Julien Gracq

Infobox Writer
name = Julien Gracq


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birthdate = birth date|1910|7|27
birthplace = Saint-Florent-le-Vieil in Maine-et-Loire, France
deathdate = death date and age|2007|12|22|1910|7|27
deathplace = Angers, France
occupation = Novelist, critic, playwright, poet
nationality = flagicon|France French
period = 1938 – 2002
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subject =
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debut_works = "Au château d’Argol"
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Julien Gracq (July 27, 1910 – December 22, 2007), born Louis Poirier in St.-Florent-le-Vieil, in the French "département" of Maine-et-Loire, was a French writer.cite news|title=Julien Gracq, 97, Iconoclastic French Surrealist Writer|publisher="The New York Times"|date=December 24, 2007|accessdate=2007-12-24 ] He wrote novels, critiques, a play, and poetry. His literary works were noted for their Surrealism.

Gracq first studied in Paris at the "Lycée Henri IV", where he earned his baccalauréat. He then entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1930, later studying at the "École libre des sciences politiques".

In 1932, he read André Breton's "Nadja", which deeply influenced him. His first novel, "The Castle of Argol" is dedicated to that surrealist writer, to whom he devoted a whole book in 1948.

During the Second World War, he was a prisoner of war in Silesia with other officers of the French Army. One of the friendships he formed there was with author and literary critic Armand Hoog.

In 1950, he published in the review "Empédocle" a fierce attack on contemporary literary culture and literary prizes (La Littérature à l'estomac). When he won the "Prix Goncourt" for "The Opposite Shore" ("Le Rivage des Syrtes") the following year, he remained consistent with his criticism and refused the prize.

In 1979, he wrote the foreword re-edition of the "Journal de l'analogiste" (1954) by Suzanne Lilar; he viewed that work as "Une initiation somptueuse à la poésie".

In 1989, Gracq's work was published by the "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade". He remained distant from major literary events and faithful to his first publisher, José Corti. Gracq taught history and geography in secondary school (high school) until he retired in 1970.

Gracq lived a quiet life in his native town of Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, on the banks of the Loire River. On December 22, 2007, a couple of days after suffering a dizzy spell, he died at the age of 97 in a hospital in Angers.

Works

*"Au château d’Argol", 1938 (novel) (English translation : "The Castle of Argol" or "château d'Argol")
*"Un beau ténébreux", 1945 (novel)
*"Liberté grande", 1947 (poetry)
*"Le Roi pêcheur", 1948 (play)
*"André Breton, quelques aspects de l’écrivain", 1948 (critique)
*"La Littérature à l'estomac", 1949
*"Le Rivage des Syrtes", 1951 (novel) (English translation : "the Opposite Shore")
*"Prose pour l’Etrangère", 1952
*"Penthésilée", 1954
*"Un balcon en forêt", 1958 (novel) (English translation : "A Balcony in the Forest")
*"Préférences", 1961
*"Lettrines", 1967
*"La Presqu’île", 1970
*"Le Roi Cophetua", 1970 (novel) (English Translation: "King Cophetua"); it inspired the film "Rendez-vous a Bray", directed by "André Delvaux"
*"Lettrines II", 1974
*"Les Eaux Etroites", 1976
*"En lisant en écrivant", 1980
*"La Forme d’une ville", 1985
*"Autour des sept collines", 1988
*"Carnets du grand chemin", 1992
*"Entretiens", 2002

References

External links

* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3110849.ece Obituary in "The Times", 31 December 2007]