Booker Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 5 (1973) Winner
James Gordon Farrell
ジェイ・ジー・ファレル
J. G. Farrell
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1935-01-25 （Liverpool, England）
- Died
- 1979-08-11 （Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland） age 44
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Church of Ireland (Anglican)
- Residence History
- Liverpool (birth) → Dublin (family moved after WWII) → France (lived and taught) → London (Knightsbridge and elsewhere) → Sheep's Head peninsula, County Cork (late residence)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist
- Active Years
- 1963-1979
- Influenced By
- Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett, Malcolm Lowry, V. S. Naipaul (influence suggested), Vladimir Nabokov (stylistic influence)
- Influenced
- Salman Rushdie (praised Farrell), Derek Mahon (dedicated a poem), Alison Lurie (references Farrell in fiction), Margaret Drabble (character modelled on Farrell)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rossall School | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
| Brasenose College, University of Oxford | — | French and Spanish | Third-class honours (BA) | 1956–1960 | United Kingdom |
Rossall School
Country:
United Kingdom
Brasenose College, University of Oxford
French and Spanish
Degree:
Third-class honours (BA)
Period:
1956–1960
Year of Graduation:
1960
Country:
United Kingdom
Contracted poliomyelitis while at Oxford, leaving him partially disabled
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize | Troubles | — | Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (awarding body) | Winner |
| 1973 | Booker Prize | The Siege of Krishnapur | — | The Booker Prize | Winner |
| 2010 | Lost Man Booker Prize | Troubles | — | The Booker Prizes | Winner (posthumous, retrospective award for 1970) |
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
1971
Work:
Troubles
Organization:
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (awarding body)
Result:
Winner
Booker Prize
1973
Work:
The Siege of Krishnapur
Organization:
The Booker Prize
Result:
Winner
Lost Man Booker Prize
2010
Work:
Troubles
Organization:
The Booker Prizes
Result:
Winner (posthumous, retrospective award for 1970)
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Troubles
1970 Historical novel / SatireSet in post-World War I Ireland, the novel follows the decaying Majestic Hotel and its inhabitants, offering a comic yet melancholic portrait of the decline of British rule and personal tragedy.
decline of empireIrish independencehuman frailtyblack humor and melancholy
Adaptations
- [Television drama] Troubles / Christopher Morahan (1988)
The Siege of Krishnapur
1973 Historical novel / Post-colonial critiqueSet during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the novel depicts the siege of the fictional town of Krishnapur, using the historical moment to satirize colonial attitudes and explore human endurance.
colonialismhistory vs. fictionhuman endurance
The Singapore Grip
1978 Historical novel / Social satireSet around the Japanese capture of Singapore in 1942, the novel satirizes colonial economics and ethics while dramatizing the collapse of British power in Southeast Asia.
end of empireeconomic exploitationcultural collision
Bibliography
- A Man from Elsewhere (1963)
- The Lung (1965)
- A Girl in the Head (1967)
- Troubles (1970)
- The Siege of Krishnapur (1973)
- The Singapore Grip (1978)
- The Hill Station; and An Indian Diary (unfinished, published 1981)
Adaptations
- Television adaptation: Troubles (1988)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- satiricalhistorical reconstructioncombines black humor with pathos
- Recurring Motifs
- collapse of empire/colonial structuresillness (notably poliomyelitis) and bodily fragilitydecaying buildings/hotelshuman dignity juxtaposed with the absurd
Health
-
Poliomyelitis (polio)1956（オックスフォード在学中に罹患）Left him partially disabled; the experience recurs as a theme in his fiction
Legacy
J. G. Farrell became a significant voice in 1970s British literature through his 'Empire Trilogy', acclaimed for its satirical and historical interrogation of colonialism. Although his early death limited his output, his three major novels remain important works in post-colonial and historical fiction.
Archives
- Trinity College Dublin Manuscripts Library (Papers of James Gordon Farrell, TCD MSS 9128-60)
In Popular Culture
- In Alison Lurie's 'Foreign Affairs' a character is depicted reading a Farrell novel
- Margaret Drabble's 'The Gates of Ivory' features a character modelled on Farrell
- Derek Mahon dedicated the poem 'A Disused Shed in County Wexford' to Farrell
Quotes
-
"The really interesting thing that's happened during my lifetime has been the decline of the British Empire."
Source: Interview with The Observer (1978)
Trivia
- Drowned off Bantry Bay in 1979 while angling (aged 44)
- Buried in the churchyard of St James' Church, Durrus
- Troubles won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 1971 and the Lost Man Booker Prize (retrospective, for 1970) in 2010
- The Siege of Krishnapur won the Booker Prize in 1973