Non-Fiction Books
In this engrossing biography, acclaimed novelist Muriel Spark recreates Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's turbulent life and career and persuasively defends the enigmatic writer's place among the giants of literary history.
Painting a portrait of a gothic icon, this biography recounts Mary Shelley’s dramatic life, from her youth and turbulent marriage to her career as writer and editor. At the age of 20, Mary Shelley secured her place in history by writing Frankenstein , now acknowledged as one of the great literary classics. The daughter of radical philosopher William Godwin and pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley led an unconventional life, which is depicted—with previously unpublished material—in this remarkable biography that was originally released in 1987 as a thorough revision of Muriel Spark's 1951 book Child of Light . Spark lends her own talents as an accomplished writer and her sharp intelligence to this fascinating examination of Mary Shelley's life and writings.
The author looks back on her childhood, experiences in wartime London, and beginnings as a writer
John Masefield (1878–1967) lived a life as varied as his work. At the age of fifteen he went to sea as an apprentice in a windjammer and made the voyage round Cape Horn. The next three years he spent in New York, in a bakery, a livery stable, a saloon and a carpet factory. Back in England, he wrote for the Guardian and in the First World War served with the Red Cross. Throughout these years he had been writing poetry, and when in 1923 his Collected Poems appeared they sold over 200,000 copies. In 1930 he succeeded Robert Bridges as Poet Laureate.
Muriel Spark always regarded the Brontés with a novelist's eye. As Boyd Tonkin argues in his lively introduction, written for this new edition, the Brontés inspired Spark at the very beginning of her own career, but not in a straightforward way. Through her critical and biographical work on the Brontés, Spark identified not only their achievements but also their flaws and failings, and thereby began to define, as Tonkin puts it, her own best route. As she herself said, in a piece recorded for the BBC at Emily Bronté's grave in 1961, 'I was fascinated by [Emily's]; creative mind because it's so entirely alien to my own'. This book, first published in 1993, collects Spark's essays on the Brontés, her selection of their letters and of Emily's poetry. Evident throughout are Spark's critical intelligence, dry wit, and refusal to sentimentalise – qualities that gave her own novels their particular appeal. At the same time, The Essence of the Brontés is Muriel Spark's tribute to the sisters whose talents placed them on a stage from where they could hypnotize their own generation and, even more, posterity.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Nine short pieces by Muriel Spark: notes and reflections, dreams, diary entries, stories, a translation, and even a photograph she took in 1988. Assembled by Dan Gunn and Penelope Jardine, this cahier is not only a timely reminder of Spark's broad range of interests, but also of her wit, humour and literary sensitivity.
The essays, reviews, memoirs, and other writings collected here for the first time conjure up one of the great critical imaginations of our time. The Golden Fleece , which takes its title from Spark’s first published essay, has four sections—Art & Poetry; Autobiography & Travel; Literature; and Religion, Politics & Philosophy—forming a kind of oblique autobiography, an evolving confession of a powerful individual faith in the human and what transcends it.
Together for the first time in one sparkling, delicious volume, here are the greatest essays of Muriel Spark A fantastic essayist, the inimitable Muriel Spark addresses here the writing life; love; cats; favorite writers (T. S. Eliot, Robert Burns, the Brontës, Mary Shelley); Piero della Francesca; life in wartime London and in glamorous “Hollywood-on-the-Tiber;” 1960s Rome; faith; and parties (on her first New Year’s Eve, as a baby sipping her mother’s sherry: “I always loved a party”). Spark’s scope is amazing, and her striking, glancing insights are precise and unforgettable. From the mysteries of Job’s sufferings, she glides to Dame Edith Sitwell’s cocktail advice about how to handle a nasty publisher, and on to the joys of success.
Celebrate the immortal Muriel Spark’s hundredth birthday by imbibing a delicious glass of her bubbly wit A Good Comb , a small gift edition of Muriel Spark’s brilliant asides, sayings, and aphorisms, is a book for sheer enjoyment. No writer offers such lively, pointed, puckish insights: "Neurotics are awfully quick to notice other people’s mentalities." "It is impossible to persuade a man who does not disagree, but smiles." "The sacrifice of pleasure is of course itself a pleasure." "It is impossible to repent of love. The sin of love does not exist." "She wasn’t a person to whom things happen." "You look for one thing and you find another." "It calms you down, a good comb." Her scope is great and her striking insights are precise and unforgettable. This book will entertain you? It will even help you live your life. Drink in the pleasures of this little volume along with the benefits of taking up such advice as "Never make excuses but if you must, never make more than one? It gives the appearance of insincerity." And "Beware of men bearing flowers."
The Observing Eye is a collection of Muriel Spark's brilliant asides, sayings, and aphorisms. No other writer can hold a candle to her wry, puckish observations: 'Neurotics are awfully quick to notice other people's mentalities.' 'It is impossible to persuade a man who does not disagree, but smiles.' 'The sacrifice of pleasure is of course itself a pleasure.' 'Be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time in your life it may occur.' 'Ridicule is the only honourable weapon we have left.' Spark's striking insights are precise and unforgettable - they will make you laugh and nod in agreement, with a wicked smile on your face. Her wise words never fail to hit exactly the right note.