Everyone knows the plot of Daniel Defoe's novel. However, the book contains many other interesting details about the organization of Robinson's life on the island, his biography, and inner experiences. If you ask a person who has not read the book to describe the character of Robinson, he is unlikely to cope with this task.
In the mass consciousness, Crusoe is an intelligent character without character, feelings and history. In the novel, the image of the protagonist is revealed, which allows you to look at the plot from a different angle.
Why you need to read
To get acquainted with one of the most famous adventure novels and find out who Robinson Crusoe really was.
Swift does not openly challenge society. Like a true Englishman, he does it correctly and witty. His satire is so subtle that Gulliver's Travels can be read like a normal fairy tale.
Why you need to read
For children, Swift's novel is a fun and unusual adventure story. Adults need to read it to get acquainted with one of the most famous artistic satires.
This novel, although artistically not the most outstanding, is definitely a landmark in the history of literature. After all, in many respects he predetermined the development of the scientific genre.
But it's not just an entertaining read. It raises the problems of relations between the creator and creation, God and man. Who is responsible for creating a being that is destined to suffer?
Why you need to read
To get acquainted with one of the main works of science fiction, as well as to feel the difficult problems that are often lost in film adaptations.
It is difficult to single out the best play by Shakespeare. There are at least five of them: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. The unique style and deep understanding of life's contradictions made Shakespeare's works an immortal classic, relevant at all times.
Why you need to read
To begin to understand poetry, literature and life. And also to find the answer to the question, what is still better: to be or not to be?
The main theme of English literature in the early 19th century was social criticism. Thackeray in his novel denounces his contemporary society with the ideals of success and material enrichment. To be in society means to be sinful - this is approximately Thackeray's conclusion regarding his social environment.
After all, the successes and joys of yesterday lose their meaning when a well-known (albeit unknown) tomorrow dawns ahead, which we all will have to think about sooner or later.
Why you need to read
To learn to relate more easily to the life and opinions of others. After all, everyone in society is infected with "fair ambitions" that have no real value.
The language of the novel is beautiful, and the dialogues are the epitome of English wit. Oscar Wilde is a subtle psychologist, which is why his characters turned out to be so complex and multifaceted.
This book is about human vice, cynicism, the difference between the beauty of the soul and the body. If you think about it, to some extent each of us is Dorian Gray. Only we do not have a mirror on which sins would be imprinted.
Why you need to read
To enjoy the amazing language of the UK's wittiest writer, to see how much the moral image can not match the external, and also to become a little better. Wilde's work is a spiritual portrait not only of his era, but of all mankind.
The ancient Greek myth about a sculptor who fell in love with his creation acquires a new, socially significant sound in the play by Bernard Shaw. What should a work feel for its author if this work is a person? How can it refer to the creator - the one who made it in accordance with his ideals?
Why you need to read
This is the most famous play of Bernard Shaw. It is often staged in theaters. According to many critics, "Pygmalion" is a landmark work of English drama.
A universally recognized masterpiece of English literature, familiar to many from cartoons. Who, at the mention of Mowgli, does not hear Kaa's long hissing in his head: "Man-cub ..."?
Why you need to read
In adulthood, hardly anyone will take up The Jungle Book. A person has only one childhood to enjoy the creation of Kipling and appreciate it. So be sure to introduce your children to the classics! They will be grateful to you.
And again the Soviet cartoon comes to mind. It's really good, and the dialogue in it is almost entirely taken from the book. However, the images of the characters and the general mood of the narrative in the original source are different.
Stevenson's novel is realistic and rather harsh in places. But this is a good adventure work that every child and adult will read with pleasure. Boarding, sea wolves, wooden legs - the marine theme attracts and attracts.
Why you need to read
Because it's fun and exciting. In addition, the novel is disassembled into quotes, which everyone must know.
Interest in the deductive abilities of the great detective is still great today thanks to the huge number of screen adaptations. A lot of people are only from films and are familiar with the classic detective story. But there are many screen adaptations, and there is only one collection of stories, but what a one!
Why you need to read
H. G. Wells was in many ways a pioneer in the science fiction genre. Before him, people were not at enmity with, he was the first to write about time travel. Without The Time Machine, we would not have seen either the movie Back to the Future or the cult TV series Doctor Who.
They say that all life is a dream, and besides, a nasty, miserable, short dream, although you won’t dream another one anyway.
Why you need to read
To look at the origins of many of the sci-fi ideas that have become popular in modern culture.
Truly admirable. It is based on the works of a galaxy of outstanding masters. No country in the world has given birth to so many outstanding masters of the word as Britain. There are many English classics, the list goes on and on: William Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Daphne Du Maurier, George Orwell, John Tolkien. Are you familiar with their works?
Already in the 16th century, the Briton William Shakespeare earned the fame of the best playwright in the world. It is curious that until now the plays of the “spear-shaking” Englishman (this is how his surname is literally translated) are staged in theaters more often than the works of other authors. His tragedies "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth" are universal values. Getting acquainted with his creative heritage, we recommend that you MUST read the philosophical tragedy "Hamlet" - about the meaning of life and moral principles. For four hundred years she has led the repertoires of the most famous theaters. There is an opinion that the English classic writers began with Shakespeare.
She became famous thanks to the classic love story Pride and Prejudice, which introduces us to the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, Elizabeth, who has a rich inner world, pride and an ironic look at her surroundings. She finds her happiness in love for the aristocrat Darcy. Paradoxically, this book with a fairly simple plot and a happy ending is one of the most beloved in Britain. It traditionally outstrips the works of many serious novelists in popularity. For that alone, it's worth reading. Like this writer, many English classics came to literature precisely at the beginning of the 18th century.
He glorified himself with his works as a deep and genuine connoisseur of the life of ordinary Britons in the 18th century. His characters are invariably penetrating and convincing. The novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" shows the tragic fate of a simple decent woman. She commits the murder of a scoundrel nobleman who breaks her life in order to free herself from his persecution and find happiness. Using the example of Thomas Hardy, the reader can see that the English classics had a deep mind and a systematic view of the society around them, saw its flaws more clearly than others, and, having ill-wishers, nevertheless courageously presented their creations for the assessment of the whole society.
She showed in her largely autobiographical novel "Jane Eyre" the emerging new morality - the principles of an educated, active, decent person who wants to serve society. The writer creates an amazingly holistic, deep image of the governess Jane Eyre, who goes towards her love for Mr. Rochester even at the cost of sacrificial service. Bronte, inspired by her example, was followed by other English classics, not from the nobility, calling on society for social justice, for an end to all discrimination against a person.
Possessed, according to the Russian classic F.M. Dostoevsky, who considered himself his student, "the instinct of universal humanity." The great talent of the writer did the seemingly impossible: he became famous even in his early youth thanks to his first novel, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, followed by the following - Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and others, who gained unprecedented fame for the writer put him on a par with Shakespeare.
William Thackeray is an innovator in the style of writing the novel. None of the classics before him turned bright, textured depicted negative characters into the central images of his work. Moreover, as in life, often something individually positive was inherent in their characters. His outstanding work - "Vanity Fair" - is written in a unique spirit of intellectual pessimism, mixed with subtle humor.
With her “Rebecca” in 1938, she did the impossible: she wrote the novel at a key moment when it seemed that English literature was running out of steam, that everything that was possible had already been written, that the English classics were “ended”. Having not received worthy works for a long time, the English reading audience was interested, delighted with the unique, unpredictable plot of her novel. The introductory phrase of this book has become winged. Be sure to read this book by one of the world's best masters of creating psychological images!
George Orwell will amaze you with the merciless truth. He wrote his famous novel "1984" as a powerful universal denunciatory tool against all dictatorships: present and future. His creative method is borrowed from another great Englishman - Swift.
The novel "1984" is a parody of a dictatorship society that has finally trampled on universal human values. He denounced and called to account for the inhumanity of the ugly model of socialism, which in fact becomes the dictatorship of the leaders. An extremely sincere and uncompromising person, he endured poverty and deprivation, having passed away early - at 46 years old.
Is it possible not to love Professor's "Lord of the Rings"? This real miraculous and surprisingly harmonious temple of the epic of England? The work brings its readers deep humanistic and it is no accident that Frodo destroys the ring on March 25 - the day of the Ascension. The creative and competent writer showed insight: all his life he was indifferent to politics and parties, passionately loved "good old England", was a classic British tradesman.
This list goes on and on. I beg your pardon, dear readers who mustered up the courage to read this article, that it did not include, due to limited volume, the worthy Walter Scott, Ethel Lilian Voynich, Daniel Defoe, Lewis Carroll, James Aldridge, Bernard Shaw and, believe me, many, many others. English classical literature is a huge, most interesting layer of achievements of human culture and spirit. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of getting to know her.
Today, many schools no longer study such a subject as foreign literature. The younger generation, as a rule, learns about some famous English writers and their fascinating works from textbooks in English classes and thanks to modern cinema. However, everyone who studies English needs to know which English writers are classics of foreign literature. Thanks to this knowledge, you can expand your general horizons and replenish your vocabulary by reading works in the original.
About the most famous
Even those who are not particularly fond of reading literature have heard the names of English writers who have gained worldwide fame. We are talking about Shakespeare, Kipling, Byron, Conan Doyle and others. Let's talk briefly about the authors whose works deserve the attention of everyone.
Rudyard Kipling (Sir Joseph Rudyard Kipling) was an English poet, writer and short story writer who lived from 1865 to 1936. In the history of world literature, he is known as the creator of stories and fairy tales for children, many of which were filmed. Rudyard Kipling became not only the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, but also the first Englishman to receive this award. The most famous works: "The Jungle Book", "Riki-Tiki-Tavi", "Kim", "Kaa's Hunt", etc. Children's stories: "Elephant", "How the first letter was written", "The cat that walked by itself yourself”, “Why does a rhinoceros have a folded skin”, etc.
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde- an outstanding Irish poet, playwright, writer and essayist. One of the most famous playwrights of the late Victorian period and a key figure in the development of aestheticism and European modernism. The most famous work is the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The years of the writer's life - 1854−1900.
George ByronGeorge Gordon Byron- English romantic poet, who was in the period from 1788 to 1824 a symbol of romanticism and political liberalism in Europe of the 19th century. During his lifetime, he was commonly referred to as "Lord Byron". Thanks to him, such terms as "Byronic" hero and "Byronism" appeared in literature. The creative heritage left by the poet is represented by the poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" (1812), the novel "Don Juan", the poems "Gyaur" and "Corsair", etc.
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle- English writer (although a doctor by training). He is the author of countless novels and stories that are of an adventure, historical, journalistic, fantastic and humorous nature. The most popular detective stories about Sherlock Holmes, science fiction about Professor Challenger, as well as a number of historical novels. Peru Conan Doyle also owns plays and poems. The creative heritage is represented by such works as The White Squad, The Lost World, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and others.
Daniel Defoe- English writer and publicist who wrote about 500 books, magazines and pamphlets on various topics. He is one of the founders of the European realistic novel. In 1719, Daniel Defoe saw the light of the first and best novel in the entire creative life of the writer under the name "Robinson Crusoe". Famous works also include "Captain Singleton", "The Story of Colonel Jack", "Moth Flanders", "Roxanne" (1724) and others.
William Somerset Maugham British novelist, playwright, screenwriter and literary critic. One of the most successful prose writers of the 20th century. For achievements in art and literature, he was awarded the Order of the Knights of Honor. On account of Maugham 78 works, including stories, essays and travel notes. Main works: "The burden of human passions", "Moon and penny", "Pies and wine", "The razor's edge".
Who wrote for children
Not all famous English writers were passionate about exclusively serious life topics. Some great authors devoted part of their work to the younger generation, writing fairy tales and stories for children. Who hasn't heard of Alice in Wonderland or Mowgli the boy who grew up in the jungle?
Biography of the writer Lewis Carroll whose real name is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, no less interesting than his book Alice in Wonderland. He grew up in a large family with 11 children. The boy was very fond of drawing and always dreamed of becoming an artist. This writer told us the story of the restless heroine Alice and her endless journeys into a wonderful magical world where she meets many interesting characters: the Cheshire cat, and the mad hatter, and the queen of cards.
Roald Dahl originally from Wales. The author spent most of his childhood in boarding houses. One of these boarding houses was located near the famous chocolate factory Cadbury. It is assumed that the idea to write his best children's story called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" came to him during this period. The hero of the story becomes a boy named Charlie, who receives one of the five tickets that allows him to get into a closed chocolate factory. Charlie, along with 4 other participants, goes through all the tasks in the factory, and remains the winner.
Rudyard Kipling known for his "The Jungle Book", which tells the story of a boy, Mowgli, who grew up among animals in wild forests. Most likely, this story was written under the impression of his own childhood. The fact is, after the birth of the first 5 years of his life, the writer lived in India.
Joanne Rowling- the most famous writer-"storyteller" of our time. It was she who gave us such a character as Harry Potter. The story of the wizard boy Harry, who goes to Hogwarts school, was written by Joan for her children. This allowed them to plunge into the world of magic and magic and forget for a while about the poverty in which the family lived at that time. The book is full of interesting adventures.
Joan Aiken (Joan Delano Aiken) She became a writer because everyone in her family wrote, from her father to her sister. However, Joan was engaged in children's literature. Her most famous work was the short story "A Piece of Heaven in a Pie".
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson invented the pirate Captain Flint in his famous story Treasure Island. Hundreds of boys followed the adventures of this hero. Robert himself comes from cold Scotland, an engineer and a lawyer by education. The first book was published when the author was only 16 years old, he borrowed money for the publication from his father. The story about the treasure island was invented by him much later during the games with his son, during which they drew a treasure map together and came up with plots.
John Tolkien (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) He is the author of the fantastic and breathtaking stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. John is a teacher by education. As a child, the writer learned to read early, and did so often throughout his life. As John himself admits, he fiercely hated the story "Treasure Island", but was crazy about "Alice in Wonderland". The writer himself, after his stories, became the founder of the fantasy genre, it is no coincidence that he was called the "father of fantasy".
Warm greetings to my readers!
Both small and big. Although today's lesson will be more about the first. We are waiting for English writers for children and their works. We will also touch on the "old men" from the 19th century. And consider the "youth" of the 20th century. And I will also give you a list where their famous books and famous ones are arranged in the order of my sincere love :).
Let `s start?
- Lewis Carroll
Many people know this writer for his restless heroine Alice and her endless travels either to Wonderland or through the Looking Glass. The writer's biography itself is no less interesting than his books. He grew up in a large family - with 3 brothers and 7 sisters. He loved to draw and dreamed of becoming an artist.
The story itself tells us about a girl who finds herself in a wonderful magical world. Where he meets many interesting characters: the Cheshire cat, the mad hatter, and the queen of cards.
- Roald Dahl
Roald was born in Wales to a Norwegian family. He spent most of his childhood in boarding houses. One of the latter was located next to the famous chocolate factory Cadbury. It is believed that it was then that the idea came to him to write his best children's story - "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".
This story is about a boy, Charlie, who gets one of the five tickets. This ticket will let him into the closed chocolate factory. Together with 4 other participants, he completes all tasks in the factory and remains the winner.
- Rudyard Kipling
This author is known to us for his story "The Jungle Book", which tells about a boy named Mowgli, who grew up among wild forests along with a variety of animals. Most likely, this story was inspired by his own childhood. The fact is that Rudyard was born and spent the first 5 years of his life in India.
- Joanne Rowling
The most famous "storyteller" of our time gave us that very one. Joan wrote this story for her children. And at that time their family lived very poorly.
And the books themselves give us the opportunity to plunge into the world of magic and magic. The boy Harry finds out that he is a wizard and goes to Hogwarts school. Amusing adventures await him there.
This is where you can buy books!
- Joan Aiken
This woman simply had to become a writer, because everyone in her family wrote: from father to sister. But Joan was engaged in children's literature. So her most famous work was the story "A piece of heaven in a pie." And it was her filmed by our domestic TV channels. True to the Russian people, this story is known under the name "Apple Pie".
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Not a man - a pirate! It makes you want to scream “Hey-gay!”, because this man invented the pirate Captain Flint in his story “Treasure Island”. Hundreds of boys did not sleep at night to follow the adventures of this hero.
The author himself was born in cold Scotland. Trained as an engineer and lawyer. At the same time, his first book came out when Robert was only 16 years old on the money borrowed from his father. But he came up with the story about the treasure island much later. And what is interesting - while playing with my son. Together they drew a treasure map and came up with stories.
- John Tolkien
The creator of modern from another world - "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" - stories so fantastic and exciting that it takes your breath away.
The author of the books, John, worked as a teacher. As a child, he learned to read early, so he did it often. He admitted that he hated the story "Treasure Island" with a fierce hatred, but madly loved "Alice in Wonderland". The author himself wrote stories for which he was called the "father of fantasy".
- Pamela Travers
This woman's real name is Helen. She was born in far, far away Australia. But at the age of 8 she moved with her mother to Wales. As a child, Pamela was very fond of animals. She fiddled in the yard, and she represented herself as a bird. When she grew up, she traveled a lot, but still then returned to England.
Once she was asked to sit with two small and restless children. So, during the game, she began to invent a story about a nanny who carried things with her in a suitcase, and who had an umbrella with a handle in the shape of a parrot. Then the plot develops on paper and so the world got the famous nanny Mary Poppins. The first book was followed by others - continuations of the story about the nanny.
On this, I think, we will end. Read interesting books, learn the language and develop yourself. And do not miss the opportunity to receive new blog articles instantly in your mail - subscribe to the newsletter.
See you soon!
In the video below, there are some more great writers and their works that are worth reading!
Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925).
Sir Henry Rider Haggard was born June 22, 1856 in Bradenham (Norfolk) in the family of Squire William Haggard, he was the eighth of his ten children. At nineteen, Henry Rider Haggard fell deeply and, as it turned out, for life, in love with the daughter of a squire who lived next door, Lily Jackson. But the father considered it premature that his son intended to marry and considered it best to send him to South Africa as secretary to Henry Bulwer, the English governor of the province of Natal. Thus was his only true love destroyed, as Haggard later wrote. Having abruptly broken the personal fate of a young man, a trip to South Africa determined his further creative destiny: it was Africa that became for Haggard an inexhaustible source of themes, plots, human types in his numerous books, and the longing for lost love itself became one of the defining themes of the writer's works, embodied in unusual images.
Africa gave Haggard a delightful sense of personal freedom: by occupation and love of travel, he traveled a lot in Natal and the Transvaal, conquered by the boundless expanses of the African veld, the beauty of impregnable mountain peaks - Haggard poetically and romantically recreated these peculiar landscapes in many of his novels. He was fond of activities characteristic of an English gentleman in Africa - hunting, riding, etc. However, unlike many compatriots, he was also interested in the customs of the local residents, the Zulus, their history, culture, legends - Haggard got to know all this firsthand, having soon learned the Zulu language. He adopted the traditional “Englishman in Africa” dislike for the Boers and a patronizing, benevolent, paternalistic attitude towards the Zulus, for whom, Haggard believed, like the vast majority of his compatriots, the rule of the British was a boon (however, as can be judged from some of his statements, he was aware of the devastating effect of the English invasion on traditional Zulu customs). This position of "enlightened imperialism" Haggard retained until the end of his life.
In 1878, Haggard became the Governor and Registrar of the Supreme Court in the Transvaal, resigned in 1879, went to England, married, and returned to Natal with his wife at the end of 1880, determined to become a farmer. However, in South Africa, Hagard did not farm for long: already in September 1881, he finally settled in England. In 1884, Haggard passed the relevant examination and became a practicing lawyer. However, Haggard's law practice did not attract him - he wanted to write.
Haggard, with considerable success, tried his hand at composing historical, psychological and fantastic works. Everything he created is marked by a rich imagination, extraordinary credibility and scale of the story. Haggard is world famous for his novels of adventure in South Africa, in which the fantastic element plays a significant role; the constant fascination of the author with lost worlds, the ruins of ancient mysterious civilizations, archaic cults of immortality and the reincarnation of souls made him, in the eyes of many critics, one of the unconditional forerunners of modern fantasy. The popular hero of Haggard, the white hunter and adventurer Allan Quatermain, is a central character in many books.
For contemporaries, Haggard was not only a popular prose writer, a writer of fascinating historical adventure novels. He is also a publicist, a singer of rural England, a measured and meaningful farming way of life, so familiar to Haggard from his Norfolk estate Ditchingham. He was actively engaged in farming, sought to improve it, mourned, seeing its decline, the gradual replacement by industry.
In the last two decades of his life, Haggard was violently involved in the political life of the country. He ran for Parliament in the election of 1895 (but lost), was a member and consultant of an endless number of various government committees and commissions on colonial affairs, as well as agriculture. The merits of Haggard were appreciated by the authorities: as a reward for his work for the benefit of the British Empire, he was knighted (1912), and in 1919 he received the Order of the British Empire.
Beatrice Potter (1866-1943).
Who does not know today the fairy tale about the forest washerwoman Uhti-Tukhti, who helped all the little animals to keep their clothes clean? Its author, Beatrix Potter, is one of the most popular English writers. Her fairy tales, basically didactic, turned almost into adventure novels, so the action was “twisted”, funny episodes quickly succeeded each other
In the art of England there is a concept - "the book of one person." The tradition of creating author's books, illustrations for which were made by the authors themselves, was very strong in England. Since the time of the great William Blake, English poets have reserved the right to supply a book with their own drawings and engravings. The poet became an artist; and the artist is a writer.
Potter was both a writer and an artist. She was born on July 28, 1866 in Bolton Gardens to a wealthy family. Parents hired governesses and home teachers for Beatrice, she did not go to school and had no friends. And her loneliness was brightened up by pets, which were allowed to be kept in the classroom. For hours, Beatrice looked after them, talked, shared children's secrets, painted them. The Potter family spent summers either in Scotland, or in Wales, and in the famous Lake District, where it was possible to communicate with animals in the wild. The first childhood impressions of young Beatrice were poetic. Potter biographers rightly believe that these cats and rabbits are the prototypes of characters in future children's books.
Arranging games for kids in the meadow near her house, staging her own fairy tales, Potter showed outstanding pedagogical (and acting!) abilities. She had a rare teaching gift. The forest lawn and in her books became for children a corner of the fairy-tale world, inhabited by funny hares, kind hedgehogs, and cheerful frogs. They were dressed in charming costumes, they had quite human headdresses, canes and even muffs. Comic comparisons of human manners and the habits of animals have always brought joy to readers.
Beatrice carried her first "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" with her own drawings to publishers for a long time, meeting rejection everywhere, and finally published it in 1901 at her own expense. The book had an unexpected success, was republished, and until 1910 the young artist-writer regularly composed, illustrated and published an average of two books a year, which immediately became the "bestsellers" of the time. Everyone liked her funny little animals - bunnies, mice, hedgehogs, goslings and other small creatures that funny copied people, but retained their bestial habits.
In 1903-1904, Potter's books "The Tailor of Gloucester", "Bunny Rabbit", "The Tale of Two Bad Mice" appeared, which secured the author's reputation as an artist with her own unique style. The father of the future artist was engaged in photography, and young Beatrice was also fond of photographing plants. During one of these walks, the idea of the first fairy tale was born. Hence, probably, photographic, almost "documentary" accuracy in the depiction of nature. From photographic art, the artist takes both a subtle gradation of tones and soft light and shade transitions.
The irresistible charm of the Potter characters lies in the humanization of animals. Duck Jemima in a headscarf, Uhti-Tukhti in an apron, rabbits in children's costumes - all these are examples of comical combinations of nature and civilization.
The special charm of Potter's heroes, their touching weakness, defenselessness before the forces of nature captivates readers.
Drawings of Beatrix Potter live not only on book pages. Potter-style children's tableware has gained wide popularity. Let's add here decorative applique and embroidery on children's aprons. With full confidence, we can talk about the existence of a special Potter world.
In 1905, after the death of her husband, the publisher of her books, Beatrice buys Hill Top Farm in the Lake District and tries to live there as long as possible. Her drawings depict the landscapes surrounding the farm.
In 1913, Beatrice marries again and completely devotes herself to agricultural concerns: a farm, sheep breeding, so there is no time left for creativity. But she has an important life goal: to preserve the beautiful Lake District in its original form. For the sake of this, Potter, sparing no expense, bought up plots around the farm, mountain and lake places. Dying in 1943, Beatrice bequeathed 4,000 acres of land and 15 farms to the state with the condition that they be turned into a nature reserve. It still exists today.
Alan Milne (1882-1956).
Alan Alexander Milne - prose writer, poet and playwright, classic of literature of the twentieth century, author of the famous "Winnie the Pooh" was born on January 18, 1882.
The English writer, of Scots origin, Alan Alexander Milne spent his childhood in London. He studied at a small private school owned by his father, John Milne. One of his teachers in 1889-1890 was HG Wells. Then he entered the Westminster School, and then to Trinity College, Cambridge, where from 1900 to 1903 he studied mathematics. As a student, he wrote notes for the student newspaper Grant. He usually wrote with his brother Kenneth, and they signed notes with the name AKM. Milne's work was noticed, and the British humor magazine Punch began to collaborate with him, later Milne became an assistant editor there.
In 1913, Milne married Dorothy Daphne de Selincourt, goddaughter of magazine editor Owen Seaman (claimed to be the psychological prototype of Eeyore), and in 1920 his only son, Christopher Robin, was born. By that time, Milne had managed to visit the war, write several funny plays, one of which - "Mr. Pym passed" (1920) was a success.
When his son was three years old, Milne began to write poems about him and for him, devoid of sentimentality and accurately reproducing children's egocentrism, fantasies and stubbornness. The enormous success of the book of poems illustrated by Ernest Shepard led Milne to write the fairy tales The Rabbit Prince (1924), The Princess Who Couldn't Laugh and The Green Door (both 1925), and in 1926 Winnie the Pooh was written. All the characters in the book (Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kang and Roo) except for Rabbit and Owl were found in the nursery (now the toys that served as prototypes are kept in the Museum of Toy Bears in the UK), and the topography of the Forest resembles the neighborhood of Cotchford, where the family Milna spent the weekend.
In 1926, the first version of Bear with sawdust in his head appeared (in English - Bear-with-very-small-brains) - "Winnie the Pooh". The second part of the stories, "Now there are six of us", appeared in 1927, and the final part of the book "The House at the Pooh Corner" - in 1928. Milne never read his own stories about Winnie the Pooh to his son, Christopher Robin, preferring to educate him on the works of the writer Wodehouse, beloved by Alan himself, and Christopher first read poems and stories about the Pooh bear only 60 years after their first appearance.
Before the publication of books about Winnie the Pooh, Milne was already a fairly well-known playwright, but the success of Winnie the Pooh acquired such proportions that Milne's other works are now practically unknown. Worldwide sales of Pooh Bear books translated into 25 languages from 1924 to 1956 exceeded 7 million, and by 1996 had sold about 20 million copies, and only by Muffin (this figure does not include publishers in the US, Canada and non-English speaking countries). A survey conducted in 1996 by English radio showed that the book about Winnie the Pooh was ranked 17th in the list of the most striking and significant works published in the twentieth century. That same year, Milne's favorite teddy bear was sold in London at the Bonham House auction to an unknown buyer for £4,600. In 1952, Milne fell seriously ill, and spent the next four years, until his death, on his estate in Cotchford, Sussex.
In 1966, Walt Disney released the first animated film based on Milne's Winnie the Pooh.
In 1969-1972 in the USSR at the film studio "Soyuzmultfilm" three cartoons directed by Fyodor Khitruk "Winnie the Pooh", "Winnie the Pooh Comes to Visit" and "Winnie the Pooh and the Day of Worries" were released, which won the love of the children's audience of the Soviet Union. These cartoons and modern children watch with pleasure.
John Tolkien (1892-1973).
The future writer was born on January 3, 1892 in the city of Blumfotein (South Africa). The son of an English merchant settled in South Africa, Tolkien returned to England already at a conscious age, after the death of his father. Soon he lost his mother. Before her death, she converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism, so a Catholic priest became John's tutor and guardian. Religion had a significant impact on the writer's work.
In 1916, after graduating from Oxford University, Tolkien married Edith Brett, whom he loved from the age of 14 and with whom he did not part until her death in 1972. Edith became the prototype of one of Tolkien's favorite images - the elven beauty Luthien.
Since 1914, the writer has been busy implementing an ambitious plan - the creation of a "mythology for England", which would combine his favorite ancient tales of heroes and elves and Christian values. The result of these works was the "Book of Forgotten Tales" and the mythological code "Silmarillion" that grew out of it by the end of the writer's life.
In 1937, the magical story "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" saw the light of day. In it, for the first time in a fictional world (Middle-earth), funny creatures appear, reminiscent of the inhabitants of rural "good old England".
The hero of the fairy tale, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, becomes a kind of intermediary between the reader and the gloomy majestic world of ancient legends. Persistent requests from publishers prompted Tolkien to continue the story. This is how the fabulously epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings appeared (the novels The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, both 1954, and The Return of the King, 1955, revised edition 1966). In fact, it was a continuation not only and not so much of The Hobbit, but also of The Silmarillion, which was not published during the life of the writer, as well as the unfinished novel about Atlantis, The Lost Road.
The main idea of The Lord of the Rings is the need for a consistent and unceasing fight against evil. It cannot be overcome without following Christian moral values. At the same time, only a “chance” will help to win the victory itself - the Providence of God. However, the writer does not impose his religious beliefs on the reader. The action in the novels takes place in a mythical pre-Christian world, and God is not mentioned even once in the entire trilogy (unlike The Silmarillion).
Tolkien devoted the remaining years of his life to finalizing The Silmarillion, which, however, never saw the light of day during the author's lifetime (1974). Having embodied ancient legends by means of modern literature, Tolkien became one of the creators of a new literary genre - fantasy.
Clive Lewis (1898-1963).
Some only found out who Clive Lewis was when Narnia hit the screens. And for some, Clive Staples has been an idol since childhood, when they read the Chronicles of Narnia or the stories of Balamut. In any case, the writer Staples Lewis opened a magical land for many. And, going along with his books to Narnia, almost no one thought about the fact that Clive Staples Lewis, in fact, wrote about God and religion. Clive Staples Lewis really has a religious theme in almost all his works, but it is unobtrusive and dressed in a wonderful fairy tale, on which more than one generation of children has grown up.
Clive Staples was born November 29, 1898 in Ireland. When he was little, his life could indeed be called happy and carefree. He had a great brother and mother. Mother taught little Clive different languages, not even forgetting about Latin, and, moreover, raised him so that he would grow up as a real person, with normal views and understanding of life. But then grief happened and my mother died when Lewis was not even ten years old. For the boy, this was a terrible blow.
After that, his father, who never had a tender and cheerful character, sent the boy to a closed school. This was another blow for him. He hated school and education until he got to Professor Kirkpatrick. It is worth noting that this professor was an atheist, while Lewis has always been distinguished by religiosity. And yet, Clive simply adored his teacher. He treated him like an idol, a standard. The professor also loved his student and tried to pass on all his knowledge to him. In addition, the professor was really a very smart person. He taught the guy dialectics and other sciences, transferring to him all his knowledge and skills.
In 1917, Lewis was able to enter Oxford, but then he went to the front and fought on French territory. During the hostilities, the writer was wounded and ended up in the hospital. There he discovered Chesterton, whom he began to admire, but, at that time, he could not understand and love his views and concepts. After the war and the hospital, Lewis returned to Oxford, where he remained until 1954. Clive was very fond of the students. The fact is that he lectured on English literature so interestingly that many came to him again and again, in order to attend his classes again and again. At the same time, Clive wrote various articles, and then took up books. The first major work was a book published in 1936. It was called "Allegory of Love".
What can be said about Lewis as a believer. In fact, the history of his faith is not so simple. Perhaps that is why he never tried to impose his faith on anyone.
Rather, he wanted to present it in such a way that whoever wanted to see it could see it. As a child, Clive was a kind, gentle and believing person, but after the death of his mother, his faith was shaken. Then he met a professor who, being an atheist, was a much smarter and kinder person than many believers. And then came the university years. And, as Lewis himself said, unbelieving people, the same atheists like him, made him believe again. At Oxford, Clive made friends who were as smart, well-read and interesting as he was. In addition, these guys reminded him of the concepts of conscience and humanity, because, having come to Oxford, the writer had already practically forgotten about these concepts, remembering only that one should not be too cruel and steal. But new friends were able to change his views, and he regained faith and remembered who he is and what he wants from life.
Clive Lewis wrote many interesting treatises, stories, sermons, fairy tales, novels. These are the Letters of the Balamut, and The Chronicles of Narnia, and the space trilogy, as well as the novel Until We Have Found Faces, which Clive wrote at a time when his beloved wife was very seriously ill. Lewis created his stories without trying to teach people how to believe in God. He was just trying to show where there is good and where there is evil, that everything is punishable, and even after a very long winter, summer comes, as it did in the second book of The Chronicles of Narnia.
Lewis wrote about God, about his associates, telling people about wonderful worlds. In fact, as a child, it is difficult to distinguish between symbolism and metaphor. But it is very interesting to read about the world that was created by the golden-maned lion Aslan, where you can fight and rule as a child, where animals talk, and various mythical creatures live in the forests. By the way, some church ministers treated Lewis extremely negatively. The point was that he mixed paganism and religion. In his books, naiads and dryads were, in fact, the same children of God as animals and birds. Therefore, the church considered his books unacceptable when viewed from the side of faith. But only some ministers of the church thought so. Many have a positive attitude towards Lewis's books and give them to their children, because, in fact, despite the mythology and religious symbols, in the first place, Lewis has always promoted goodness and justice. But his kindness is not perfect. He knows that there is evil that will always be evil. And, therefore, this evil must be destroyed. But this should not be done out of hatred and a sense of revenge, but only for the sake of justice.
Clive Staples lived a not very long, though not very short, life. He wrote many works of which he can be proud. In 1955 the writer moved to Cambridge. There he became head of the department. In 1962, Lewis was admitted to the British Academy. But then his health deteriorates sharply, he resigns. And on November 22, 1963, Clive Staples died.
Enid Blyton (1897-1968).
Enid Mary Blyton is a famous British writer, the creator of wonderful adventure works of children's and youth literature. She became one of the most successful teenage writers of the twentieth century.
Blyton was born on 11 August 1897 at 354 Lordship Lane, West Dulwich, London. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Carey Blyton (1870-1920), a cutlery merchant, and his wife Theresa Mary, née Harrison (1874-1950). ). There were two younger sons, Hanley (b. 1899) and Carey (b. 1902), who were born after the family moved to the nearby suburb of Beckenham. From 1907 to 1915, Blyton studied at St. Christopher's School in Beckenham, where she excelled. Both academic work and physical activity were equally to her liking, although she did not like mathematics.
She was noted for several series of books intended for various age groups, with periodically recurring main characters. These books were a huge success in many parts of the world, with over 400 million copies sold. According to one assessment, Blyton is the fifth most popular author worldwide: according to the Translatability Index; By 2007, more than 3,400 translations of her books had been made by UNESCO; in this respect it is inferior to Lenin, but superior to Shakespeare.
One of the most famous characters of the writer is Noddy, who appears in stories for young children who are just learning to read. However, its main strength was novels, in which children got into exciting adventures and unraveled intriguing mysteries with little or no help from adults. In this genre, the series are especially popular: The Magnificent Five (consists of 21 novels, 1942-1963; the main characters are four teenagers and a dog), Five Young Detectives and a Faithful Dog (or Five Finders and a Dog, according to other translations ; consists of 15 novels, 1943-1961, in which five children certainly bypass the local police in investigating complicated incidents), as well as The Secret Seven (15 novels, 1949-1963, seven children solve various mysteries).
Enid Blyton's books contain children's adventure stories as well as fantasy elements, sometimes with magic involved. Her books were and still are extremely popular in Great Britain and in many other countries of the world, including Russia. Her work has been translated into over 90 languages, including Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Malay, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Spanish and Turkish.
Pamela Travers (1899-1996).
Travers Pamela Liliana - famous English writer, poetess and publicist, author of a series of children's books about Mary Poppins; Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
She was born on August 9, 1899 in Maryborough, Australia, Queensland. Parents were Travers bank manager Robert Goff and Margaret Agnes, before marriage - Morehead. Her father died when she was seven years old.
She began writing from childhood - she wrote stories and plays for school plays, and entertained her brothers and sisters with magical stories. Her poems were published when she was not even twenty years old - she wrote for the Australian magazine The Bulletin.
As a young woman, she traveled to Australia and New Zealand, then went to England in 1923. At first she tried herself on the stage (Pamela is a stage name), playing exclusively in Shakespeare's plays, but then her passion for literature won, and she devoted herself completely to literature, publishing her works under the pseudonym “P. L. Travers" (the first two initials were used to hide a woman's name - a common practice for English-speaking writers).
In 1925, in Ireland, Travers met the mystic poet George William Russell, who had a great influence on her both as a person and as a writer. He was then editor of the magazine and accepted several of her poems for publication. Through Russell, Travers met William Butler Yeats and other Irish poets, who instilled in her an interest in and knowledge of world mythology. Yeats was not only an outstanding poet, but also a noble occultist. This direction becomes decisive for Pamela Travers until the last days of her life.
In 1934, the publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success. The writer admitted that she did not remember how the idea of this fairy tale arose. In response to persistent questions from journalists, she usually cited the words of Clive Lewis, who believed that there is “only one Creator” in the world, and the writer’s task is only to “collect already existing elements into a single whole”, and by remaking reality, they change themselves.
The Disney film Mary Poppins was released in 1964 (starring Mary Poppins was played by actress Julie Andrews). The film was nominated for an Oscar in 13 categories and won five awards. In the Soviet Union in 1983, the film "Mary Poppins, goodbye!" Was released.
In her life, the writer was distinguished by the fact that she tried not to advertise the facts of her personal life, including her Australian origin. “If you are interested in the facts of my biography,” Travers once said, “the story of my life is contained in Mary Poppins and my other books.”
Although she has never been married, shortly before her 40th birthday, Travers adopted an Irish boy named Camillus, while separating him from his twin brother, since she refused to take two children (the boys were not reunited until a few years later).
In 1977, Travers was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Her talent as a writer was recognized everywhere, and as another confirmation - a simple fact: in 1965-71 she lectured on writing in colleges in the UK and the USA. Her house was filled with books, books were everywhere, on countless shelves along the walls, on tables, on the floor. The author once joked: “If I were left without a roof over my head, I could build a house out of books.” In general, she was an active and active woman, traveled a lot, and even in extreme old age, from 1976 until her death in 1996, she worked as an editor of the mythological magazine Parabola. Her later writings include the travel essays and essay collections What the Bee Knows: Reflections on Myth, Symbol, and Plot.
Pamela Travers died in 1996, but the writer believed in the infinity of life: "Where the core is strong, there is neither beginning nor end, there is no word goodbye ...". It's probably right: storytellers don't die...
Mary Norton (1903-1992).
Mary Pearson was born on December 10 in London, and was the only girl among five children. Soon the family moved to Bedfordshire, to the same house that was described in The Getters. After graduating from high school and briefly working as a secretary, she became an actress.
After two years of theater life in 1927, Mary Pearson married Edward Norton and left with her husband for Portugal. She had two sons and two daughters there, and it was there that she began to write.
After the outbreak of war, Mary's husband entered the service in the Navy, and in 1943 she herself returned with her children to England. In 1943, her first children's book, The Magic Knob, or How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons, was published, followed by The Fire and the Broom. A few years later, both tales were reworked and combined into one, "The Head and the Broom", the film rights to which were sold to Disney Studios for a very small amount.
Norton's most famous fairy tale, The Getters, was published in 1952 and won the Carnegie Medal, the premier award for English children's writers. "Getters" were filmed many times.
Movies and TV shows based on Mary Norton's books are drawing new generations of readers to them.
Mary Norton died in Devon, England in 1992.
Donald Bisset (1910-1995)
Donald Bisset is an English children's writer, artist, film actor and theater director. Born August 30, 1910 in Brentford, Middlesex, England.
He studied at the school of clerks. During World War II he served as an artillery lieutenant.
Bisset began writing fairy tales for London television. Soon he began to read them in children's programs. And since he was a professional actor, he read his fairy tales just fine. He accompanied his reading with a display of amusing and expressive drawings. The broadcast lasted about eight minutes, and, accordingly, the volume of the tale did not exceed two or three pages.
In 1954, he published the first book of his short stories, published in the Read It Yourself series. The book was called "I'll Tell You When You Want". It was followed by "I'll tell you another time", "I'll tell you someday." This series was followed by collections united by the same heroes - "Yak", "Conversations with a Tiger", "The Adventures of Miranda the Duck", "Horse Named Smoky", "Uncle Tick-Tock's Journey", "Trip to the Jungle" . All books were illustrated with drawings by Bisset himself.
As an actor, Bisset played roles in 57 films and television series, which, unfortunately, remained unknown outside of England. Bisset played his first role in the film Carousel in 1949. He also distinguished himself as an inventive theater director. He himself staged his tales at the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon and even played a dozen small roles in them. The last time in the movie he played in 1991 in the English television series "Bill" the role of Mr. Grimm. On television, he staged and hosted the program for children "The Adventures of Yak" (1971-1975).
Bisset wrote about himself like this : “... Scot. I live in London… Gray hair, blue eyes, 5.9 feet tall. I have been working in the theater since 1933. He began telling fairy tales for children in 1953 on television. ... In philosophy, I am a materialist. By temperament, he is an optimist. My greatest desire is to publish one of my children's books with my own color illustrations... My favorite children's books are The Wind in the Willows, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland. As well as folk tales about giants and witches. I don't really like the fairy tales of Hans Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.
When Donald Bisset was asked why he became a writer, he replied: “Because the grass is green and the trees are growing. Because I can hear the thunder and the rain. Because I love children and animals. I take my hat off to the ladybug. I love stroking cats and riding horses... And also writing fairy tales, playing in the theater, drawing... When you love both, then you are rich. Whoever loves nothing cannot be happy.”
He invented and settled in Africa a beast that is never bored: one half of it consists of the Charming Cat, and the other of the Resourceful Crocodile. The animal's name is Crococat. Donald Bisset's favorite friend is the tiger cub Rrrr, with whom Donald Bisset loves to travel along the river of time until the end of the Rainbow, and he knows how to move his brains so much that his thoughts rustle. The main enemies of Donald Bisset and Rrrr Tiger Cub are Vrednyugs with the names Don't, Nesmey and Be ashamed.
Bisset visited Moscow twice, spoke on television, and visited a kindergarten, where he even composed a fairy tale “I do what I want” with the children.
Despite the fact that Bisset has more than one and a half hundred fairy tales, in the English-speaking world he is practically forgotten. Bisset is still reprinted in Russia, and his fairy tales are widely known. In the eighties, a cycle of seven cartoons was filmed in the USSR under the general name "Tales of Donald Bisset" - "The Girl and the Dragon", "Forgotten Birthday", "Crococcote", "Raspberry Jam", "Snowfall from the Refrigerator", "Music Lesson "," Vrednyuga.
Gerald Durrell (1925-1995) - English naturalist, writer, founder of the Jersey Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Trust, which now bear his name.
He was the fourth and youngest child of British civil engineer Lawrence Samuel Durrell and his wife Louise Florence Darrell (née Dixie). According to relatives, already at the age of two, Gerald fell ill with "zoomania", and his mother recalled that one of his first words was "zoo" (zoo).
In 1928, after the death of their father, the family moved to England, and seven years later, on the advice of Gerald's older brother Lawrence, to the Greek island of Corfu.
Gerald Durrell's early home teachers had few real educators. The only exception was the naturalist Theodore Stephanides (1896-1983). It was from him that Gerald received the first systematic knowledge of zoology. Stephanides appears on the pages of Gerald Durrell's most famous book, My Family and Other Beasts. The books "Birds, Beasts and Relatives" (1969) and "Amateur Naturalist" (1982) are dedicated to him.
In 1939 (after the outbreak of World War II), Gerald and his family returned to England and got a job in the London Aquarium store.
But the real start to Darrell's career as an explorer was at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire. Here Gerald got a job immediately after the war as a "student-caretaker", or "boy on pets", as he called himself. It was here that he received his first professional training and began to collect a "dossier" containing information about rare and endangered species of animals (and this was 20 years before the appearance of the International Red Book).
After the end of the war, 20-year-old Darrell decides to return to his historical homeland - to Jamshedpur.
In 1947, Gerald Durrell, having reached the age of majority (21 years old), received part of his father's inheritance. With this money, he organized three expeditions - two to British Cameroon (1947-1949) and one to British Guiana (1950). These expeditions do not bring profit, and in the early 50s, Gerald finds himself without a livelihood and work.
Not a single zoo in Australia, the United States and Canada was able to offer him a position. At this time, Lawrence Durrell, Gerald's older brother, advises him to take up a pen, especially since "English people love books about animals."
Gerald's first story, "The Hunt for the Hairy Frog," was an unexpected success, and the author was even invited to personally read this work on the radio. His first book, The Overloaded Ark (1953), was about a trip to Cameroon and received rave reviews from readers and critics alike.
The author was noticed by major publishers, and the fee for The Overloaded Ark and the second book by Gerald Durrell - Three Tickets to Adventure (1954) - allowed him to organize an expedition to South America in 1954. However, a military coup took place in Paraguay at that time, and almost the entire collection of animals had to be left there. Durrell described his impressions of this trip in his next book, Under the Canopy of the Drunken Forest (1955). At the same time, at the invitation of his brother - Lawrence - Gerald was resting in Corfu.
Familiar places evoked a lot of childhood memories - this is how the famous "Greek" trilogy appeared: "My Family and Other Beasts" (1956), "Birds, Beasts and Relatives" (1969) and "Garden of the Gods" (1978). The first book in the trilogy was a wild success. Only in the UK, "My Family and Other Animals" was reprinted 30 times, in the US - 20 times.
In total, Gerald Durrell wrote about 40 books (almost all of them were translated into dozens of languages) and made 35 films. The debut four-episode television film "In Bafut with the Hounds", released in 1958, was very popular in England.
Thirty years later, Darrell managed to shoot in the Soviet Union, with active participation and assistance from the Soviet side. The result was the thirteen-episode film "Darrell in Russia" (also shown on the first channel of the USSR television in 1986-1988) and the book "Darrell in Russia" (not officially translated into Russian).
In the USSR, Darrell's books were printed repeatedly and in large print runs. These books are still being reprinted.
In 1959, Durrell created a zoo on the island of Jersey, and in 1963, the Jersey Wildlife Conservation Fund was organized on the basis of the zoo.
Darrell's main idea was to breed rare and endangered species of animals in a zoo in order to further resettle them in their natural habitats. This idea has now become an accepted scientific concept. If not for the Jersey Foundation, many species of animals would be preserved only as stuffed animals in museums. Thanks to the Foundation, the pink dove, Mauritius kestrel, monkeys: golden lion marmoset and marmoset, Australian corroboree frog, Madagascar radiant tortoise and many other species have been saved from extinction.
Alan Garner (born 1934) is a British fantasy writer whose work is based on Old English legends. Writers was born on October 17, 1934.
Alan Garner spent his early childhood in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, England. His ancestors lived there for over three hundred years. This influenced his work. Most of the works, including The Magic Stone of Breezingamen, are written based on the legends of those places.
The writer's childhood fell on the Second World War, during which the boy suffered three serious illnesses (diphtheria, meningitis, pneumonia), lying almost motionless on the bed and allowing his imagination to travel beyond the white ceiling and the window sealed in case of bombing. Alan was an only child, and although his whole family survived the war, the forced years of loneliness did not pass without a trace for the formation of the personality and worldview of the writer.
At the insistence of a village teacher, Garner was sent to the Manchester Grammar School, later, the library at this school was named after him. After graduating from college, Garner entered the University of Oxford, in the department of Celtic mythology. Without completing his studies, he joined the Royal Artillery, where he served for two years.
The most famous are his books The Magic Stone of Breezingamen (1960), as well as the sequel - The Moon on the Eve of Gomrat (1963), and the story Elidor (1965). After their publication, Garner was talked about as a "very special" children's writer in England. However, the definition of "children's" is not entirely correct. Garner himself claims that he does not write specifically for children; although the characters in his books are always children, he appeals to readers of all ages.
Now the writer lives in his native Alderley Edge in eastern Cheshire in an old house that has stood there since the 16th century. The almost realistic "Stone Book" (1976-1978), composed of "four short stories, four prose poems" about the generations of the Garner family, is devoted to the history of this region.
Jacqueline Wilson (born 1945).
Jacqueline Atkin was born on December 17, 1945, in the center of Somerset, the city of Bath. Her father was a civil servant and her mother an antique dealer. Much of Wilson's childhood was spent in the town of Kingston upon Thames, where she attended Lachmere Primary School. At the age of nine, the girl wrote her first story, 22 pages long. At school, she was remembered as a dreamy child who was at odds with the exact sciences, and was even given the nickname "Jackie Dream", which Jacqueline later used in her autobiography.
After leaving school at the age of 16, Wilson went to secretarial courses, but soon changed jobs, getting a job in the girls' magazine Jackie (Jackie). Because of this, she had to move to Scotland, but it was there that she met and fell in love with her future husband, William Millar Wilson. In 1965 they got married, and two years later they had a daughter, Emma, who later also became a writer.
In 1991, a book was published that brought her fame - "Tracey Beaker's Diary", although since the 60s, Jacqueline has written about 40 books for children. The diary formed the basis of the popular British television series of the BBC channel - "The Tracey Beaker Story", which ran successfully from 2002 to 2006.
In 2011, the National Center for Children's Books "Seven Stories" ("Seven stories") in Newcastle opened an exhibition dedicated to the life and career of the English writer.
JK Rowling (b. 1965).
Joan Kathleen Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in the English city of Bristol. A few years later, the family moved to Winterburn, where the Potters lived next to the Rowlings, with whose children Joan played in the yard.
When Rowling was 9 years old, the family moved to the small town of Tutshill near a large forest. Rowling's parents were Londoners and always dreamed of living in nature.
After a school where Joan's favorite subject was English and her least favorite was physical education, Rowling entered the University of Exeter and earned a degree in French.
After university, Rowling worked in the London office of Amnesty International as a secretary. She says the best thing about this job was that you could use your office computer to type in your stories when no one was watching. It was while working for Amnesty International, while traveling by train from Manchester to London in the summer of 1990, that Rowling came up with the idea for a book about a boy who is a wizard but doesn't know it. By the time the train arrived at Charing Cross Station in London, many chapters of the first book had already been written.
In 1992, Rowling went to Portugal to work as an English teacher. She returned back with her little daughter and a suitcase full of notes about Harry Potter. Rowling settled in Edinburgh and devoted herself entirely to writing the book. When the book was finished, Rowling, after several unsuccessful attempts to get publishers interested, assigned the task of selling the book to literary agent Christopher Little. She got a job teaching French.
In 1997, an agent told her that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone had been published by Bloomsbury. The book was a success almost immediately. It sold superbly and won several literary prizes. The rights to publish it in America were already bought for $105,000, $101,000 more than the English ones.
It is from this moment that the rapid ascent of JK Rowling on the ladder of fame begins. Books and films about Harry Potter brought Joan a huge fortune, today it is estimated at one billion one hundred million dollars. The writer herself is a Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor, as well as the owner of the Hugo Award and many other no less significant awards.
Now Rowling is actively involved in charitable work, supporting the Single Parents Foundation and the Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, from which her mother died.
