Madame Bovary, C'est Moi: The Great Characters of Literature and Where They Came From - Hardcover

Bernard, André; Bernard, Andre

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393051811 ISBN 13: 9780393051810

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003

Synopsis

The struggles and inspirations that gave birth to our great writers' most memorable creations.

A delightful compendium of wit and information, this book takes us on a casual stroll through literary history as the world's most successful writers sought just the right name, or just the right tone, or just the right prop, for the hero or heroine of their works.

How did Nero Wolfe in Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout end up with the name of a Roman emperor? Was Tolstoy's Anna Karenina based on a real person? Why was Hercule Poirot, the great inspector in the mysteries of Agatha Christie, a Belgian rather than a Frenchman? Why was Long John Silver missing a foot? Under what circumstances did J. R. R. Tolkien conceive of a "hobbit"? In this charming collection of anecdotes, we are taken to the very heart of the mystery of literary creation. For as Virginia Woolf once wrote, "If the characters are real the novel will have a chance." 30 line drawings

About this title

About the Author

André Bernard is the trade publisher of Harcourt, a regular columnist for The American Scholar, and the author of Now All We Need Is a Title.

Reviews

Adult/High School-This book delves into the origins of and events behind many well-known literary characters. Even if you never wondered why E. B. White's spider was named "Charlotte" or why P. L. Travers, a lover of Celtic poetry and Eastern mysticism, invented her flying nanny, perusing Bernard's short essays becomes obsessively intriguing. The author covers an amazingly wide range of literary histories, arranged alphabetically by character, and provides just enough information-on Scarlett O'Hara's original name or how Lord Peter Wimsey, Rumpole of the Bailey, and Stuart Little arrived fully formed in the minds of their creators-to impel readers to run to the library and pick up one or more of the books. The pages also contain useful or interesting lists, such as characters with one name, orphans, and brothers in literature, as well as many captivating quotes from authors. Small ink drawings appear with appropriate names-a bat for Dracula and a magnifying glass for Miss Marple. This book can serve as a springboard for assignments, but it is also a pleasure to browse through.-Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The nonfiction equivalent of light verse, this delightful set of characterological inquiries into the real life origins of the likes of Jay Gatsby, Holly Golightly and Godot finds a serious reader sleuthing after gossipy backstories. The trade publisher of Harcourt and a regular columnist for the American Scholar, Bernard is no stranger to the literary life, or, as his Rotten Rejections: Literary Short Takes has already shown, to making light of it. In a series of brief essays arranged alphabetically by the character under discussion, he here finds that Scarlett O'Hara was called Pansy by Margaret Mitchell until her publisher protested against "unhappy associations"; that Shandy (as in Tristram) is Yorkshire dialect for unsteady or addled; that the real Miss Lonelyhearts was actually female (unlike Nathanael West's character) and wrote a column for a Brooklyn newspaper. Readers will find many of their most beloved literary companions here, along with 30 line drawings of items relating to some of the characters, from a martini glass (for Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's) to a bat (Dracula, of course). And Bernard takes great care not to spoil one's illusions about Huck Finn, Jack Torrance or Winnie-the-Pooh, leaving their fictional extensions from life fully intact. Sidebars and italicized quotations ("There is no such thing as a 'minor' character in Dostoevski," said F. Scott Fitzgerald) add to the fun.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The very literary Bernard, publisher at Harcourt and columnist at the American Scholar, presents choice anecdotes about how fiction writers came up with the names of their characters, their backgrounds, and their physiques and habits--all the quirky and unforgettable details that snare a reader's attention. The result is a marvelously engaging compendium of literary trivia replete with elegant writing, invaluable quotes, intriguing sidebars, and delectable inside information. Here are the backstories for the creation of P. D. James' Auden-quoting detective Adam Dalgliesh, the spontaneous creation of J. R. R. Tolkien's hobbits, Stephen King's Carrie, Nabokov's Lolita, Truman Capote's Holly Golightly, and so on through the likes of Herman Melville and Dashiell Hammett, Edith Wharton and Patricia Highsmith, William Styron and John le Carre. Each entry is an enticing and suave minicritique of the work in question, and each discussion makes the reader want to drop whatever she's doing and hunt down a copy of All the King's Men or Rebecca or A Is for Alibi. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393051811
• ISBN 13: 9780393051810
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128