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Brian Moore (novelist)

Novelist and screenwriter from Northern Ireland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brian Moore (novelist)

Brian Moore (/briˈæn/ bree-AN;[2] 25 August 1921 – 11 January 1999), was a novelist and screenwriter from Northern Ireland[3][4][5] who emigrated to Canada and later lived in the United States. He was acclaimed for the descriptions in his novels of life in Northern Ireland during and after the Second World War, in particular his explorations of the inter-communal divisions of The Troubles, and has been described as "one of the few genuine masters of the contemporary novel".[6] He was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1975 and the inaugural Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1987, and he was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times (in 1976, 1987 and 1990). Moore also wrote screenplays and several of his books were made into films.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Brian Moore
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Born(1921-08-25)25 August 1921
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died11 January 1999(1999-01-11) (aged 77)
Malibu, California, United States
OccupationNovelist, screenwriter, journalist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian (from 1948)[1]
GenreRealism, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction
Notable awardsAuthors' Club First Novel Award (1955)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1975)
Governor General's Award for English-language fiction (1960 and 1975)
The Sunday Express Book of the Year (1987)
Los Angeles Times' Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement (1994)
Spouse
Jacqueline ("Jackie") Sirois (née Scully)
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(m. 1952⁠–⁠1967)​
Jean Russell (née Denney)
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(m. 1967⁠–⁠1999)​
Children
  • Michael Moore
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Early life and education

Moore was born and grew up in Belfast with eight siblings[2] in a large Roman Catholic family. His grandfather, a severe, authoritarian solicitor, had been a Catholic convert.[2] His father, James Bernard Moore, was a prominent surgeon and an observant Catholic[7] and his mother, Eileen McFadden Moore, a farmer's daughter from County Donegal,[2] was a nurse.[8][9] His uncle was the prominent Irish nationalist Eoin MacNeill, founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (the Gaelic League) and Professor of Irish at University College Dublin.[10]

Moore was educated at Newington Elementary School[11] and St Malachy's College, Belfast.[2][12] He left the college in 1939, having failed his senior exams.[7] The physical description of the school at the heart of The Feast of Lupercal matches closely that of Moore's alma mater and is widely held to be a lightly fictionalised setting of the college as he unfondly remembered it.

Wartime service and move to North America

Moore was a volunteer air raid warden during the Second World War and served during the Belfast Blitz in April and May 1941. He went on to serve as a civilian with the British Army in North Africa, Italy and France. After the war ended he worked in Eastern Europe for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

in 1948 he emigrated to Canada to work as a reporter for the Montreal Gazette, and became a Canadian citizen. Moore lived in Canada from 1948 to 1958,[13] moving to New York in 1959 to take up a Guggenheim Fellowship[2] and remaining there until his divorce in 1967.[2] He then moved to the west coast of the United States, settling in Malibu, California, with his new wife Jean.[2] He taught creative writing at UCLA.[14] While eventually making his primary residence in California, Moore continued to live part of each year in Canada up to his death.[9]

Novels and themes

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Moore wrote his first novels in Canada.[13] His earliest books were thrillers, published under his own name or using the pseudonyms Bernard Mara or Michael Bryan.[15] The first two of these pieces of pulp fiction, all of which he later disowned,[16] were published in Canada by Harlequin – Wreath for a Redhead in March 1951 and The Executioners in July 1951.

Judith Hearne, which Moore regarded as his first novel and was the first he produced outside the thriller genre, remains among his most highly regarded. The book was rejected by ten American publishers before being accepted by a British publisher.[9] It was made into a film, with British actress Maggie Smith playing the lonely spinster who is the book/film's title character.[9]

Other novels by Moore were adapted for the screen, including Intent to Kill, The Luck of Ginger Coffey, Catholics, Black Robe, Cold Heaven, and The Statement. He co-wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain, and wrote the screenplay for The Blood of Others, based on the novel Le Sang des autres by Simone de Beauvoir.

Moore criticised his Belfast schooling through his novels The Feast of Lupercal and The Emperor of Ice-Cream.[7]

Some of his novels feature staunchly anti-doctrinaire and anti-clerical themes, and in particular, he spoke strongly about the effect of the Church on life in Ireland. A recurring theme in his novels is the concept of the Catholic priesthood. On several occasions, he explores the idea of a priest losing his faith. At the same time, several of his novels are deeply sympathetic and affirming portrayals of the struggles of faith and religious commitment, Black Robe most prominently.

Acclaim

Graham Greene said that Moore was his favourite living novelist,[17] though Moore began to regard the label as "a bit of an albatross".[18]

Personal life

Moore was married twice. His first marriage, in 1952, was to Jacqueline ("Jackie") Sirois (née Scully), a French Canadian[5] and fellow journalist with whom he had a son, Michael (who became a professional photographer),[19] in 1953.[20] They divorced in October 1967 and Jackie died in January 1976.[21] Moore married his second wife, Jean Russell (née Denney), a former commentator on Canadian TV,[22] in October 1967.[21]

Moore's beachside house in Malibu, California was celebrated in Seamus Heaney's poem Remembering Malibu.[2] Moore's widow, Jean, lived in the house until it was destroyed in 2018 in the Woolsey Fire.[19]

Death

Brian Moore died at his Malibu home on 11 January 1999, aged 77, from pulmonary fibrosis.[9] He had been working on a novel about the 19th-century French symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud.[23] His last published work, written just before his death, was an essay entitled "Going Home".[10] It was a reflection inspired by a visit he made to the grave in Connemara of his family friend, the Irish nationalist Bulmer Hobson. The essay was commissioned by Granta and published in The New York Times on 7 February 1999.[10] Despite Moore's often conflicted attitude to Ireland and his Irishness, his concluding reflection in the piece was "The past is buried until, in Connemara, the sight of Bulmer Hobson's grave brings back those faces, those scenes, those sounds and smells which now live only in my memory. And in that moment I know that when I die I would like to come home at last to be buried here in this quiet place among the grazing cows."[10]

Legacy

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In 1996, the Creative Writers Network in Northern Ireland launched the Brian Moore Short Story Awards.[24] The awards scheme continued until 2008 and is now defunct.[25]

Moore has been the subject of two biographies: Brian Moore: The Chameleon Novelist (1998) by Denis Sampson and Brian Moore: A Biography (2002) by Patricia Craig.[26] Brian Moore and the Meaning of the Past (2007) by Patrick Hicks provides a critical retrospective of Moore's works. Information about the publishing of Moore's novel Judith Hearne, and the break-up of his marriage can be found in Diana Athill's memoir Stet (2000).[27]

In 1975, Moore arranged for his literary materials, letters and documents to be deposited in the Special Collections Division of the University of Calgary Library, an inventory of which was published by the University of Calgary Press in 1987.[28] Moore's archives, which include unfilmed screenplays, drafts of various novels, working notes, a 42-volume journal (1957–1998), and his correspondence, are now at The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, at the University of Texas at Austin.[29]

To mark the centenary in 2021 of Moore's birth, a project − Brian Moore at 100 − funded by a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant, sought to re-appraise his work, and revive scholarly and public interest in it. The project included a programme of research, public-facing events and an international academic conference.[30]

In 2023 an Ulster History Circle blue plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, close to where Moore was born.[31]

Prizes and honours

Bibliography

Non-fiction and essays

Novels

Short story collections

  • Two Stories (1978), Northridge, California: Santa Susana Press. Contains "Uncle T" and "Preliminary Pages for a Work of Revenge" ISBN 978-0937048221
  • The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020), London: Turnpike Books ISBN 9781916254701[38]

Short stories

  • "Sassenach", Northern Review 5 (October–November 1951)
  • "Fly Away Finger, Fly Away Thumb", London Mystery Magazine, 17, September 1953 : reprinted in Haining, Peter (ed.) Great Irish Tales of Horror, Souvenir Press 1995; and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books.
  • "The Specialist", Bluebook, March 1953[39]
  • "Enemies of the People", Bluebook, May 1953[39]
  • "The Ridiculous Proposal", Bluebook, January 1954[39]
  • "A Vocation", Tamarack Review 1 (Autumn 1956): 18–22; reprinted in Threshold 2 (Summer 1958): 21–25; reprinted in Garrity, Devin A (ed.) The Irish Genius, (1960). New York: New American Library, pp. 125–128; reprinted for the Verbal Arts Centre project, 1998; and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books.
  • "Lion of the Afternoon", The Atlantic, November 1957; reprinted in Pacey, Desmond (ed.) A Book of Canadian Stories (1962). Toronto: Ryerson Press, pp. 283–293 and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books
  • "Next Thing was Kansas City", The Atlantic, February 1959
  • "Grieve for the Dear Departed", The Atlantic, August 1959; reprinted in Pudney, John (ed.) Pick of Today's Short Stories, no. 12, (1960). London: Putnam, pp. 179–188 and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books
  • "Uncle T", Gentleman's Quarterly, November 1960; reprinted in Two Stories, see above and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). Turnpike Books
  • "Preliminary Pages for a Work of Revenge", Midstream 7 (Winter 1961); reprinted in Montague, John and Kinsella, Thomas (eds.) The Dolmen: Miscellany of Irish Writing (1962), Dublin: Dolman, pp. 1–7; reprinted in Richler, Mordecai (ed.), Canadian Writings Today, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, pp. 135–145; reprinted in Two Stories, see above and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books
  • "Hearts and Flowers", The Spectator, 24 November 1961; reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books
  • "Off the Track", Weaver, Robert (ed.) Ten for Wednesday Night, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1961, pp. 159–167; reprinted in Giose Rimanelli, Giose; Ruberto, Robert (eds.) (1966), Modern Canadian Stories, Toronto: Ryerson Press, pp. 239–246 and reprinted in Moore, Brian. The Dear Departed: Selected Short Stories (2020). London: Turnpike Books
  • "The Sight", Hone, Joseph (ed.) Irish Ghost Stories, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1977, pp. 100–119; reprinted in Manguel, Alberto (ed.) Black Water, Picador 1983; reprinted in Manguel, Alberto (ed.) The Oxford Book of Canadian Ghost Stories. Toronto: Oxford University Press 1990
  • "A Bed in America" (unpublished; later used in Hitchcock film Torn Curtain)
  • "A Matter of Faith" (unpublished)

Playscripts

  • The Closing Ritual (1979), unperformed[15][29]
  • Catholics (1980), based on his own novel – ACT Theatre, world premiere: Seattle, May 1980
  • The Game (undated), unperformed[40]

Screenplays

Other films based on Brian Moore's work

Films about Brian Moore

  • The Lonely Passion of Brian Moore (1986),[45] a documentary featuring Moore and looking at what inspired his work
  • The Man From God Knows Where (1993), BBC Bookmark profile

Interviews

Books and articles about Brian Moore and his work

  • Athill, Diana. Stet: a memoir, London: Granta, ISBN 1-86207-388-0, 2000
  • Craig, Patricia. Brian Moore: A Biography, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-0747560043, 2002
  • Craig, Patricia. "Brian Moore: a writer who readily accepted the price of his refusal to be typecast", The Irish Times, 16 January 1999.
  • Cronin, John. "Ulster's Alarming Novels", Eire-Ireland IV (Winter 1969), p. 27–34
  • Cronin, John. "The Reslient Realism of Brian Moore". The Irish University Review. 18: 24–36., 1988
  • Dahlie, Hallvard. Brian Moore, Toronto: The Copp Clark Publishing Co., 1969
  • Dahlie, Hallvard. Brian Moore, Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1981
  • Flood, Jeanne. Brian Moore, Lewisburg, Penn.: Bucknell University Press; London: Associated University Presses, 1974
  • Foster, John Wilson. "Passage Through Limbo: Brian Moore's North American Novels", Critique XIII (Winter 1971), pp. 5–18
  • Foster, John Wilson. Forces and Themes in Ulster Fiction, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1974, pp. 122–130; 151–185
  • Hicks, Patrick. "History and Masculinity in Brian Moore's "The Emperor of Ice-Cream", The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1/2 (Jul–Dec 1999), pp. 400–413
  • Gearon, Liam. "No other life: Death and Catholicism in the works of Brian Moore", Journal of Beliefs and Values, Vol 19, No 1, pp. 33–46, 1998
  • Gearon, Liam. Landscapes of Encounter: The Portrayal of Catholicism in the Novels of Brian Moore, University of Calgary Press, 2002. ISBN 1 55238 048 3
  • Hicks, Patrick. "Brian Moore's The Feast of Lupercal and the Constriction of Masculinity", New Hibernia Review, Vol 5, No 3, pp. 101–113, Fómhar/Autumn 2001
  • Hicks, Patrick. "The Fourth Master: Reading Brian Moore Reading James Joyce". Ariel. 38: 2–3., Apr–Jul 2007
  • Hicks, Patrick. "Sleight-of-Hand: Writing, History and Magic in Brian Moore's The Magician's Wife", Commonwealth Essays and Studies ["Postcolonial Narratives" Issue] 27, 2 (Spring 2005), pp. 87–95.
  • Hicks, Patrick. Brian Moore and the Meaning of the Past, Edwin Mellen Press Ltd., ISBN 0773454039, ISBN 978-0773454033, 2007
  • Koy, Christopher. "Representations of the Quebecois in Brian Moore's Novels", Considering Identity: Views on Canadian Literature and History Olomouc: Palacký University Press, 2015, pp. 141–156.[47]
  • McSweeney, Kerry. Four Contemporary Novelists. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, ISBN 9780773503991, 1983, pp. 55–99
  • O'Donoghue, Jo. Brian Moore: A Critical Study, Montreal and Kingston: McGill University Press, 1991
  • Prosky, Murray. "The Crisis of Identity in the Novels of Brian Moore", Eire-Ireland VI (Fall 1971), pp. 106–118
  • Ricks, C. "The Simple Excellence of Brian Moore". New Statesman, 71: pp. 227–228, 1966
  • Sampson, Denis. "'Home: A Moscow of the Mind': Notes on Brian Moore's Transition to North America" in Colby Quarterly, vol. 31, issue 1 (March 1995). pp. 46–54[48]
  • Sampson, Denis. Brian Moore: The Chameleon Novelist, Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1998
  • Schumacher, Antje. Brian Moore's Black Robe: Novel, Screenplay(s) and Film (European University Studies. Series 14: Anglo-Saxon Language and Literature. Vol. 494), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Language: English ISBN 3631603215 ISBN 978-3-631-60321-5, 2010
  • Spear, Hilda D., "Two Belfast Novels: An Introduction to the Work of Brian Moore", in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment 31, August 1983, pp. 33 – 37, ISSN 0140-0894
  • Sullivan, Robert. A Matter of Faith: The Fiction of Brian Moore, London and Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, ISBN 978-0313298714, 1996
  • Whitehouse, J. C. "Grammars of Assent and Dissent in Graham Greene and Brian Moore" in Whitehouse, J. C. (ed.) Catholics on Literature, Four Courts Press, ISBN 978-1851822768, 1996, pp. 99–107

See also

Notes and references

Sources

External links

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