VS Pritchett

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett CH CBE (born December 16, 1900 in Ipswich , Suffolk , England , † March 20, 1997 in London ) was a British literary critic and writer who was best known for his 1971 memoir Midnight Oil .

Life

Professional career

Pritchett, son of a businessman , attended St. John's School, Alleyn's School and Dulwich College and then worked in the leather trade before working as a correspondent in France , Morocco and Spain . He later worked from 1926 to 1965 as a literary editor for the political weekly newspaper The New Statesman .

During the Second World War he was also an employee of the Ministry of Information. In 1953 he accepted a professorship at Princeton University and in 1962 at the University of California . He was also a professor at Columbia University and Smith College .

Pritchett, who also for the daily newspaper The Christian Science Monitor worked, became the Commander of the 1968 Order of the British Empire appointed. In 1971 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Letters . In 1975 he was raised as a Knight Bachelor to the personal nobility and from then on carried the title "Sir". Most recently, he became a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor in 1993 .

Literary career

At the end of the 1920s he began his literary career and initially wrote travel reports such as Marching Spain (1928) and Clare Drummer (1929).

In addition to a number of short stories such as The Spanish Virgin and Other Stories (1932), You Make Your Own Life (1938), Collected Stories (1956), Blind Love and Other Stories (1969), More Collected Stories (1983) and A Careless Widow and Other Stories (1989) he also wrote the novels Nothing Like Leather (1935), Dead Man Leading (1937) and Mr. Beluncle (1951).

He also wrote his memoirs under the titles A Cab at the Door (1968) and Midnight Oil (1971), but also a number of biographies on George Meredith ( George Meredith and English Comedy , 1970), Honoré de Balzac ( Balzac , 1973) ), Iwan Sergejewitsch Turgenew ( The Gentle Barbarian: the Life and Work of Turgenev , 1977) and by Anton Pawlowitsch Chekhov ( Chekhov , 1988).

Finally, he also published three volumes of essays , titled The Myth Makers (1979), A Man of Letters (1985), and The Complete Collected Essays of VS Pritchett (1991).

Pritchett's style was funny and idiosyncratic, his subjects satirical. He was particularly interested in the fanaticism and guilt of the "Puritans" and portrayed them with growing humor in his novels. He was highly regarded as a widely traveled literary critic, especially in the USA.

Works (selection)

Autobiography
  • A cab at the door . 1968.
  • Midnight Oil . 1971.
Biographies
  • George Meredith. and English Comedy . 1970.
  • Honoré de Balzac . 1973.
  • The gentle barbarian. The life and work of Turgenev . 1977.
  • Chekhov . 1988.
prose
  • Come what may. Short stories (“It may never happen”). Dorn, Bremen 1947.
  • The red motorcycle. Eight stories (“Sense of humor”). Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1959.
  • When my girl comes home ... Nine stories ("When my girl comes home ..."). Diogenes Verlag, Zurich 1965.
  • The double bed. Stories (“Double divan”). Reclam, Leipzig 1975.
  • Tea at Mrs. Bittell's . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1982.
  • The whims of nature. Narrative ("On the edge of the cliff and other stories"). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1987.
  • The homecoming of the prodigal daughter. Narration . Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1992, ISBN 3-596-11265-6 .
  • Mr. Beluncle. A novel . Modern Library, New York 2005, ISBN 0-8129-7379-8 (reprinted from London 1951 edition).
Non-fiction
  • The living novel. 32 essays ("The living novel"). Transmare Verlag, Berlin 1947.
  • London. Heart and face of a city ("London proclaimed"). Droemer / Knaur, Munich 1964.
  • New York. Heart and face of a city ("New York proclaimed"). Droemer / Knaur, Munich 1966.
Work edition
  • The Pritchett Century. The selected writings . Chatto & Windus. London 1998, ISBN 0-7011-6636-3 .

literature

  • Dean R. Baldwin: VS Pritchett (Twayne's English Author Series; 445). Twayne, Boston, Mass. 1987, ISBN 0-8057-6942-0 .
  • Jonathan Bloom: The art of revision in the short stories of VS Pritchett and William Trevor . Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-403-97325-2 .
  • Elizabeth Bowen : "Why do I write?" An exchange of views between Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene and VS Pritchett . Marshall Books, London 1948.
  • John J. Stinson: VS Pritchett. A Study of the Short Fiction (Twayne's Studies in Short Fiction; 37). Twayne, New York 1992, ISBN 0-8057-8341-5 .
  • Jeremy Treglown: VS Pritchett. A working life . Chatto & Windus, London 2004, ISBN 0-7011-7322-X .

Web links and sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter P. (PDF; 649 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved March 19, 2019 .
  2. ^ Honorary Members: Victor Pritchett. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 19, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Pritchett, VS
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pritchett, Victor Sawdon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Ipswich , Suffolk , England
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1997
Place of death London