the family of a bankrupt small businessman. Writer from childhood I knew hunger, poverty and need, which was later reflected in the themes of his works, as well as in his brilliant description of the life of the ordinary working class. His father was a strict Catholic, narrow-minded and despotic, which forced Dreiser hate religion till the end of one's days.

At the age of sixteen, Dreiser had to leave school and work part-time in order to somehow earn a living. Later, he was still enrolled at the university, but was only able to study there for a year, again due to money problems. In 1892, Dreiser began working as a reporter for various newspapers, and eventually moved to New York, where he became a magazine editor.

His first significant work was a novel "Sister Carrie"– published in 1900. Dreiser describes, close to his own life, the story of a poor village girl who goes to Chicago in search of work. As soon as the book barely made it into print, it immediately was called against morality and was withdrawn from sale. Seven years later, when it became too difficult to hide the work from the public, the novel finally appeared on store shelves. The writer's second book "Jenny Gerhard" published in 1911 was also trashed by critics.

Then Dreiser begins to write the series of novels “Trilogy of Desires”: "Financier" (1912), "Titanium"(1914) and unfinished novel "Stoic"(1947). His goal was to show how at the end of the 19th century in America "big business".

In 1915, a semi-autobiographical novel was published. "Genius", in which Dreiser describes the tragic fate of a young artist whose life was broken by the cruel injustice of American society. Myself the writer considered the novel his best work, but critics and readers greeted the book negatively and it was practically wasn't for sale.

Dreiser's most famous work is the immortal novel "American tragedy"(1925). This is the story of a young American who is corrupted by the false morals of the United States, causing him to become a criminal and a murderer. The novel reflects American way of life, in which the poverty of workers from the outskirts stands out clearly against the background of the wealth of the privileged class.

In 1927, Dreiser visited the USSR and the following year published a book “Dreiser looks at Russia” which became one of the first books about the Soviet Union, published by a writer from America.

Dreiser also supported the movement of the American working class and wrote several journalistic works on this topic - "Tragic America"(1931) and "America is worth saving"(1941). With tireless strength and skill of a true realist, he depicted the social system around him. However, despite how harsh the world appeared before his eyes, the writer never didn't lose faith to the dignity and greatness of man and his beloved country.

In addition to critical realism, Dreiser worked in the genre naturalism. He meticulously depicted seemingly insignificant details of the daily life of his heroes, cited real documents, sometimes very long in size, clearly described actions related to business, etc. Because of this style of writing, critics often accused Dreiser in the absence of style and imagination. By the way, despite such condemnations, Dreiser was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 1930, so you can judge their veracity for yourself.

I don’t argue, maybe sometimes the abundance of small details is confusing, but it is their ubiquitous presence that allows the reader to most clearly imagine the action and seem to be a direct participant in it. The writer's novels are large in size and can be quite difficult to read, but they are undoubtedly masterpieces American Literature, worth spending time on. It is highly recommended for fans of Dostoevsky's work, who will certainly be able to appreciate Dreiser's talent.

FRANCIS SCOTT FITZGERALD

(1896-1940)

Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most prominent American writers lost generation(these are young people drafted to the front, sometimes not yet graduating from school and starting to kill early; after the war they often could not adapt to peaceful life, they became drunkards, committed suicide, and some went crazy). These were people devastated from within, who had no strength left to fight the corrupt world of wealth. They try to fill their spiritual emptiness with endless pleasures and entertainment.

The writer was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, into a wealthy family, so he had the opportunity to study at prestigious Princeton University. At that time, there was a competitive spirit at the university, which influenced Fitzgerald. He tried with all his might to become a member of the most fashionable and famous clubs, which attracted with their atmosphere of sophistication and aristocracy. For the writer, money was synonymous with independence, privilege, style and beauty, while poverty was associated with stinginess and limitation. Later Fitzgerald I realized the falsity of my views.

He never finished his studies at Princeton, but that was where his literary career(he wrote for the university magazine). In 1917, the writer volunteered for the army, but never took part in real military operations in Europe. At the same time he falls in love with Zelda Sayre who came from a wealthy family. They got married only in 1920, two years later after the resounding success of Fitzgerald's first serious work. "The Other Side of Heaven", because Zelda didn't want to marry a poor unknown man. The fact that beautiful girls are attracted only by wealth made the writer think about social injustice, and Zelda was subsequently often called prototype of heroines his novels.

Fitzgerald's wealth grows in direct proportion to the popularity of his novel, and soon the couple become the epitome of a luxurious lifestyle, they even began to be called the king and queen of their generation. They lived luxuriously and ostentatiously, enjoying fashionable life in Paris, expensive rooms in prestigious hotels, endless parties and receptions. They constantly pulled out various eccentric antics, had scandals and became addicted to alcohol, and Fitzgerald even began writing articles for the glossy magazines of the time. All this is undoubtedly destroyed the writer's talent, although even then he managed to write several serious novels and stories.

His major novels appeared between 1920 and 1934: "The Other Side of Heaven" (1920), "The Beautiful and the Damned" (1922), "The Great Gatsby", which is the writer's most famous work and is considered a masterpiece of American literature, and "Night is tender" (1934).

Fitzgerald's best stories are included in collections "Tales of the Jazz Age"(1922) and "All These Sad Young Men" (1926).

Shortly before his death, in an autobiographical article, Fitzgerald compared himself to a broken plate. He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood.

The main theme of almost all of Fitzgerald's works was the corrupting power of money, which leads to spiritual decay. He considered the rich a special class, and only over time began to realize that it was based on inhumanity, his own uselessness and lack of morality. He realized this along with his heroes, who were mostly autobiographical characters.

Fitzgerald's novels are written in beautiful language, understandable and sophisticated at the same time, so the reader can hardly tear himself away from his books. Although after reading Fitzgerald's works, despite the amazing imagination a journey into the luxurious “age of jazz”, there remains a feeling of emptiness and futility of existence, he is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding writers of the 20th century.

WILLIAM FAULKNER

(1897-1962)

William Cuthbert Faulkner is one of the leading novelists of the mid-20th century, set in New Albany, Mississippi, from an impoverished aristocratic family. He studied at Oxford when the First World War began. The writer's experience gained at this time played an important role in the formation of his character. He entered military flight school, but the war ended before he could complete the course. After this Faulkner returned to Oxford and worked postmaster at the University of Mississippi. At the same time, he began taking courses at the university and trying to write.

His first published book, a collection of poems "Marble Faun"(1924), was not successful. In 1925, Faulkner met the writer Sherwood Anderson, which had a great influence on his work. He recommended to Faulkner do not engage in poetry, prose, and gave advice to write about American South, about the place Faulkner grew up in and knows best. It is in Mississippi, namely in a fictional county Yoknapatawpha the events of most of his novels will take place.

In 1926 Faulkner wrote the novel "Soldier's Award", who was close in spirit to the lost generation. The writer showed tragedy of people who returned to peaceful life crippled both physically and mentally. The novel was also not a great success, but Faulkner was recognized as an inventive writer.

From 1925 to 1929 he works carpenter And painter and successfully combines this with writing.

The novel was published in 1927 "Mosquitoes" and in 1929 – "Sartoris". That same year, Faulkner published the novel "The Sound and the Fury" which brings him fame in literary circles. After this, he decides to devote all his time to writing. His work "Sanctuary"(1931), a story of violence and murder, became a sensation and the author finally found financial independence.

In the 30s, Faulner wrote several Gothic novels: "When I was dying"(1930), "Light in August"(1932) and "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936).

In 1942, the writer published a collection of short stories "Come Down, Moses", which includes one of his most famous works - the story "Bear".In 1948 Faulkner writes "Defiler of Ashes", one of the most important social novels associated with the problem of racism.

In the 40s and 50s, his best work was published - a trilogy of novels "Village", "City" And "Mansion" dedicated to the tragic fate of the aristocracy of the American South. Faulkner's last novel "The Kidnappers" released in 1962, it is also part of the Yoknapatawpha saga and depicts the story of the beautiful but dying South. For this novel, and also for "Parable"(1954), whose themes are humanity and war, Faulkner received Pulitzer Prizes. In 1949, the writer was awarded "for his significant and artistically unique contribution to the development of the modern American novel".

William Faulkner was one of the most important writers of his time. He belonged to Southern School of American Writers. In his works, he turned to the history of the American South, especially the times of the Civil War.

In his books he tried to deal with the problem of racism, knowing full well that it is not so much social as psychological. Faulkner saw African Americans and whites as inextricably bound together by a shared history. He condemned racism and cruelty, but was sure that both whites and African Americans were not ready for legislative measures, so Faulkner mainly criticized the moral side of the issue.

Faulkner was skilled with the pen, although he often claimed to have little interest in writing technique. He was a bold experimenter and had an original style. He wrote psychological novels, in which great attention was paid to the characters' lines, for example, the novel "When I was dying" is built as a chain of monologues of the characters, sometimes long, sometimes in one or two sentences. Faulkner fearlessly combined contradictory epithets to powerful effect, and his works often have ambiguous, uncertain endings. Of course, Faulkner knew how to write in such a way that stir the soul even the most fastidious reader.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(1899-1961)

Ernest Hemingway - one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century. He is a classic of American and world literature.

He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of a provincial doctor. His father was fond of hunting and fishing, he taught his son shoot and fish, and also instilled a love for sports and nature. Ernest's mother was a religious woman who was entirely devoted to the affairs of the church. Due to different views on life, quarrels often broke out between the writer’s parents, which is why Hemingway couldn't feel calm at home.

Ernest's favorite place was the house in northern Michigan, where the family usually spent the summer. The boy always accompanied his father on various forays into the forest or fishing.

Was at Ernest's school gifted, energetic, successful student and excellent athlete. He played football, was on the swim team and boxed. Hemingway also loved literature, writing weekly reviews and poetry and prose for school magazines. However, Ernest's school years were not calm. The atmosphere created in the family by his demanding mother put a lot of pressure on the boy, so he ran away from home twice and worked on farms as a laborer.

In 1917, as America entered World War I, Hemingway wanted to join the active army, but due to poor eyesight he was refused. He moved to Kansas to live with his uncle and began working as a reporter for the local newspaper. The Kansas City Star. Journalistic experience clearly visible in Hemingway's distinctive writing style, laconicism, but at the same time clarity and precision of language. In the spring of 1918, he learned that the Red Cross needed volunteers for Italian front. This was his long-awaited chance to be at the center of the battles. After a short stop in France, Hemingway arrived in Italy. Two months later, while rescuing a wounded Italian sniper, the writer came under machine gun and mortar fire and was seriously wounded. He was taken to a hospital in Milan, where after 12 operations, 26 fragments were removed from his body.

Experience Hemingway, received in war, was very important for the young man and influenced not only his life, but also his writing. In 1919, Hemingway returned to America as a hero. Soon he travels to Toronto, where he begins working as a reporter for a newspaper. The Toronto Star. In 1921, Hemingway married young pianist Hadley Richardson, and the couple moves to Paris, a city that the writer has long dreamed of. To collect material for his future stories, Hemingway travels around the world, visiting Germany, Spain, Switzerland and other countries. His first job "Three stories and ten poems"(1923) was not successful, but the next collection of stories "In our time", published in 1925, achieved public recognition.

Hemingway's first novel "And the Sun Rises"(or "Fiesta") published in 1926. "A Farewell to Arms!", a novel depicting the First World War and its aftermath, published in 1929 and brings great popularity to the author. In the late 20s and 30s, Hemingway published two collections of stories: "Men Without Women"(1927) and "Winner takes nothing" (1933).

The most outstanding works written in the first half of the 30s are "Death in the Afternoon"(1932) and "Green Hills of Africa" (1935). "Death in the Afternoon" tells about the Spanish bullfight, "Green Hills of Africa" and a well-known collection "Snows of Kilimanjaro"(1936) describe Hemingway's hunting in Africa. Nature lover, the writer masterfully paints African landscapes for readers.

When did it start in 1936? Spanish Civil War, Hemingway rushed to the theater of war, but this time as an anti-fascist correspondent and writer. The next three years of his life are closely connected with the struggle of the Spanish people against fascism.

He took part in the filming of a documentary film "Land of Spain". Hemingway wrote the script and read the text himself. The impressions of the war in Spain are reflected in the novel "For whom the Bell Tolls"(1940), which the writer himself considered his best job.

Hemingway's deep hatred of fascism made him active participant in World War II. He organized counterintelligence against Nazi spies and hunted German submarines in the Caribbean on his boat, after which he served as a war correspondent in Europe. In 1944, Hemingway took part in combat flights over Germany and even, standing at the head of a detachment of French partisans, was one of the first to liberate Paris from German occupation.

After the war Hemingway moved to Cuba, sometimes visited Spain and Africa. He warmly supported the Cuban revolutionaries in their struggle against the dictatorship that had developed in the country. He talked a lot with ordinary Cubans and worked a lot on a new story "The Old Man and the Sea", which is considered the pinnacle of the writer’s creativity. In 1953, Ernest Hemingway received Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant story, and in 1954 Hemingway was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature "for the narrative mastery once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea."

During his trip to Africa in 1953, the writer was involved in a serious plane crash.

In the last years of his life he was seriously ill. In November 1960, Hemingway returned to America to the town of Ketchum, Idaho. Writer suffered from a number of diseases, which is why he was admitted to the clinic. He was in deep depression, because he believed that FBI agents were watching him, listening to telephone conversations, checking mail and bank accounts. The clinic accepted this as a symptom of mental illness and treated the great writer with electric shock. After 13 sessions Hemingway I lost my memory and the ability to create. He was depressed, suffered from bouts of paranoia, and increasingly thought about suicide.

Two days after being released from a psychiatric hospital, on July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway shot himself with his favorite hunting rifle in his home in Ketchum, leaving no suicide note.

In the early 80s, Hemingway's FBI file was declassified, and the fact of surveillance of the writer in his last years was confirmed.

Ernest Hemingway was, of course, the greatest writer of his generation, who had an amazing and tragic fate. He was freedom fighter, vehemently opposed wars and fascism, and not only through literary works. He was incredible master of writing. His style is distinguished by laconicism, accuracy, restraint in describing emotional situations, and specificity of details. The technique he developed entered the literature under the name "iceberg principle", because the writer gave the main meaning to the subtext. The main feature of his work was truthfulness, he was always honest and sincere with his readers. While reading his works, confidence in the authenticity of events appears, and the effect of presence is created.

Ernest Hemingway is the writer whose works are recognized as true masterpieces of world literature and whose works, without a doubt, are worth reading for everyone.

MARGARET MITCHELL

(1900-1949)

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of a lawyer who was chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society. The whole family loved and was interested in history, and the girl grew up in atmosphere of stories about the Civil War.

Mitchell first studied at Washington Seminary and then entered the prestigious all-female Smith College in Massachusetts. After studying she started working in The Atlanta Journal. She wrote hundreds of essays, articles and reviews for the newspaper, and in four years of work she grew to reporter, but in 1926 she suffered an ankle injury, which made her work impossible.

The energy and liveliness of the writer’s character could be seen in everything she did or wrote. In 1925 Margaret Mitchell married John Marsh. From that moment on, she began to write down all the stories about the Civil War that she heard as a child. The result was a novel "Gone With the Wind", which was first published in 1936. The writer worked on it for ten years. This is a novel about the American Civil War, told from the point of view of the North. The main character is, of course, a beautiful girl named Scarlett O'Hara, the whole story revolves around her life, family plantation, and love relationships.

After the release of the novel, an American classic bestseller, Margaret Mitchell quickly became a world-famous writer. More than 8 million copies have been sold in 40 countries. The novel has been translated into 18 languages. He won Pulzer Prize in 1937. Later a very successful film was filmed movie with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Leslie Howard.

Despite numerous requests from fans to continue O'Hara's story, Mitchell did not write more not a single novel. But the name of the writer, like her magnificent work, will forever remain in the history of world literature.

If we consider Luhrmann's version, then « The Great Gatsby » It's been filmed five times already. Another famous Fitzgerald novel is « Night is tender » - transferred to the screen twice. Is this a lot or a little?
Rating of American authors, modern and classic, whose works are most often used in films:

1. Edgar Allan Poe
70 stories
1 story
51 poems
Film adaptations: 212 (large - 94)
The recognized master of mysticism and creator of the modern detective story, Edgar Allan Poe, takes first place on the list and leaves behind all possible competitors. It is surprising that during his lifetime the writer was very poor. Recognition came to him only after death, but what a recognition! His stories and poems are an inexhaustible source for the director's imagination. In 1968, Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini shot the legendary three-part film “Three Steps in Delirium” based on Poe’s works. And in 2012, James McTeigue directed the film “The Raven,” in which he fantasized about how a writer would investigate crimes that he himself inspired a maniac to commit.

2. Jack London
More than 200 stories (16 collections)
21 novels and stories
3 plays
Film adaptations: 124 (large - 78)Over 17 years of literary activity, the author achieved enormous popularity. His fees were 50 thousand dollars per book - a lot of money at that time. In 1913, Jack London himself played a cameo role in the film adaptation of his novel The Sea Wolf directed by Hobart Bosworth. His books enjoyed great success in the USSR, and quite a few films were made based on them. Let’s remember, for example, “Hearts of Three” from 1992.

3. O. Henry
252 stories
1 novel
Film adaptations: 184 (large - 72)
Short films based on O. Henry's stories began to be filmed during his lifetime, in 1909. And one of the most famous film adaptations of the author is the 1952 film “The Leader of the Redskins and Others.” It includes five different short stories by five different directors: Pharaoh and the Choral, The Trumpet, The Last Leaf, The Red Chief and The Gift of the Magi. In the first, Marilyn Monroe appears in one of the roles. The voiceover is read by writer John Steinbeck. He also appears at the beginning of each part, and this is the only time he has appeared on the silver screen in his entire life.

4. Mark Twain
57 stories
8 novels and stories (+ 1 co-authored)
9 articles
1 autobiography
Film adaptations: 105 (large - 51)
William Faulkner called Mark Twain the first truly American writer. And Ernest Hemingway believed that all subsequent literature came from the book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” This work has been filmed several times in the States, but local critics consider the Soviet version, filmed in 1973 by Georgy Danelia, to be the best. His “Completely Lost” was even nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

5. Howard Phillips Lovecraft
59 stories (+ 38 co-authored)
6 novels and stories (+ 2 co-authored)
1 cycle of sonnets
Film adaptations: 109 (large - 49)
This man did not publish a single book during his lifetime; his work was not popular. And this is a paradox, because without Lovecraft, modern horror as we know it would not exist. His works are even classified as a separate genre of Lovecraftian horror. It’s enough that it was he who came up with the Cthulhu myths and the Necronomicon. Yes, yes, exactly the one that the guys from “The Evil Dead” managed to read.

6. Lyman Frank Baum
60 novels and stories (+ 4 that are lost)
68 stories (+ 3 lost)
5 poetic works
12 pieces (+ 4 lost)
Film adaptations: 105 (large - 31)
Baum was one of the most talented children's writers of his era. But he remained in history mainly as the “court historian of Oz” - that’s what he called himself. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of fantasies about this magical world, and a significant part of them have been embodied in cinema. Baum's most famous film adaptation can be considered Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz (in the same 1939 he directed Gone with the Wind) with Judy Garland in the role of Dorothy. And recently, the director of “Spider-Man” and “The Evil Dead”, Sam Raimi, turned to the history of Oz, making the film “Oz the Great and Powerful,” a kind of prequel to Fleming’s film.



7. Francis Scott Fitzgerald
About 70 stories
5 novels
1 piece
1 collection of journalism
Film adaptations: 40 (large - 27)
The king of the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald himself coined the term to cover the period of American history from the end of World War I to the start of the Great Depression. Almost all of his heroes are representatives of the “lost generation”, people who believed in the American dream, but did not find in it what they were looking for. So was Jay Gatsby, whose book was filmed five times. The last to do this was Baz Luhrmann, who cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. Before him, the most famous Gatsby can be considered Robert Redford. And in 2008, David Fincher based a short story by Fitzgerald into a three-hour film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.


8. James Fenimore Cooper
33 novels
5 stories
6 historical works and biographies
2 political essays
6 travel stories
1 memoirs
Film adaptations: 38 (large - 22)This classic of American literature is known for his adventure novels. According to legend, Cooper wrote his first work as a bet, promising his wife that he could outdo the book she was reading at that moment. In 1909, the first short film, Leather Stockings, was made based on his novels. And in 1992, Michael Mann directed the film “The Last of the Mohicans” with Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role. The film received an Oscar for best sound.


9. Ernest Hemingway
10 collections of short stories
11 novels and stories
13 works of documentary prose
Film adaptations: 55 (large - 19) Handsome!
Hemingway was famous for his short and succinct style, so it is very difficult to count the stories he wrote. Suffice it to remember that it was he who wrote one of the most famous short works, which in the original consists of only six words (and when translated it can be shortened to three): “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” ). The first time Hemingway's novel was filmed was in 1932 (“A Farewell to Arms”). And in 1999, Russian artist Alexander Petrov created the short animated film “The Old Man and the Sea,” for which he received an Oscar.


And, finally, just an interesting picture of who influenced whom and how.)

(25.09.1987 – 06.07.1962)

Known as a master of new American prose of the twentieth century. Originally from New Albany, Mississippi. William received an incomplete secondary education and took special courses at the University of St. Mississippi. Served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the First World War.

William Faulkner's most successful book is The Sound and the Fury. His works also brought him fame: “Absalom, Absalom!”, “Light in August”, “Sanctuary”, “When I Lay Dying”, “Wild Palms”. The novels “The Parable” and “The Kidnappers” were awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Louis Lamour

(22.03.1908 – 10.06.1988)

Born in Jamestown (North Dakota) in the family of a veterinarian. Since childhood I loved to read. He began his literary career with poems and stories that he published in magazines. He changed many jobs: animal driver, boxer, lumberjack, sailor, gold miner.

Lamour is known as an excellent creator of Westerns. The first of them is “The Town No Guns Could Tame” (1940). He often published books under various pseudonyms (Tex Burns, Jim Mayo).

Lamour's story "The Gift of Cochise", which he later turned into the novel "Hondo", is very popular. A film of the same name was created based on this novel. Other successful books by Louis Lamour: “The Quick and the Dead,” “The Devil with a Revolver,” “The Kiowa Trail,” “Sitka.”

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

(24.09.1896 – 21.12.1940)

He was born in St. Paul (Minnesota) into a wealthy Irish family. Studied at St. Paul Academy, Newman School, and Princeton University. I already started writing there. He married Zelda Sayre, with whom he hosted lavish receptions and parties.

He was an author of famous magazines, wrote stories and scripts in Hollywood. Fitzgerald's first book, This Side of Paradise (1920), was a great success. In 1922, he created the novel “Beautiful but Doomed,” and in 1925, “The Great Gatsby,” which critics recognized as a masterpiece of American literature of that time.

Fitzgerald’s works are also special in that they perfectly convey the atmosphere of the American “jazz era” of the 1920s (a term coined by the writer himself).

Harold Robbins

(21.05.1916 – 14.10.1997)

Real name: Francis Kane. Originally from New York. Some sources say that Francis grew up in an orphanage. He mastered various professions, but managed to get rich briefly by trading sugar. After going broke, he worked at Universal.

The first book, Never Love a Stranger, was banned in several American states and was published in 1948. Robbins' fame was brought to him by the action-packed nature of his works. Francis Kane's most famous books: Carpetbaggers, A Stone for Danny Fisher, Sin City, 79 Park Avenue.

Harold Robbins became a literary example for three generations of American writers, and films were made based on many of his novels.

Stephen King

He received the nickname “King of Horror” for his amazing works in the genres of horror, mysticism, science fiction, and fantasy.

Born in Portland (Maine) in the family of a merchant seaman. Stephen has been interested in mystical comics since childhood and began writing in school. Works as a teacher and actor. Many of his books have become international bestsellers, and some of his works have been filmed.

Such novels by Stephen King as “Mr. Mercedes”, “11/22/63”, “Renaissance”, “Under the Dome”, “Dreamcatcher”, “Land of Joy”, and the epic “” are widely known. Now, being disabled, he continues to write.

Sydney Sheldon

(11.02.1917 – 30.01.2007)

Born in Chicago (Illinois). Since childhood I wrote poetry. He worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, writing musicals for the Broadway theater. Sidney Sheldon's first work, "Tear off the Mask" (1970), was a huge success and brought the author an Edgar Allan Poe Award.

The writer appeared in the Guinness Book of Records for the number of translations of his works and received a personalized star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mark Twain

(30.11.1835 – 21.04.1910)

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) is an American writer and journalist. Originally from Florida (Missouri).

From the age of 12, Samuel worked as a typesetter and created his own articles. Having reached adulthood, he goes on a journey, reads a lot and works as a pilot's assistant. He was a Confederate and worked in the mines, where he began to write stories.

All his works were signed by the pseudonym Mark Twain. Clemens wrote a famous book called “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, the story “The Prince and the Pauper”, the novel “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”, and after opening his own publishing house, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “Memoirs” and others were published brilliant works of a recognized classic of the 19th century, a master of adventure literature.

Ernest Hemingway

(21.07.1899 – 02.07.1961)

World-famous writer and journalist. Born in Oak Park (Illinois) in the family of a doctor. From an early age he was interested in sports, fishing, hunting and literature. After graduating from school, he worked as a reporter.

Hemingway was not accepted into the army, but he voluntarily took part in the First World War, where he was seriously wounded. His first book is Three Stories and Ten Poems. The writer distinguished himself with specific abilities to create in the style of realism and existentialism.

His life, full of travel and adventure, was reflected in many famous works: “The Old Man and the Sea”, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, “A Farewell to Arms!” and others. In 1954, Ernest Hemingway deservedly received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Daniela Steele

Master of romance novels. Born in New York into a well-to-do family. She received her education at the French School of Design and New York University.

She worked as a copywriter and PR specialist. The first novel, “Home,” conceived during his student years, was published only in 1973.

Almost all of Danielle Steel's subsequent books became bestsellers. The most widely read books by the writer are the novels: “His Bright Light”, “Family Ties”, “Night of Magic”, “Forbidden Love”, “Diamond Bracelet”, “Voyage”.

A considerable amount. Danielle Steele is the proud recipient of the French Legion of Honor.

Dr. Seuss

Instructions

Perhaps the first American writer who managed to gain worldwide fame was the poet and, at the same time, the founder of the detective genre, Edgar Allan Poe. Being a deep mystic by nature, Edgar Allan Poe was not at all like an American. Perhaps that is why his work, without finding followers in the writer’s homeland, had a noticeable influence on European literature of the modern era.

Adventure novels, which are based on the exploration of the continent and the relationship between the first settlers and the indigenous population, occupy a large place in the United States. The largest representatives of this trend were James Fenimore Cooper, who wrote extensively and fascinatingly about the Indians and the clashes of American colonists with them, Mine Reid, whose novels masterfully combined a love story and detective-adventure intrigue, and Jack London, who glorified the courage and courage of the pioneers of the harsh lands of Canada and Alaska.

One of the most remarkable American of the 19th century is the outstanding satirist Mark Twain. His works such as “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court” are read with equal interest by both young and adult readers.

Henry James lived in Europe for many years, but did not cease to be an American writer. In his novels “The Wings of the Dove”, “The Golden Cup” and others, the writer showed Americans who are naive and simple-minded by nature, who often find themselves victims of the intrigues of insidious Europeans.

Standing apart in the American 19th century is the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose anti-racist novel Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed greatly to the liberation of blacks.

The first half of the 20th century could be called the American Renaissance. At this time, such wonderful authors as Theodore Dreiser, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway created their works. Dreiser's first novel, “Sister Carrie,” in which the heroine achieves success at the cost of losing her best human qualities, initially seemed immoral to many. Based on a crime chronicle, the novel “An American Tragedy” turned into a story of the collapse of the “American Dream”.

The works of the king of the “Jazz Age” (a term coined by himself) Francis Scott Fitzgerald are largely based on autobiographical motifs. First of all, this applies to the magnificent novel “Tender is the Night,” where the writer told the story of his complex and painful relationship with his wife Zelda. Fitzgerald showed the collapse of the “American Dream” in his famous novel “The Great Gatsby.”

A tough and courageous perception of reality distinguishes the work of Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway. Among the writer’s most outstanding works are the novels “A Farewell to Arms!”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea.”

Modern American literature is a whole army of interesting authors and a sea of ​​​​the most diverse books. It's very easy to get lost here. Together with the MTS Mobile Library, we've put together a guide to the most important writers in the US right now. Of course, not all were included in the list.

JONATHAN FRANZEN

Why is he on our list? Franzen is called perhaps the most important writer of modern America. He returns the reader to the form of a long novel, ignoring that this is not very fashionable now. To understand Franzen a little, it is worth knowing that he chooses Faulkner over Hemingway, admires Tolstoy and proudly considers Nabokov an American writer. Jonathan Franzen received the prestigious National Book Award for his novel The Corrections.

Of course this "Sinlessness" . The Odyssey of a young girl named Purity, who did not know her father and is trying to find him. She is helped and hindered in her search by internet libertarian Andreas Wolf, independent journalist Tom Aberant and paranoid mother Anabel.

Cost in MTS mobile library :

Other Important Books by Franzen

"Amendments"- America, 1990s. The Lambert family, whose head suffers from Parkinson's disease, gets together for Christmas to unwittingly start the usual family squabbles.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 4 rubles if read in 20 days.

"Freedom"- America, it’s already the 2000s, 9/11 is behind us. Walter and Patti Berglund try to save their marriage and reflect on their search for freedom.

Cost in MTS mobile library :

DON DELILLO

Why is he on our list? Famed critic Harold Bloom (the same one who derided Stephen King for his National Book Award) named Don DeLillo one of the most important American writers of his time, along with Pynchon, Roth and McCarthy.

In his youth, he read a lot of Faulkner and Hemingway (they are usually contrasted with each other), began writing to escape work, and eventually became a famous postmodernist writer. The novel “White Noise” brought Don DeLillo a resounding success - the National Book Award in 1985.

His Great American Novel

Novels are equally vying for this role. "White noise" And "Scales". Let's dwell on the latter, because this book is about “the seven seconds that broke the back of America” - the assassination of Kennedy. The book tells the stories of Lee Harvey Oswald, the CIA agents who planned the fake assassination attempt on JFK (conspiracy theory!), and archivist Nicholas Branch studying the assassination.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

Other important books by DeLillo

"White noise"- a satirical story about a professor of Hitler studies who is terribly afraid of death, and also of exposure in his “scientific” discipline. DeLillo also targets TV, religion, supermarkets, etc.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

"Falling"- one of the first attempts in American literature to comprehend the tragedy of 9/11. The hero sees the towers fall and is forced to live with this catastrophic experience.

CORMACK McCARTHY

Why is he on our list? Thanks to McCarthy, Javier Bardem played one of his best roles - the psychopath Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers' thriller No Country for Old Men. McCarthy, of course, wrote the novel of the same name. Very seriously, Cormac McCarthy is one of the most venerable American writers, who is often called Faulkner's heir.

His books are included in various top 100 best novels in English. McCarthy received a Pulitzer Prize for The Road. Horses, Horses won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics' Award.

His Great American Novel

"Blood Meridian" - the brutal story of a teenager who joins a gang of thugs on the US-Mexico border. War against everyone: Indians, Mexicans, rangers, each other. A gritty novel about the nature of violence.

Other Important Books by McCarthy

"Horses, horses" - seems to be a novel about a young cowboy who rushed to Mexico from West Texas after the death of his grandfather. In fact, the book is about growing up and testing the spirit.

"Road"- hopeless post-apocalyptic. Father and son try to cross the former America, destroyed by a cataclysm, to reach the sea.

Cost in MTS mobile library :

MICHAEL CHABON

Why is he on our list? Chabon is equally good at psychological novels, detective stories, science fiction - he turns all this into unique intellectual prose. The novels "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" (the first) and "Geeks" (the second) were filmed, and it is a pity that this has not yet happened with "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay."

Michael Chabon imagined a Jewish colony in Alaska and won two major science fiction awards, the Hugo and the Nebula, for his novel The Jewish Policemen's Union. And the novel about Kavalier and Clay brought him a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner American Literary Award. Yes, Chabon also had a hand in the film “Spider-Man 2”, becoming a screenwriter.

His Great American Novel

"The Incredible Adventures of Cavalier and Clay" - a novel about the American dream that the heroes are trying to achieve. Josef Kavaler flees from the Nazis in a coffin with a golem, his cousin Sammy draws comics in New York. Two geeks come up with a hand-drawn hero, the Escapist, who fights Hitler, and begin to conquer the American comics industry.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

Other Important Books by Chabon

"Union of Jewish Policemen" - inseparable friends, detectives Meir Landsman and Berko Shemets, are investigating the murder of a famous chess player. This is happening in Jewish Alaska.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 2 rubles if read in 10 days.

"Moonlight" - Memoirs of Chabon's grandfather, turned into literature. The main character participates in World War II, hunts for German rocket scientists and Wernher von Braun, collaborates with NASA, falls in love with a Jewish girl... Chabon's very personal book.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

STEPHEN KING

Why is he on our list? In his books, Stephen King takes a close look at the nature of an ordinary person, which is not always attractive. And if you want to consider him a horror writer, then you risk following a not very smart stereotype.

It is simply pointless to list all of King’s awards and achievements; there are too many of them. Let's just say that in 2003 he received a medal for outstanding contribution to American literature (US National Book Award).

His Great American Novel

"Hearts in Atlantis" - a poignant book, deliberately collected from fragmentary stories. The girl whom the hero of the first story saves from bullies grows into a rebellious student. She appears in the second story of the novel, the most “American”, where King described the college campus of the 1970s, the life of young Americans and the protests against Vietnam. Looping the story, King brings the heroes together again in the finale...

Other important books by King

"It"- an amazing story about a childhood friendship that is destined to be severely tested. After all, the terrifying monster wants everyone to go flying.

"Confrontation" - when the world falls from the flu epidemic, Randall Flagg, the “black man”, the dark messiah, will appear on the scene. But many Americans will not want to submit to him.

DONNA TARTT

Why is she on our list? Donna Tartt writes her novels every ten years. In total, she published three books: “The Secret History” (1992), “Little Friend” (2002) and “The Goldfinch” (2013). But despite their small number, Donna Tartt has already occupied an important place in American literature. Her novels are compared to the books of Shakespeare, Dickens and Umberto Eco (at first glance, quite strange). Tartt immerses the reader, as she herself says, in gleeful, greedy reading.

The last novel brought the writer the Pulitzer Prize and the Carnegie Medal for the best book of fiction in the United States.

This "Goldfinch"- an adventure novel and a novel of education in one. Young Theo Decker loses his mother in a New York museum explosion. This is where his wanderings across families, cities and time begin. Throughout his life, Theo has been accompanied by the painting “The Goldfinch,” which he inexplicably stole from the museum after the explosion.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 5 rubles if read in 25 days.

Two other important books by Tartt

"Secret History" - the adult hero remembers a strange murder in college that destroyed a group of friends.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 4 rubles if read in 20 days.

"Little friend" - an example of American “Southern Gothic” in a modern version. Young Harriet is trying to unravel the mystery of the tragic death of her younger brother, which happened when she was three years old.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 4 rubles if read in 20 days.

THOMAS PYNCHON

Why is he on our list? Because he wrote Gravity's Rainbow. In principle, this was enough to secure a place for himself in eternity. Rumor has it that Pynchon attended Nabokov's seminar at Cornell University. And for a long time they thought about him that he was Salinger, so successfully Pynchon kept his incognito.

Pynchon's favorite topics are entropy, paranoia, conspiracy theories, and opposition to the System. Pynchon greatly influenced postmodernism and the cyberpunk novel. By the way, they decided not to award him the 1974 Pulitzer Prize - his “Rainbow” was considered unreadable and obscene. Pynchon himself did not accept the National Book Award for the novel, sending the stand-up comedian to the award ceremony.

His Great American Novel

Despite everything, this is not "Rainbow" (it is too complex and cosmopolitan for that), but "Birth Defect" . America in the early 1970s, detective with a hippie background, Doc Sportello, is looking for an ex-girlfriend and her rich admirer. The classic confrontation between the outsider and the System.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

Other important books by Pynchon

"Gravity's Rainbow" - a complex plot is built around the search for the mysterious “black block” for the V-2 rocket with the number 00000. “Rainbow” is considered the most complex postmodern novel of the 20th century.

"Lot 49 Shouts Out" - confrontation between two postal companies Thurn und Taxis and Trystero. The latter, fictional, is considered the prototype of the Internet and e-mail.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

TOM WOLFE

Why is he on our list? He knows how to wear a white suit perfectly! In fact, Tom Wolfe is a bright star of American documentary, prose and journalism. Moreover, he practically invented the “new journalism”, perceiving the newspaper genre as a real art.

He wrote about cool non-fiction, about the American auto industry during its heyday, the brilliant Ken Kesey and the hippie commune of the Merry Pranksters, the space battle between the Americans and the Russians. Author of four novels, the last one written in 2012. Recipient of the National Book Foundation Medal for contributions to American literature.

His Great American Novel

"Bonfires of Ambition" - a bright canvas depicting New York in the 1980s, and at the same time a novel touching on the social problem of racism and stratification of society. A stockbroker and his mistress accidentally run over a teenager in the black ghetto and he dies. The culprits are hiding the accident, but the terrible secret cannot be kept secret...

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

Other important books by Wolfe

"Voice of Blood" - the book describes modern Miami, where immigrants from all over the world mix. The plot centers on a policeman who is forced to balance between the law and the interests of his diaspora.

"Electro-cooling acid test" - a story about the life of Ken Kesey from 1958 to 1966 and his influence on the American subculture, in particular the hippies. A masterpiece of new journalism.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 2 rubles if read in 10 days.

JENNIFER EGAN

Why is she on our list? Jennifer Egan is considered one of America's most interesting contemporary writers, although she hasn't written much (more than Donna Tartt, mind you). Egan started out writing novellas for The New Yorker and New York Times magazine. Her debut novel, The Invisible Circus, was made into a film starring Cameron Diaz.

In 2010, Jennifer Egan received the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Time Has the Last Laugh.

Her Great American Novel

"Time has the last laugh" - the youth of the heroes coincided with the birth of punk rock, and today they are already over forty. The successful producer and failed punk rocker Benny Salazar continues his run in the circle of rock music, breakouts, tours, etc. But time does not lag behind the heroes one step.

Other Important Books by Egan

"Citadel"- the story of cousins ​​who met twenty years later. One of them has changed a lot and now invited the second to restore the neglected mansion he bought. The old castle promises the brothers many surprises.

"Invisible Circus" (not translated yet) - the young heroine goes to Portugal in the footsteps of her hippie older sister, who unexpectedly committed suicide.

WILLIAM GIBSON

Why is he on our list? Of course, he's here primarily because of Neuromancer and its sleek, unique style. The mentioned novel became the “New Testament of Cyberpunk” (according to Timothy Leary), in fact, it gave birth to this genre and started a literary war with American humanist science fiction writers. “Neuromancer” collected all the significant awards in science fiction: Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick Award, Australian Ditmar and Japanese Seiun Award.

To Gibson's credit, he shook the dust of cyberpunk off his feet as the genre began to die, and moved on to futuristic fiction exploring new media, technology, religion, etc. He famously said: “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.”

His Great Post-American Novel

"Peripherals" , the writer's latest novel. For Gibson, America no longer exists as a single state. The heroine Flynn and her brother Burton, a veteran of a local war, are forced to earn extra money as semi-legal freelancers in online games. One such game turns out to be not a game at all, but another reality, the inhabitants of which manipulate people in our world.

Cost in MTS mobile library : 3 rubles if read in 15 days.

Gibson's other important books

The entire trilogy "Cyberspace" , including “Neuromancer”, “Count Zero”, “Mona Lisa Overdrive”: information matrix hacking, illegal technologies, cyber war with corporations and the Yakuza, bioimplants, etc.

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