John McGahern Ordine dei libri (cronologico)

Sono le Idi di marzo del 44 a.C quando Ottaviano, diciottenne gracile e malaticcio ma intelligente e ambizioso quanto basta, viene a sapere che suo zio, Giulio Cesare, è stato assassinato. Il ragazzo, che da poco è stato adottato dal dittatore, è quindi l’erede designato, ma la sua scalata al potere sarà tutt’altro che lineare. John Williams ci racconta il principato di Ottaviano Augusto e i fasti e le ambizioni dell’antica Roma attraverso un abile intreccio di epistole, documenti, diari e invenzioni letterarie da cui si scorgono i profili interiori dei tanti attori dell’epoca, i loro dissidi, le loro debolezze: l’opportunismo di Cicerone, la libertà e l’ironia di Orazio, la saggezza di Marco Agrippa, la raffinata intelligenza di Mecenate, ma soprattutto l’inquietudine di Giulia, una donna profonda e moderna, che cede alla lussuria quanto alla grazia.

Výbor Zlaté hodinky a jiné povídky představuje to nejlepší z povídkářské tvorby Johna McGaherna (1934–2006), který je již dnes považován za jednoho z klasiků jak irské, tak světové literatury. V mistrných prózách – z nichž česky vyšel hlavně román Mezi ženami (2003) – autor mapuje život v Irsku ve druhé polovině dvacátého století s neúprosnou, až prorockou bystrozrakostí a působivostí, nezřídka říznutou ironií a černým humorem. Jeho povídky se vyznačují obrazivým stylem, který umožňuje vidět svět nově a celistvě. Toto vidění vyrůstá z blízkosti přírodě, vnímavosti k přírodním dějům i duševním hnutím blízkých, z náboženského cítění odpadlíka od katolické církve a z osobní, často intimní zkušenosti člověka toužícího po lásce a pospolitosti, který se však zdráhá zavírat oči před lidskou špatností a mlčky se podvolovat umrtvující společenské konvenci.

William Stoner ha una vita che sembra essere assai piatta e desolata. Non si allontana mai per più di centocinquanta chilometri da Booneville, il piccolo paese rurale in cui è nato, mantiene lo stesso lavoro per tutta la vita, per quasi quarantanni è infelicemente sposato alla stessa donna, ha sporadici contatti con l'amata figlia e per i suoi genitori è un estraneo, per sua ammissione ha soltanto due amici, uno dei quali morto in gioventù. Non sembra materia troppo promettente per un romanzo e tuttavia, in qualche modo, quasi miracoloso, John Williams fa della vita di William Stoner una storia appassionante, profonda e straziante. Come riesce l'autore in questo miracolo letterario? A oggi ho letto Stoner tre volte e non sono del tutto certo di averne colto il segreto, ma alcuni aspetti del libro mi sono apparsi chiari. E la verità è che si possono scrivere dei pessimi romanzi su delle vite emozionanti e che la vita più silenziosa, se esaminata con affetto, compassione e grande cura, può fruttare una straordinaria messe letteraria. È il caso che abbiamo davanti

This is the story of John McGahern's childhood; of his mother's death, his father's anger and bafflement, and his own discovery of literature and his ambition to become a writer. Memoir includes McGahern's memories of Dublin in the 1960s, his time as a schoolteacher, and his sacking for writing a banned book (his second novel, The Dark). It ends with his return to live in Leitrim with his wife and the death of his father, difficult to the last.

Considered by many to be the finest Irish writer now working in prose, John McGahern's That They May Face the Rising Sun vividly brings to life a whole world and its people with insight and humour and deep sympathy. Joe and Kate Ruttledge have come to Ireland from London in search of a different life. In passages of beauty and truth, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters that move about them unfolds through the action, the rituals of work, religious observances and play. By the novel's close we feel that we have been introduced, with deceptive simplicity, to a complete representation of existence - an enclosed world has been transformed into an Everywhere. 'It is a simple and ordinary story, calmly, wryly crafted with subtle detail - and therein lies McGahern's genius. As sharply, brilliantly observed as any he has written . . . McGahern, a supreme chronicler of the ordinary . . . has created a novel that lives and breathes as convincingly as the characters who inhabit it.' Irish Times

The Dark , widely acclaimed, yet infamously banned, is John McGahern’s sensitive, perceptive, and beautifully written portrayal of a young man’s coming-of-age in rural Ireland. Imaginative and introverted, the boy is successful in school, but bitterly confused by the guilt-inducing questions he endures from the priests who should be his venerated guides. His relationship with his bullying, bigoted, widowed father is similarly conflicted — touched with both deep love and carefully suppressed hatred. When he must leave home to further his education, their relationship is drawn to an emotional climax that teaches both father and son some of the most intricate truths about manhood.

John McGahern erzählt in "Der Pornograph" von Michael, der als Schriftsteller pornografischer Fiktion eine ideale Welt des Sex erschafft, während er in jeder Phase seiner Beziehung zu einer älteren Frau, die sich unglücklicherweise in ihn verliebt, scheitert. Seine Gefühllosigkeit gegenüber dieser Liebe steht in direktem Gegensatz zu der Zärtlichkeit, mit der er versucht, das langsame Sterben seiner Tante im Krankenhaus erträglich zu machen. In diesem reichen Roman ist das Drama der Gegensätze überall präsent, aber vor allem sind Sex und Tod nie weit voneinander entfernt.

Moran is an old Republican whose life was forever transformed by his days of glory as a guerrilla leader in the War of Independence. Now, in old age, living out in the country, Moran is still fighting - with his family, his friends, even himself - in a poignant struggle to come to terms with the past. 'McGahern brings us that tonic gift of the best fiction, the sense of truth . . . a sight that cleanses us even as it saddens and frightens.' John Updike 'A book that can be read in two hours, but will linger in the mind for decades.' Sunday Telegraph

The Leavetaking recounts a young couple's struggle to overcome the suffocating influence of the church in order to find happiness in a fulfilling adult love.

This novel, McGahern's first, is a tragicomedy centred on a lonely woman who marries into the enclosed Irish village of her upbringing. The children are not hers, her husband is straining to escape the servile security of the police force, and her life seems to be losing all sense of purpose.

Die Polizeiküche oder Der Mensch verlöscht wie ein Licht - bk55; Büchergilde Gutenberg; John McGahern; Paperback; 1978

extremely rare,very good condition