Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux

Paul Edward Theroux [ θəˈruː ] (born April 10, 1941 in Medford , Massachusetts ) is an American writer .

Life

Paul Theroux is of French-Canadian-Italian descent. He studied at the University of Maine (1959-1960), at the University of Massachusetts ( Bachelor of Arts , 1963), and at Syracuse University (1963). He then lived in Italy as well as in Malawi and Uganda , where he worked as a teacher. In 1968 he took over a chair at the University of Singapore for three years. Theroux then lived in London for a long time and is now based on Hawaii and Cape Cod with his second wife .

He initially wrote short stories, newspaper articles and novels, but initially became known through his friendship - and later bitter hostility - with the travel writers Bruce Chatwin and VS Naipaul . Later he increasingly emancipated himself from them and found an unmistakably unique style as a travel writer. With more than forty books, he is one of the most famous English-language writers today. Especially his works about Argentina, China and the South Seas are full of provocation and unsurpassed in their sharpness and harshness. His preferred mode of transport for his travels was the train and a Klepper folding boat .

In addition, he writes semi-autobiographical works such as My Secret Life or Hotel Honolulu , with which he runs a “puzzle between fiction and reality” . His works are only partially translated into German.

In a review for the New York Times, Stephen King pointed out the startling parallels between the story of the narrator of the 2017 novel Motherland and the story of its author Paul Theroux. The novel was published in German in 2018. For Nils Minkmar , the book was "the wicked, but also very funny deconstruction of the myth of the good old days and the pious family."

Theroux has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1984 . In 2013 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . He has honorary doctorates from Trinity College in Washington, DC and Tufts University in his hometown of Medford , Massachusetts.

Paul Theroux's sons are TV presenter Louis Theroux and writer and documentary filmmaker Marcel Theroux . His brother is the writer Alexander Theroux and his nephew is the actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux .

Works (selection)

• Jungle lovers. 1971 ( Jungle Love ), an Africa novel.
• The Great Railway Bazaar. 1975 ( Adventure Railroad - Halfway Around the World on Rails ), about a journey from London via the Balkans, Middle East, Central, South and Southeast Asia to Japan and back through the Soviet Union.
  • Bazaar on rails: a journey around the world , translated from the American by Werner Peterich, Berlin: AB - The Other Library 2015 ISBN 978-3-8477-0365-5 .
• Saint Jack. 1977 ( Saint Jack ), novel about an American pimp in Singapore who comes into conflict with Chinese triads after opening a brothel.
• The Old Patagonian Express. 1979 ( The old Patagonia Express ), on a trip from the USA to Argentina.
• Picture palace. 1980 ( Orlando or The Love of Photography ), novel.
• The Mosquito Coast. 1981 ( Mosquito Coast ), novel.
• The Kingdom by the Sea. 1983, about a trip along the coast of Great Britain.
• Doctor Slaughter. 1984 ( Dr. Slaughter ), novella.
• O zone. 1986 ( O-Zone ), a science fiction.
• Riding the Iron Rooster. 1988 ( The Chinese Adventure ), about a journey by train through China.
• My Secret History in 1989 ( My Secret Life 1990), novel.
• Chicago Loop. 1990 ( Chicago Loop ), novel.
• The Happy Isles of Oceania. 1992 ( The happy islands of Oceania ), about a trip in a paddle boat through the South Seas - which for Theroux is the exact opposite of "happy islands".
• The Pillars of Hercules. 1995 ( On the shores of the Mediterranean ), on a journey through almost all Mediterranean countries, starting and ending on the Strait of Gibraltar, which is bordered by the " Pillars of Heracles " .
• My other life. 1996 ( My Other Life ), novel.
• Kowloon Tong. 1997, novel.
• Sir Vidia's Shadow. 1998, a report on Theroux's longstanding friendship and falling out with VS Naipaul .
• Hotel Honolulu. 2001, novel.
• Dark Star Safari. 2002, about a trip from Cairo to Cape Town.
• Mr Bones: 20 Stories. Hamish Hamilton, 2014.
• The stranger in the Palazzo d'Oro. Translated by Gregor Hens . Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-455-40523-1 .
• Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads. Hamish Hamilton, 2015.
  • Deep in the south. Travel through another America. Translated by Reiner Pfleiderer , Franka Reinhart and Birgit Schmid . Hoffmann and Campe , Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-455-50376-0 .
• The Tao of Travel . Hamish Hamilton.
  • The Tao of Travel. Translated by Heike Schlatterer . Atlantik Verlag , Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-455-70014-5 .
• The Last Train to Zona Verde .
  • One last time in Africa. Translated by Sigrid Schmid and Reiner Pfleiderer. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-455-40526-2 .
• Mother Land . Hamish Hamilton. 2017
  • Motherland . Translated by Theda Krohm-Linke. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-455-00290-4 .

Film adaptations

• 1979: Saint Jack - Director: Peter Bogdanovich
• 1986: Half Moon Street - Director: Bob Swaimnach, film adaptation of the novel Doctor Slaughter
• 1986: Mosquito Coast - Director: Peter Weir
• 1997: Chinese Box - Directed by Wayne Wang , based on the novel Kowloon Tong

literature

• Sascha Mamczak : O zone. In: The Science Fiction Year 1989. (Volume 4), edited by Wolfgang Jeschke , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-453-03139-3 , pp. 588-590.

swell

1. ^ Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography Supplement: Modern Writers, 1900-1998. Gale Research, 1998.
2. ^ Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 28. Gale Group, 1999.
3. ^ Literature Spiegel, April 2018, p. 1.
4. ↑ Academy Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 22, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter T. (PDF; 432 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved January 22, 2019 . 

Web links

• Literature by and about Paul Theroux in the catalog of the German National Library
• Paul Theroux in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• http://www.zeit.de/2000/44/200044_theroux.xml (ZEIT interview, accessed on September 21, 2010)