Nicholas Mosley (1923–2017)
Autor(a) de Hopeful Monsters
About the Author
Nicholas Mosley was born on June 25, 1923. During World War II, he joined the Rifle Brigade and won the Military Cross. He read philosophy for one year at Oxford University. His first novel, Spaces in the Dark, was published in 1951. His other novels included Accident, Impossible Object, and mostrar mais Hopeful Monsters, which won the Whitbread book of the year in 1990. He wrote biographies of poet Julian Grenfell, Russian leader Leon Trotsky, and Father Raymond Raynes. He was best known for his two-part biography on his father Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists, entitled The Rules of the Game and Beyond the Pale. He died on February 28, 2017 at the age of 93. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Image credit: Courtesy of Persephone Books
Séries
Obras de Nicholas Mosley
Associated Works
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Outros nomes
- Mosley, Sir Nicholas
Lord Ravensdale
3rd Baron Ravensdale, 7th Baronet, Nicholas Mosley, - Data de nascimento
- 1923-06-25
- Data de falecimento
- 2017-02-28
- Sexo
- male
- Nacionalidade
- UK
- Local de nascimento
- London, England, UK
- Local de falecimento
- London, England, UK
- Locais de residência
- London, England, UK
- Educação
- Oxford University (Balliol College)
Eton College - Ocupação
- novelist
biographer - Relacionamentos
- Mosley, Oswald (father)
Mosley, Diana (stepmother)
Mosley, Charlotte (sister-in-law)
Curzon, George Nathaniel (grandfather)
Curzon, Lady Mary (grandmother)
Curzon, Cynthia (mother) (mostrar todas 9)
Ravensdale, Baroness (aunt)
Salmond, Monica Grenfell (mother-in-law)
Mosley, Ivo (son) - Organizações
- British Army
- Premiações
- Military Cross
Fellow, Royal Society of Literature - Agente
- Michael Sissons (PFD)
Membros
Resenhas
Listas
Prêmios
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 35
- Also by
- 3
- Membros
- 1,395
- Popularidade
- #18,427
- Avaliação
- 3.7
- Resenhas
- 24
- ISBNs
- 91
- Idiomas
- 4
- Favorito
- 4
Look at the Dark is not an autobiography: it is a novel written in the first person. An elderly man popular on television as a pundit and an anthropologist by trade, receives a grant for a lecture tour in America. On his first night in New York, he is run over by a truck and his wallet is stolen. He wakes up in a hospital bed and has all the time in the world to think about his past life; along with how he is going to pay his hospital bill. He traces back his life with his two wives and occasional lovers. His first wife has married again and is now living in America, her current husband is extremely rich, having made money from new technology; he has dark, right wing conspiracy theories about the state of the world and the narrator wonders if the accident he has suffered was a botched assassination. The narrator does not only think about the partners in his life, but also if he, himself has served any useful purpose. He is joking about the assassination attempt, but his view of the world is the other side of the spectrum, his son works for an aid agency and his step daughter is working with poor people in Jerusalem. He himself made arrangements to help a young woman flee from Iran when the Shah was in power, but did not pass up the opportunity to take her virginity. He is on good terms with his wife and ex-wife, who seem to be prepared to indulge his whimsical view on life, but the accident has set his cogs whirring.
Flashes of conversations with friends and colleagues come back to him. Circular arguments are reiterated with the narrator either saying "I see" or admitting that he doesn't know. The question of what differentiates us from animals keeps cropping up, with thoughts like:
'one of the main differences is that humans have a compulsion, to accuse to blame, to demand retribution and the power of language is only used as a tool for humans to deceive one another. Perhaps the best thing would be for humans to be killed off and another species be given a chance to develop.'
No problems are solved from his hospital bed, nor are they when his wife comes to collect him, but the narrator realises he is running out of time.
The book has undeniable charm, the circular nature of some of the arguments are brief and amusing, even if they are those that might be uttered by a wealthy upperclass British subject. We never learn his name, but we do learn of his struggles to make a place for himself in the hierarchy and in other peoples lives. The narrator can afford to be humorous and if the reader is happy with this approach then it is an enjoyable read 3.5 stars.… (mais)