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David Storey

デイヴィッド・ストーリー

David Malcolm Storey

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1933-07-13 （Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England）
Died
2017-03-27 （London, England） age 83
Nationality
British
Languages
English

Career

Occupations
novelist, playwright, screenwriter, former rugby league player
Active Years
1955-2017
Nominations
Pasmore — Booker Prize shortlisted

Education

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield
Country: England
Slade School of Fine Art
Country: England
Supported himself by playing rugby league while studying

Awards

Booker Prize
1976
Work: Saville
Organization: Booker Prize Foundation
Result: winner
Macmillan Fiction Award
1960
Work: This Sporting Life
Organization: Macmillan
Result: winner
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
1961
Work: Flight into Camden
Organization: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize committee
Result: winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1963
Work: Flight into Camden
Organization: Somerset Maugham Award committee
Result: winner
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
1973
Work: Pasmore
Organization: Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

This Sporting Life

1960 novel (working-class realism)

A novel about the life and struggles of a professional rugby league player from the working class, focusing on personal conflicts and social conditions.

classmasculinitysportalienation
Adaptations
  • [film] This Sporting Life / Lindsay Anderson (1963)

Flight into Camden

1961 novel

A largely autobiographical novel about moving to the city and interpersonal relationships; it received critical acclaim on publication.

self-discoveryurban migrationclass

Pasmore

1972 novel

Through the figure of Pasmore, the novel explores the divide and changes between the individual and society. Winner of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

individual vs societyidentitychange

Saville

1976 novel

A major work depicting the coming-of-age and struggles of a young working-class man; awarded the Booker Prize in 1976.

coming of ageclass consciousnesseducation

In Celebration

1969 play

A play depicting family discord and past hurts set against a family celebration. It was adapted into film.

familypast conflictsclass
Adaptations
  • [film] In Celebration (1975)

Bibliography

  • This Sporting Life (1960)
  • Flight into Camden (1961)
  • Radcliffe (1963)
  • Pasmore (1972)
  • Saville (1976)
  • A Prodigal Child (1982)
  • A Serious Man (1998)
  • As It Happened (2002)

Adaptations

  • This Sporting Life (1963 film, dir. Lindsay Anderson)
  • In Celebration (1975 film, American Film Theatre)
  • Home (television film)
  • Early Days (television film)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
working-class realismrestrained, observational prosepsychological characterisation
Recurring Motifs
class and social mobilitymasculinity and alienationfamily fracturessport and identity

Health

  • Parkinson's disease
    晩年
    Affected his health in later years and was reported as one of the causes contributing to his death
  • dementia
    晩年
    Impaired memory and daily functioning and was reported as a contributing cause of death

Legacy

David Storey was an important British novelist, playwright and screenwriter with a working-class perspective, widely recognised for works such as the Booker Prize–winning Saville (1976). His works have been adapted for film and television and have had lasting impact on contemporary British literature and theatre.

Archives

  • British Library (holds National Life Stories oral history interview)
  • Highgate Cemetery (burial site)

In Popular Culture

  • Film and television adaptations of works such as This Sporting Life influenced British film and theatre culture from the 1960s onward

Trivia

  • Played rugby league for Leeds RLFC while a student to support himself
  • Married Barbara Rudd Hamilton in 1956; they had four children (Barbara died in 2015)
  • Died on 27 March 2017 in London and was buried in Highgate Cemetery
  • Won the 1976 Booker Prize for Saville