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November2010 Volume:5 No:2
Great Writers ofthe World
Ever si nce letters were i nvented,
Man tried to put down his feel i ngs
and i mpressi ons of the worl d. Thi s
was how the first seeds of l iterature
were sown. They sprouted, and grew
to become an i ntegral part of human
cul ture and history.
The medi um of writi ng evolved
from rock carvjngs and clay tabl ets,
through papyrus scrol l s and pal m
leaves, to paper and pri nti ng on a
mass scal e. The content of writi ng
changed too, to encompass many
di fferent forms and styles.
Worl d l iterature i s vast as wel l as
diverse. Thousands of writers have
l ived and contri buted to the devel
opment of cul ture, across the worl d'
and through the centuri es. Many
have been forgotten. Some have
stood the test of time and are sti l l re
membered i n reverence. Thi s i ssue of
Manorama Tel l Me Why presents to
you some of these great writers from
the hi story of literature.
Obviously, this i s not a compl ete
l i st, and many names had to be left
out for l ack of space. We have not i n
cl uded l ivi ng writers either, si nce
they wi l l be fea'

FROM THE HOUSE OF MAGIC POT, MANORAMA YEAI

,AND THE MALAYALA MANORAMA DAILY

.
4
Why Is Aeso
p popular
with children all ov
er
the
world7
You must
have heard
and read many
of
Aesop's fables, l
i ke The Fox a
nd the Grapes'
and
The Tortoise
and the Hare.'
But do you know
who Aesop was?
He was a Greek
slave who l ived
about 2,500 years ago. He was a
great storytel l er,
and hi s master del i ghted i n hearing hi s tales. |
fact, it was hi s l earni ng and hi s wit that earned
hi m hi s freedom.
Afer he was free, Aesop travel led to several
countries, and met many wi se men with whom
he hel d l ong di scussi ons. Once he was asked by
the ki ng to distribute a l arge sum of gol d
amongst the citizens of Del phi . However, he
found them to be very greedy and unworthy of
such a gift, and so he sent the money backtothe
ki ng. Thi s enraged the citizens of Delphi, and
they had hi m publ icly executed
l i ke a cri mi nal .
Thi s was a sad end for such a great man. But it
is sai d that the Gods punished the citizens of
Del phi for thei r cri me. Cala
mi ty after cal amity
befel l them
unti l they
were forced
to repent
havi ng ki l led
Aesop. Thus
the phrase 'the blood
of Aesop'
cam
e to mean
tha
t the
deeds of those
who do wron
g wi l l surely
be puni s
hed.
Aesop
neve
r wrote any
of
his stori
es down. How
ever, man
y
years after
his
death,
people started
to write
do
wn hi s fab
le
s. Over
the centuries,
Aesop'
s
fabl
es have be
en
translat
ed i nto al most
every
l an
gua
ge in the
w
orl d. His
stories remai
n
popul
ar
to
thi
.
s day b

cau
se each one teaches
us
a mor
al
i n
an
I
nterest
ing
and uni
que
wa
y.
Tel l Me Wh
y
1 00 Great Writers
Why Is Hesiod said to be 'a hater of
women'?
Hesiod lived in Greece during the ei ghth
century B. C. Hi s two most i mportant con
tri buti ons are 'Works and Days', and the
'Theogony'. I n 'Works and Days', Hesi od
di vi ded ti me i nto five ages. The first i s the
Gol den Age, rul ed by (ronos, when peopl e
l ived extremely l ong lives 'without sorrow
of heart'. The second is the Si lver Age,
rul ed by Zeus. The thi rd is the Bronze Age,
an epoch of war, the fourth is the Heroi c
Age, whi ch was the ti me of the Trojan War.
The fifh and last age, i s the I ron Age whi ch
is the corrupt present. The 'Theogony'
presents the descent of the gods, and is
one of the key documents for Greek my
thol ogy.
Hesiod i s regarded as a hater of women
for his description of Pandora, the first
woman. Accordi ng to his story, before
Pandora, manki nd led a happy existence,
free from i l l ness and suferi ng. However,
Pandora changed al l that. Al though she
was very beautiful, her curiosity unl eashed
sickness and evi l i nto the world. So accord
ing to Hesiod, women
are responsi bl e for al l
the suferi ng i n the
worl d. Obviously, he
had a deep seated ha
tred for women!
5
Greek currency note portraying
the epic poet Hesiod
Why was Hesiod a great author of the
Greek classical era?
Hesiod was a Greek epic poet who flour
i shed in Boeotia around 700 B.C. He, al ong
si de Homer, was the most respected of the
ol d Greek poets. His epi c poem 'Theogony'
describes the ori gi ns of the gods, and hi s
'Works and Days' deal s wi th subjects l i ke
farmi ng, moral ity and country l ife. He was
al so the author of a l arge number of lost or
fragments of poems.
Hesiod probably l ived shortly afer Hom
er, i n a vi l l age cal led Ascra. He worked as a
shepherd in the mountai ns, and then, as a
peasant on a hard l and when hi s father
died. Whi l e tendi ng hi s flock, the Muses,
6
who were the go
d

desses of the Arts,

appeared to Hesi od
i n a mi st. Thi s mysti
cal experience i m
pel l ed Hesi od to
write epic poetry.
The reason for
Hesi od's wri ti ng of
the 'Works and
Days' was a di spute
between hi m and
hi s brother Perses
over the di stribu
ti on of his father's
l and. Afer Hesiod
lost a l awsui t to hi s
brother Perses, he
l eft hi s homel and
and moved to
Naupactus. Accord
i ng to the l egend
about hi s death, he
Tel l Me Why
Why is Sappho imporant amongst an
cient Greek poets
Sappho i s the most famous of the ancient
Greek women poets. She l i ved on the i sl and
of Lesbos, and taught young women there.
She i s thought to have been born around 61 0
B.C., and to have died in about 570.
Sappho wrote her poems pri mari ly as a
tri bute to the private worl d of women, some
thi ng whi ch was very rare i n Greek l iterature.
Therefore, the poems provide us with a val u
abl e and remarkabl e gl i mpse i nto the l ives
and aspi rations of Greek gi rl s. Sappho wrote
movi ng lyric poetry. A poetic meter was
named in honour of her. She wrote odes to
the goddesses, especial ly Aphrodite, and
sang joyful l y of the beautiful deity. I n fact, her
poems are l i ke graceful gifs to thi s gol den
goddess of love.
Sappho al so wrote about herself, her wom
en's community, and her ti mes. Her writi ng
about her ti mes was very different from her
contemporary mal e writers, whose poetry
was more political . Thus, Sappho's i mpor
tance l ies in that she gave us a woman's poi nt
of view at a time when men domi nated the
l iterary world.
Statue of
Sappho
was murdered by the sons of
hi s host in Oeneon. Later, hi s
bones were brought to Or
chomenus where a monument
was erected in the marketplace
in his honour.
Hesiod's works are very i m
portant because he spoke
about his experiences through
hi s poetry. He l ived duri ng the
Cl assi cal Era of Greece, whi ch
was an exci ti ng peri od when
Greek civi l izati on fl ourished i n
al l i ts gl ory. Hesi od's works give
us a meani ngful i nsi ght i nto
thi s momentous era.
1 00 Great Writers
7
A moder Greek theatre roup performing
one of the great plays of Aeschylus; Aeschylus (shown in inset)
Why did Aeschylus' work
become a part of the hi story
of Greek drama?
Aeschyl us was born i n 525
B.C. i n the city of El eusi s, and i s
ofen cal led the ' Father ofTrag
edy'. He i s al so considered to be
the person who practical l y i n
vented drama as we know i t to
day.
When Aeschylus first began
writi ng, the theatre had onl y
just begun to evolve. A chorus
danced and exchanged di a
l ogue with a si ngl e actor, who
portrayed one or more charac
ters by usi ng masks. Most of the
acti on took pl ace i n the ci rcul ar
danci ng area or 'orchestra',
whi ch sti l l remai ned from the
ol d days when drama had been
nothi ng more than a ci rcul ar
8
dance around a sacred object.
I t was a huge l eap for drama
when Aeschyl us i ntroduced
the second actor. He also at
tempted to i nvolve the chorus
di rectly i n the action of the play.
Al though Aeschyl us i s sai d to
have written over ni nety pl ays,
only seven have survived. He
di rected many of hi s own pro
ductions, and one of hi s plays
'The Persi ans' contai ns the first
ghost scene in drama!
Legend has it that Aeschyl us
met hi s death when an eagl e
mistook hi s bal d head for arock
and dropped a tortoise on it!
Whatever the cause of hi s
death, hi s l i fe l ai d the ground
work for drama to fl ouri sh, and
hi s works have become a part
of the hi story of Greek dram
a.
Tel l
Me Why
Why is it said that Sophocles restruc
tured Greek drama?
Sophocles came from a ri ch fami l y that
l ived i n Colon us, a smal l town near Ath
ens. As an adult, Sophocl es was active i n
Atheni an politics. Sophocl es took part i n
many drama competi ti ons. I n hi s first
competition, Sophocl es took first prize
defeati ng none other than Aeschylus
hi msel f! More than 1 20 plays were to fol
l ow. He woul d go on to win ei ghteen first
prizes, and he woul d never fai l to take at
least second.
One of the great i nnovators of the thea
tre, he was the first to add a thi rd actor.
He al so abol i shed the tri l ogi c form. Ae
schyl us, for exampl e, had used three
tragedies to tel l a si ngl e story. Sophocles
chose to make each tragedy a compl ete
entity in itself. As a result, he had to pack
a I I of his action i nto the shorter form, and
100 Great Writers
thi s clearl y of
fered greater
dramatic pos
si bi l iti es. Many
authorities al so
credit hi m with
the i nvention
of scene-pai nt
i ng. Sadly, of
S o p h o c l e s '
more than 1 20
pl ays, only sev
en have sur
vived i n thei r
enti rety.
Poet of
Athletics
P
indar was the
great lyric poet
of ancient Greece,
who is believed
to have lived be
tween 518 to 438
B.C. He gained
fame for his po
ems that cele
brate triumphs in
various Hellenic
athletic games.
His poems are
noted for their
complexity, rich
metaphors, and
i ntensely emo
tional language.
In fact, Pindar's
name will, forev
er, be connected
withthelsthmian,
Pythian,Nemean,
and Olympic
Games. Did you
know that the
2004 Olympic
medals present
ed on one side
the eternal flame,
framed by a verse
by Pindar, along
with the logo of
the Athens
Games?
9
Euripides
Euripides was an an
cient writer
'
of Greek
tragedy - the third of a
trio that included So
phocles and Aeschylus.
Euripides wrote about
women and mythologi
cal themes like Medea
and Helen of Troy. He
enhanced the impor
tance of intrigue i n
tragedy. Euripides also
created the love-drama,
and is considered to
have had a significant
i nfluence on the Greek
creation of New Come
dy. Euripides was the
most popular of the
three great tragedians
for generations after
his death.
Euripides
1 0
A Greek painting of Agamemnon
based on the Trojan War
Which are the famous plays of
Sophocles?
Sophocles' most famous pl ays are
'Antigone', 'Oedi pus Rex', and 'Oedi
pus at (ol onus'. 'Antigone' tells the
story of Antigone, the daughter of
Oedi pus. 'Oedi pus Rex' is mai nl y
about fate, and how men do not
control thei r own fate, no matter
how much they try. It's about ac
cepting that there are thi ngs that
are beyond your control. 'Oedi pus
at (ol onus' tel l s the story of what
hfppened to Oedi pus afer he left
Thebes.
Sophocles' other famous works
are 'Ajax', The Women of Trachis',
' Phi l octetes' and ' El ectra'. 'Ajax'
chronicles the fate of the warrior
Ajax afer the events of the I l iad, but
Tel l Me Why
before the end of
the Trojan War. The
'Women of Trachi niae'
is an Atheni an tragedy,
whi l e Phi l octetes takes pl ace
Aristophanes
A
ristophanes was the greatest
c
omic writer of his day. His literary
activities covered a period of
forty years. During that time,
his sharp wit targeted
prominent men, political
trends, and social foibles.
duri ng the Trojan War. It de
scribes the attempt by Neop
tol emus and Odysseus to brin
g
the di sabl ed Phi l octetes wi th them
to Troy. Fi nal ly, 'Electra' is set in the
city of Argos a
few yea rs after
the Trojan War. It
Of the forty plays
known to be genuine
products of his gen
ius, eleven remain
for posterity. But
these easily prove
that for wit, rol-
is based around
the character of
Electra, and the
vengeance that she
and her brother take
on thei r mother and
stepfather for the mur
der of thei r father, Ag-
Marble Statue of
Sophocles
amemnon.
Sophocl es' plays
ful l of
the
spi rit of
Athens i n the
classical period. He sees men - and some
ti mes women - as powerful , rational,
creative beings, the masters of the
worl d around them, and the proud
creations of the gods. Sophocl es al so
remembers the terrors of war, whi ch
can sometimes overcome men and
women. He pl eads, in hi s pl ays, for the tri
umph of reason over wild emotion and an
ger.
1 00 Great Writers
are
licking humour,
invention, and
skill in the use
of language,
Aristophanes
has never
been sur-
passed.
1 1
Why is Homer regarded as one of
the greatest of Greek poets 7
Homer l ived around 700 B.C i n Greece.
We don't know where exactly in Greece
he l i ved. People sai d he was bl i nd, but
we don't know that for sure either. When
Homer was born, the Greeks had j ust re
cently learned how to use the al phabet
from the Phoenicians. Homer used the al
phabet to write down two long epic po
ems cal l ed the ' I l iad' and the 'Odyssey'.
The I l i ad and the Odyssey contai n i n
comparable tales of the Trojan War,
brave Achi l les, Ulysses and Penel ope,
the Si rens, the Cycl ops, the beautiful
Hel en of T roy, and the angry gods. They
are perhaps the most i nfl uenti al works
in the hi storyofWestern l iterature. These
A Wall Painting based on the
Trojan War
12
Homer,
I presume ...
two poems, written
nearly three thousand
years ago, have cap
tured the hearts of
generati ons through
out the world.
Homer di dn't make
up these stories, or
even the words, hi m
self. Poets or bards had
been goi ng around
Greece tel l i ng these
stories for hundreds of
years. But Homer wrote
them down, pol i shed
them, and gave them
thei r fi nal form, and
therei n l ies hi s great
ness.
Tell Me Why
Philemon
P
hilemon was a poet of the
Athenian New Comedy. Hewas
noted for his neatly contrived
plots, vivid description, dra
matic surprises, and moraliz
ing. By 328 B.C., he was produc
ing plays in Athens, where he
eventually became a citizen.
Of the 97 comedies he wrote,
some 60 titles survive in Greek
fragments and Latin adapta
tions. Philemon was a contem
porary and rival of Menander,
whom he is said to have van
quished in poetical contests.
Why is Menander consid-
as wel l as the manners and
ered a social writer?
characteristics of ordi nary peo-
Menander i s the most famous
pie were at the heart of hi s sto
writer of what is described as
ries. Hi s characters spoke i n the
Atheni an new comedy. Unl i ke
contemporary di alect, and con
the cl assi cal writers who wrote
cerned themselves not with the
mythi cal pl ots or pol i ti cal com-
great myths of the past, but
mentary, Menanderwas a social
rather, with the everyday afai rs
writer. He chose aspects of dai l y
of the peopl e of Athens.
l ife as topi cs for hi s pl ays wi th
By the end of hi s career, Me-
happy endi ngs and themes. nander had written more than
Menander wrote about stern
1 00 plays and had won ei ght
fathers, young lovers, crafy victories at Atheni an dramati c
sl aves, and other peopl e who
festival s. Menander's plays
were part of the social fabri c of were hel d i n hi gh esteem in the
Greece in those days. The every-
literature of Western Europe for
day l ife of hi s countrymen,
over 800 years. At some
1 00 Great Writers
.
poi nt, however, hi s
I'll make a
manuscri pts were
comedy out of your
lost or destroyed,
sorrows!
and what we now
know of the poet i s
based pri mari ly on anci ent re
ports, a few manuscri pts whi ch
have been recovered i n the last
hundredyears, andadaptations
by the Roman playwrights.
1 3
Why are th. e poems of Ovid remarka
ble?
Ovid was from a rich fami ly that l ived
near Rome. Ovid's ful l name was Publ i us
Ovi di us Naso. Hi s father wanted hi m to
become a l awyer, but Ovid decided to be a
poet. He publ i shed hi s first book of poetry
about 1 8 B.C., when he was 25 years ol d. It
was cal l ed the 'Amores', or Love Poems.
This book was remarkable, because i n those
days, people were not al lowed to write
about love outside of marriage, and Ovid
did just that.
Ovid's second book was al so remarkable,
but in a diferent way. He wrote the Meta
morphoses, or the Changes, whi ch he pub
l i shed probably about 8 B.C., when he was
35 years ol d. Thi s is a l ong poem tel l i ng lots
of short stories about the changes in the
world from the ti me of creation to the
death of Jul i us Caesar. I t tel l s nearl y
every story from Greek mythology
that we know - in fact, many Greek
stories are known today mai nly
because they are i n the Metamor
phoses.
Ovid also wrote another book of po
ems, the 'Ars Amatoria' - the Art of
Love. These poems gave advice to
ri ch Roman men and women about
love. However, his poems, though
popul ar, offended those i n power,
and he was bani shed to a vi l l age on
the shores of the Bl ack Sea. He died
there, a sad and l onely man.
Plutarch
Whydowe say that Plutarch
was one of the leading thi nk
ers of his times?
Pl utarch l i ved a l ong and
fruitful l i fe with hi s wi fe and
fami l y i n the little Greek town of
Chaeronea. For many years, he
served as one of the two priests
at the temple of Apol l o at Del
phi - the site of the famous Del
phi c oracle - twenty mi l es from
his home. Through his writi ngs
and lectures, Pl utarch became
a cel ebrity i n the Roman Empi re,
yet he conti nued to reside
where he was born, and actively
partici pated in local afai rs,
even serving as mayor.
Pl utarch's most i mportant
work i s 'Lives of the Nobl e
Greeks and Romans', whi ch i s a
100 Great Writers
series of biographies of famous
men that i l l ustrates thei r com
mon moral virtues or fai l i ngs.
The 'Paral l el Lives', as they are
also cal l ed, contai n 23 pai rs of
bi ographi es, each pai r contai n
i ng one Greek l i fe and one Ro
man l ife;aswel l asfour unpai red
si ngl e l ives. Pl utarch was i nter
ested i n expl ori ng the i nfluence
of character - good or bad - on
the l ives and desti nies of fa
mous men. Hi s essays and hi s
lectures establ i shed hi m as a
leadi ng thi nker in the Roman
Empi re's gol den age. Later on,
at the begi nni ng of the I tali an
Renaissance, it was the redis
covery of Pl utarch's 'Lives' that
sti mulated popul ar i nterest in
the classics.
Oh God!
Who'll write my
biography . . ?
Why is Virgil called a leg
end?
Virgil (70-19 B.C.) was a poet
who l ived duri ng the ci vi l wars
i n Rome, and duri ng the rei gn
of the Roman Emperor Augus
tus, just before the bi rth of Jesus
Christ. He i s regarded as the
greatest Roman poet, and i s
known for hi s epic, 'The Aenei d'.
It was written i n around 29 B.C.,
and was inspi red by Homer's epic
poems, the I l iad and Odyssey.
Between 42 and 37 B.C., Vi rgi l
composed pastoral poems
16
reading the Aeneid to the
emperor Augustus
known as 'Ecologues' or 'rustic
poems' and he spent years on
the 'Georgics' whi ch dealt with
farmi ng and presented
'
a towns
man's view of the country.
I t was Augustus Caesar, the
Roman Emperor who pressed
Vi rgil to write of the gl ory of
Rome under hi s rul e. So, from
30 to 1 9 B.C., Vi rgi l devoted hi s
ti me to writi ng 'The Aeneid',
the national epic of Rome. I t i s a
l ong poem i n twelve books, l i ke
the I l iad or the Odyssey. The
hero i s Aeneas who was a Trojan
who was supposed to have es-
Tel l Me Why
Why is KaIIdasa haiIed as
thegreatestof ancient|ndian
writers!
Kal idasa was I ndia's greatest
Sanskrit poet
and dramatist
who l ived dur
i ng the fifh cen
tury. His most fa
mous works are
thedramas'Abhi
j nanashakunta
lam' or The Rec
ogniti on of
S h a k u n t a l a ,
'Vi kramorvashi -
yam' or Urvashi Won by Val our
and 'Malavikagni mitram' or
Mal avi ka andAgni mitra. Heal so
wrote the epic poems 'Raghuvan
sham' and 'Kumarasambhavam'
and the lyric 'Meghadutam'.
Accordi ng to legend, Kalidasa
was so handsome that he caught
the attention of a pri ncess who
married him. However, as leg
end has it, Kal idasa had grown
up wi thout much educati on,
and the pri ncess was ashamed
caped from Troy when the
Greeks captured it duri ng the
Trojan War. l t i s the storyof how
Aeneas and hi s men travel l ed
from Troy to I tal y to found the
ci ty of Rome. Thi s makes the
100 Great Writers
Afamous painting of
Raja Ravi Varma, based on
Abhijnanashakuntalam
of hi s i gnorance and coarse
ness. A devoted worshi pper of
the goddess Kal i - hi s name
means l iteral l y Kal i's sl ave - Kal i
dasa i s sai d to have cal l ed upon
hi s goddess for hel p and was
rewarded wi th a sudden and
extraordi nary gi f of wi t. He i s
then said to have become the
most bri l l i ant of the ' ni ne gems'
at the court of the fabul ous ki ng
Vikramaditya of Ujjai n.
val iant fighti ng Trojans the an
cestors of the Romans. The Ae
nei d achi eved the status of a
cl assi c even be
i shed, maki n
hi s own l ife
1 8
Bhavabuti
Bhavabhuti was
an eighth century
scholar of India
noted for his plays
and poetry, written
in Sanskrit. He is
best known as the
author of three
plays. The first is
' Mahavi rac har i
tam' orthe 'Exploits
of the Great Hero',
which gives in sev
en acts the main in
cidents in the
Ramayanauptothe
defeat of Ravana
and the coronation
ofRama.Hissecond
great work is 'Mala
t i ma d h a v a m' ,
which is a domestic
drama in 10 acts
and the third is 'Ut
tararamacharitam'
which deals with
Rama's later life.
Bhavabuti's plays
are noted for their
suspense and vivid
characteri zati on
and they rival the
outstanding plays
of the great writer
Kalidasa.
Why did Vishnu Sharma write the
Panchatantra?
You must be fami l i ar with the Pan
chatantra fables, but di d you know
that they were written around 200
B.C. by a great Hi ndu schol ar cal led
Vi shnu Sharma? He was asked by
Amarasakti, the rul er of a South I ndi an
ki ngdom to teach hi s three sons pol i
tics and di pl omacy. But unfortunately,
Tel l Me Why
the pri nces were
not i nterested i n
learni ng at al l ! Vi sh
nu Sharma quickly
real ized that it
woul d not be easy
to teach them
through conven
ti onal methods. He
had to find a more
creative way of
teachi ng them, and
he hi t upon the idea
of writi ng short sto
ries that contai ned
a lesson. This col
l ecti on of stories i s
the Panchatantra.
The Panchatantra
i s the ol dest col lec
ti on of I ndi an fabl es.
The word 'Pancha
tantra' means 'the
five books'. The col
lection i sal so known
as a ' Nitishastra'
whi ch means book
of wise conduct i n
l ife. The moral and
p h i l o s o p h i c a l
themes of these
stories of Vi shnush
arma have stood
the test of ti me and
hol d true even i n
the modern age.
1 00 Great Writers
Chanakya - A
Man of Foresight
Chanakya, also
known as Kautilya or
Vishnugupta, was a teacher
of political science at the Tak
shashila University and later
theprimeministeroftheemperor
Chandragupta Maurya. He is re
garded as one of the earliest known
political thinkers, economists, and
king-makers. His vision was to create
an Indian Empire by uniting the nu
merous kingdoms of the Indian sub
continent so that they could fight to
gether against Alexander the Great.
His foresight and wide knowledge,
coupled with his shrewd politics helped
to found the mighty Mauryan Empire in
India. He compiled his political ideas
into the 'Arhashastra', one of the
world's earliest treatises on political
thought and social or
der. His ideas remain
popular to this day
in India.
1 9
Is Veda Vyasa consId
ered to be immortal?
The ' Mahabharata' i s one of
How did Ratnakara become
Valmiki?
The great sage Val mi ki has
the di sti nction of bei ng the au
thor of the holy epic 'Ramayana',
consi sti ng of 24,000 verses. He
i s al so bel ieved to be the author
of 'Yoga Vasistha', a text that
el aborates on a range of phi lo
sophi cal issues. But di d you
know that Val mi ki's real name
was Ratnakara, and that he was
a robber before he became a
sage?
Mahari shi Val mi ki was born
as Ratnakara. He was the son of .
the sage Prachetasa. At a very
young age, Ratnakara went i nto
the forest and got lost. A hunter,
who was passi ng by, saw Rat
nakara and took hi m under hi s
own care. Under hi s father's
20
the greatest marvel s in the l it
erature of the worl d. Veda Vyasa
was the sage who gave the
world thi s storehouse of real
ism, wisdom, and compassi on.
He i s al so the author of the
Brahma Sutras, and i s consi d
ered an i ncarnati on of Lord
Vishnu hi mself.
Veda Vyasa was a geni us by
bi rth. He performed rigorous
penance and practiced austerity
guidance, Ratnakara turned out
to be an excel l ent hunter. Later,
he started robbi ng peopl e be
cause he found i t i mpossi bl e to
feed hi s large fami ly.
One day, Ratnakara tried to
rob the great sage Narada.
However, Narada was a divi ne
Tel l Me Why
i n the Hi malayas in order to re
al ize the Supreme Tru
"
th that he
expl ai ned i n the Vedas and Up
ani shads. There is a very i nter
esti ng event associated wi th
the wri ti ng of the Mahabharata.
Veda Vyasa needed to concen
trate on the composi ng, and he
needed someone to wri te it
down as he recited the verses. It
was Ganesha, who agreed to do
so.
sage, and he made Ratnakara
understand that robbi ng and
ki l l i ng was wrong. He advised
Ratnakara that by chanti ng
Lord Rama's name, he coul d
wash away al l hi s si ns. Ratnakara
at once started chanti ng the
name of the Lord wi thout stop
pi ng even for food or to sl eep.
He went on and on with hi s
chanting, and as days turned
i nto yea rs, his bodywas covered
by an anthi l l . Sti l l he di d not
stop hi s chanti ng! Fi nal ly,
Narada appeared agai n, re
moved the anthi l l and bl essed
Ratnakara, decl ari ng that Rat
nakara woul d become famous
as a great sage cal l ed Val mi ki,
as he was reborn from an ant
hi l l or 'Val mi ka'.
Val mi ki had the great good
100 Great Writers
The Mahabharata is the l ong
est epic in the world, l onger
than the Odyssey and I l i ad put
together! It i s the narrative that
contai ns al l narratives. A verse
from the epi c reads, 'What is
found here may be found el se
where. What is not found here
wi l l not be found el sewhere'. I s
it any wonder that the Mahab
harata - and Veda Vyasa - are
considered to be i mmortal ?
fortune to receive Lord Rama,
his wife Sita, and brother Laksh
mana at his ashram. Later,
Narada visited hi m agai n and
related the story of Rama to
hi m. Val mi ki then had a vision
i n whi ch Lord Brahma hi mself
asked hi m to write the Ramaya
na, and thus, a great and sacred
epic was born.
21
Why is Geofrey
Chaucer some
times called 'The
Father of English
Literature' ?
Geofrey Chaucer
was an Engl i sh au
thor, phi losopher,
di pl omat, and poet.
He was the son of a
prosperous wi ne
merchant. Little i s
known of hi s early
education, but hi s
works show that he
coul d read French,
Lati n, and Ital ian.
22
When he grew up, Chaucer worked i n the
government, hel pi ng out vari ous ri ch men
and ki ngs. For a whi le, he was i n the Engl i sh
army. He travel led to Italy many ti mes on
government busi ness, and became fami l
i ar wi th I tal i an poetry and stories.
The first thi ng that ,
Chaucer wrote that we
know about is 'The Book
of the Duchess', whi ch
he wrote when he was
about thi rty years old.
But the most famous
stori es Chaucer wrote
are 'The Canterbury
Tales'. The idea of the
Canterbury Tales i s that
a group of people are
travel l i ng together to
Canterburyon a pi l gri m
age to pray at the shri ne
of St.Thomas Becket.
.
.
A painting of
Geofey
Chaucer as a
pilgrim
These people agree that to pass the ti me
they wi l l each tel l a story. There are 24 sto
ries altogether in The Canterbury tales. The
stories are by turns bawdy, comi cal , and
pi ous.
Chaucer was among the first to use Eng
l i sh to create a great work of poetry, i n an
age when l anguages l i ke Lati n and French
were typically favoured for poetry and
stories. Because of thi s, he i s someti mes
cal led 'The Father of Engl i sh Literature'.
Tel l Me Why
Ot no no Yaka oc
Otomo no Yakamochi was a Japanese statesman and poet who
Iivedfrom618t078SAD.Hewasoneofthecompilersof'Man'yoshu',
which was one of the first poetry anthologies created in Japanese
history. Born in the prestigious Otomofamily, Yamamochi served
as a Kokushi or provincial governor while creating many waka
poems. Waka poems are a special type of Japanese verse. He was
the most prolific and prominent writer of his time, and is counted
as one of the thiry six poetry immorals of Japan.
I got
an old autobi
ography!
Why is Margery Kempe's
book special amongst English
biographies?
Margery Kempe i s famous for
her mystic and spi ri tual bel i efs
and for her autobiography, 'The
Book of Margery Kempe' whi ch
has great significance because
it is the earl i est known autobi
ography i n Engl i sh. I n her book,
Kempe portrays herself as an
honest and devoted human
bei ng.
100 Great Writers
Margery Kempe was born i n
Lynn, a town i n Norfol k, Eng
l and. Though she grew up in a
wealthy fami ly, Mary Kempe
was never given a chance to be
educated. Her mysticism began
asachi l d. Shemarriedmerchant
John Kempe i n the year of 1 393,
and had foureen chi ldren.
When Margery was i n her twen
ties, it i s bel i eved that she began
to have vi si ons in whi ch she
tal ked to Jesus, Mary, and the
saints. Margery Kempe dedi cat
ed herself to the Lord, and she
became so i nvolved wi th rel i
gion that she set out on a l ong
pi l grimage that ended up i n
Jerusal em.
The book di scusses every as
pect of Margery's l ife - from her
marriage, rel igi ous conversion,
and many pi l gri mages. It is,
without dou bt, one of the most
astoni shi ng documents of late
medi eval Engl i sh l ife.
23
Why is it said that
Dante's \orks were
inspired by a lady?
Dante was an I tal i an
Fl orenti ne poet. Hi s
greatest work, 'La Divi
na Com medi a' or The
Di vi ne Comedy, i s con
si dered the greatest l it
erary masterpiece pro
duced in Europe in the
Medi eval Period, and
the basi s of the modern
Ital ian l anguage.
Dantewas nearly ni ne
years ol d when he first
set eyes on Beatrice
Porti nari , in a gatheri ng
at her father's pal ace i n
Fl orence. She was a few
months younger than
Dante, and dressed i n a
cri mson dress. She cap
tivated him compl etely.
For the next ni ne years
he remai ned madly i n
love with her, but only
from a di stance. It was
only in 1283, when he
was 18, that she spoke
to hi m as they passed
each other i n the
street.
In 13th century Flor
ence, arranged mar
riages were the norm,
24
A painting of the Italian poet Dante
especi al l y amongst the upper classes.
So, at the age of 21, Dante was married
off to Gemma and Beatrice married a
year later too. She died three years afer
that, at the tender age of 24. Dante was
devastated. He remai ned devoted to
Beatrice for the rest of hi s l i fe, and she
was hi s pri nci pal i nspi rati on for much
of his well known work, such as ' La Vita
Nuova' or The New Life as wel l as The
Di vi ne Comedy.
Dante was one of the first great poets
to write in the ordi nary l anguage of the
people, and he used the l ocal di al ect to
write one of the most beautiful poems
ever created.
Tell Me Why
Why do we say that Boccac
cio had a great influence 0
wo d lit rat
Giovanni Boccaccio was an
Ital i an writer, humani st, and
one of the founders of the Ren
ai ssance. l n one of hi s works, he
relates that, i n hi s seventh year,
before he had ever seen a book
of poetry, he began to write
verse in his chi l di sh fashi on, and
earned for hi mself amongst hi s
fri ends the name of ' the poet'!
Boccaccio became a great
schol ar of the classics, and a
great writertoo. He wrote about
actual people and thei r real l ives.
Some of hi s stories are love sto-
Giovanni Boccaccio monument
in Italy
100 Great Writers
ries, some of them are horror
stories or ghost stories, and
some are funny, but al l of them
are the ki nds of thi ngs that
might happen to real people.
Boccaccio's most famous
work i s undoubtedly the
'Decameron' whi ch i s a l ot of
short stories strung together.
There are a hundred tal es in the
Decameron, whi ch Boccaccio
publ i shed in 1 37 1 , when he was
58 years old. Centeri ng mostly
on relati onshi ps between peo
ple, these stories give us val ua
bl e gl i mpses i nto medi eval l i fe.
Many later writers,
i ncl udi ng Chaucer
were i nspi red by
Decameron, be
cause of the com
pel l i ng way i n
wh i ch these stories
Why does Du Fu
remain al ive in the
hearts of the Chi
nese to this day?
Du Fu was a
promi nent Chi nese
poet of the Tang
dynasty. He re
ceived a traditi onal
Confucian educa
tion. Du Fu spent
much of his l ife
travel l i ng, and dur
i ng hi s travels, he
won renown as a
poet. He al so met
other poets of the
ti me who i nfl u
enced hi m. The ma
jor turni ng poi nts i n
26
hi s l ife were hi s meeti ng and friendshi p
with Li Po, and the civi l war, whi ch opened
his eyes to the suferi ngs of the common
peopl e.
Du Fu' s earl y poetry cel ebrated the
beauty of the natural worl d, and bemoaned
the passage of ti me. He soon began to write
bi ti ngly of war-as i n 'The Bal l ad ofthe Army
Carts', a poem about conscri pti on-and with
hidden sati re-as i n 'The Beautiful Woman',
whi ch speaks of the l Uxury of the court. Of
his poetic writi ng, nearl y fifeen hundred
poems have been preserved over the ages.
He has been cal led the 'Poet-Hi stori an'and
the ' Poet-Sage' by Chi nese critics.
Du Fu's strengths were his strong sense
of hi story, his moral pri nci ples, and his
techni cal excel l ence. Above al l , it was Du
Fu' s compassi on, for hi msel f, and for others
that has kept hi m al ive in the hearts of the
Chi nese to thi s day.
Why is Ferdowsi considered to be a
great Persian poet?
The Persi ans - or modern day I rani ans
regard Ferdowsi as the greatest of thei r
poets. He was the author of' Shahnamah' or
the 'Book of Kings', whi ch i s the Persian na
tional epi c. It i s one of the great cl assics of
the world, and tel l s heroic tales of ancient
Persia. The contents and the poet's style in
descri bi ng the events take the reader back
in time to another world that had been
shrouded i n the mi sts of mystery and antiq
uity. Ferdowsi worked for thi rty years to
fi ni sh this masterpiece.
An i mportant feature of this work i s that
Tel l Me Why
duri ng the period
that Arabic l an
guage was known
as the mai n l an
guage of science
and l iterature, Fer
dowsi, however,
used onl y Persi an i n
hi s masterpiece. As
Ferdowsi hi mself
says 'Persian l an
guage i s revived by
thi s work'.
For nearly a thou
sand years, the Per
si ans have conti n
ued to read and to
l i sten to recitati ons
from hi s master
piece in whi ch the
Persi an nati onal
epi c found its fi nal
and enduri ng form.
100 Great Writers
It is the hi story of I ran's gl ori ous past, pre
served for al l ti me in sonorous and majestic
verse. Though written about 1 ,000 years
ago, thi s work is as i ntel l i gi bl e to the aver
age, modern I ranian, as it was in the ti mes
in whi ch it was written.
Why is Marie de France famous?
Mari e de France was the first femal e
French poet who wrote for the Norman
rul ed Bri ti sh court i n the 1 2th century. She i s
one of those authors whose work i s wel l
known but whose l ife remai ns l argely a
mystery. Marie wrote i n a di alect that i s
found i n Nor
mandy on the
border of the
f
l e- de- Fra n ce.
Her name i s
known from a
l i ne i n one of her
publ ished works
whi ch transl ates
as 'My name is
Marie, I am from
Marie de France
France'.
Her written works i ncl ude 1 2 'Breton l ai s',
whi ch is a shor lyric or narrative poem.
Marie also wrote the 'Ysopet' fables, and the
'Legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick.' One
of her works is dedicated to a 'King Henry',
the other to a 'Count Wi l l i am'. Marie de
France, creator of verse narratives on roman
tic and magical themes, was without doubt,
one of the most popular of authors with the
nobles of the court- and her popularity with
the l adi es of the court was even greater!
27
How does Laura inspire
Petrarch's poetry'
Francesco Petrarch was born
shortly afer 1300. He l ived
through the harshest bouts of
the plague, and lost nearly eve
ryone he knew to it. Hi s mother
and father had di ed i n his early
years but his son, his grandson,
numerous friends, and a woman
named Laura who was hi s i nspi
ration, al l died as victi ms of the
disease.
Statue of Francesco Petrarch
28
Laura was the love of
Petrarch's l i fe. But who she was
has remai ned a bi t of a mystery.
I t is bel ieved that she was the
daughter of a Knight and that
Petrarch fel l i n l ove wi th her at
first sight. But bei ng al ready
married, she turned down al l
hi s advances. However, Petrarch
woul d be haunted by her
beauty for the rest of hi s l i fe.
She died at the age of 38 i n the
year 1348, on Apri l 6, Good Fri
day, exactly 21 years to the very
hour that Petrarch first saw her.
His work '(anzoniere' i s a series
of poems mostly about Laura
and hi s love for her. However,
some believe that Laura did not
exist at al l, and that the ' l aura' of
Petrarch's writi ngs is play on
the name ' I aurel'- the leaves
whi ch Petrarch was honoured
with for bei ng the poet l aure
ate.
Petrarch was a passionate
writer, and hi s writings woul d
go on to i nfl uence countless
other writers. I n fact, centuries
later, Shakespeare would study
his works and copy hi s sonnets.
He was the greatest schol ar of
hi s age, but hi s passion was for
anti quity, and he once con
fessed that he di sl i ked the age
in whi ch he l ived!
Tel l Me Why
'
H
Why is. O
}ayam regarded
s a et scbolar7
Omar Khayyam
l ived in a time that
di d not make l ife
easy for learned
men, unless they
had the support of a
rul er at one of the
many courts. How
ever, Omar Khayyam
was an outstandi ng
Persi an poet, mathemati ci an, and astrono
mer who di ed in AD 11 23. Khayyam did write
several works i ncl udi ng ' Probl ems of Arith
metic', a book on musi c, and one on algebra
before he was 25 years ol d. In fact, one of hi s
books i s consi dered a masterpiece i n algebra.
Khayyam al so worked on compi l i ng astro
nomical tables and contri buted to cal endar
reform i n 1 079. Khayyam measured the
l ength of the year as 365.2421 98581 56 days!
I n addition to these achi evements, Omar
Khayyam was al so a great phi l osopher and
physi ci an.
Outsi de the world of mathematics, Omar
Khayyam i s best known for nearly 600 'Ru
baiyat', or quatrai ns (short four l i ne poems),
that form the ' Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam'.
The major theme i n thi s book i s the fragi l ity
of human l i fe, and many of hi s Rubaiyat got
worl dwi de accl ai m. Hi s Rubaiyat are viewed
as meditati ons on the mysteries of existence
and celebrations of worl dly pl easures.
1 00 Great Writers
Imru alQays
ibn Hujir
I
mru alQays
was the most
distinguished
poet from the
Arabia of pre Is
lamic times. He
was the young
est son of the
last king of an
ancient tribe.
His father ban
ished him twice
from his cour,
and he spent
this time wan
dering in the
desert, compos
ing poetry. He
wrote beautiful
love poems,
and is believed
to have invent
ed the classical
Arabic ode. He
is also consid
ered the great
est poet of the
'Mu'allaqat',
which is a col
lection of seven
pre-Islamic Ara
bic odes, each
considered to
be its author's
best piece.
29
Statue ofNizami
Ganjavi
Why is Nizami
Ganjavi remem-
bered to this day?
Nizami Ganjavi was
a cl assi cal poet of the
1 2th century whose home was i n Ganja,
the capital of Arran i n Transcaucasi an Az
erbaijan. He l ived i n an age of both politi
cal i nstabi l ity and i ntense i ntellectual ac
tivity, whi ch his poems reflect. However,
little is known about hi s l i fe, hi s relations
with his patrons, or the precise dates of
hi s works. Nizami Ganjavi was married
three ti mes, and in hi s poems, he l aments
the death of each of his wives, and gives
advice to his son Muhammad.
Nizami i s best known for hi s five l ong
narrative poems, of whi ch the 'Haft
Paykar', completed in 1197, is hi s ac
knowledged masterpiece. He wi l l al ways
be remembered for bei ng the first poet i n
Eastern literature to describe women as
havi ng high human qual ities. He proved
that women can participate i n many fi el ds
on equal terms with men, and accordi ng
to hi m, only a hardworki ng man i s worthy
of respect and love!
Yoshida Kenko
Y
oshida Kenko, who stared his career as a Japanese cour of
ficial, also emerged as a celebrated poet. At the age of 41, he be
came a Zen Buddhist monk. Kenko's Essays contain 243 sections
of various lengths. In Kenko's writ-
ings, we see the Buddhist ideals of

naturalness, humil ity, simplicity, and j

meditation worked out in relation to
r .
daily afairs. Kenko wrote on a wide

range of subjects, from ardent love,
social etiquete, house design, drunk-
enness, to the brief span of life.
30
Tel l Me Why
Why is Shakespeare consid
ered the uncrowned king of
English literature?
Who has not heard of Wi l l i am
Shakespeare? He was an Eng
l i sh poet, dramatist and actor,
and considered by many to be
the uncrowned king of Engl i sh
l iterature. Nothi ng i s known for
cerai n about Shakespeare's
early years. There are stories
that he joi ned a theatrical com
pany, or that he worked as a
schoolteacher. Whatever the
case, Shakespeare had become
known as a dramatist and an
actor i n London by 1592. Some
of his early works i ncl ude 'Titus
Andronicus', and 'The Two Gen
tleman of Verona'.
Shakespeare publ i shed hi s
first work i n 1593, whi ch was
the narrative poem Venus and
Adoni s. Later, he earned great
praise for his sonnets. A sonnet
i s a type of poem that has three
four-l i ne secti ons wi th a pai r of
l i nes at the end, al l fol l owi ng a
speci al rhymi ng scheme.
He worked with a group as a
dramati st, an actor, and a part
owner for many years. I n 1599,
the company bui l t the Gl obe, a
1 00 Great Writers
theatre near London. Shake
speare wrote some of his great
est tragic and comi c works
around thi s ti me. He created
Hamlet, Othel l o, Ki ng Lear, and
Macbeth, as wel l as Twelfth
Ni ght, and Measurefor Measure
here. Shakespeare's works were
so popul ar that even Queen
El izabeth I of Engl and
had them performed
for her. Despite hav
ing been written hun
dreds of years ago,
Shakespeare's work
remai ns popul ar be
cause of hi s engaging
characters, interesting
plots, and artful di alogues.
Shakespeare i s credited with
39 pl ays, i ncl udi ng Romeo and
Jul iet, and Jul i us Caesar. He al so
wrote 154 sonnets, and several
major poems, some of whi ch
are consi dered to be the most
bri l l i ant pieces of Engl i sh l itera
ture ever written. Hi s writings
have been translated i nto more
languages than those of any
other author, and hi s plays and
poems have been read by peo
pl eal l overtheworl dforgenera
ti ons.
31
The Renaissance
Renaissance means rebirh. The Renaissance Era is gener
ally regarded as the revival of ar and literature under the
influence of classical models in the 14th_16th centuries. It
was a period of aristic freedom that began in Florence, Ita
ly. During the period, new printing techniques, music, and
musical ideas reached the people.
What was Shakespeare's
infuence on English language
and literature?
Wi l l i am Shakespeare i s one of
the greatest poets and play
wrights of the worl d. He
changed the way
pl ays were written
by creating new
styles of writing. Hi s
stories combi ne
conflicts wi th whi ch
both kings and
peasants coul d
identif. Hi s plots
mi rror the everyday
l ives of people, and
encourage the au
di ence to choose
Engl i sh l anguage more than
any other writer i n the world.
He created over 2,000 new
words a nd phrases. They i ncl ude
- school boy, shooting star, pup
py-dog, football, bandit, partner,
good over evi l . He
William Shakespeare
downstai rs, up
stai rs, leapfrog, al l i
gator, and mi mic.
He i ntroduced new
phrases, experi
mented with dif
ferent ki nds of
verse, and i ntro
duced new poeti
cal and grammati
cal structures.
Above al l , his quo
tati ons have stood
the test of time,
and many words -bl ended common
issues i nto hi stories, serious
ness i nto comedies, and hu-
'
mour i nto tragedies. Thi s was a
revol uti onary concept in Shake
speare's ti me.
Shakespeare i nfl uenced the
32
and phrases from his works
have becomea part ofour every
day speech.
Wi l l i am Shakespeare's works
sometimes appear to have a
l anguage of its own. Whi l e most
Tel l Me Why
Engl i sh speakers can boast of a
4000-word vocabul ary, Shake
speare's vocabul ary spanned
over 29,000 words. In fact,
Shakespeare coi ned many of
the terms that are now used i n
everyday speech. Words l i ke
'amazement','gloomy', 'zany',
and 'equivocal' werefirst used by
none other than Shakespeare.
Why is there a controversy
about William Shakespeare?
Some people have suggested
that Shakespeare di dn't real l y
write 'hi s' plays. The i dea that i n
fact, someone el se wrote Shake
speare's plays has been around
for hundreds of years, and has
become known as the 'author
shi p controversy'. Peopl e have
argued that Shakespeare was a
si mple country boy who coul d
not possibly have written i n
such detai l about l ife i n court.
Moreover, i n his hometown of
Stratford, no one seems to have
known that Shakespeare was a
1 00 Great Writers
writer at al l - and none of hi s
plays seemed to have been put
on i n Stratford duri ng hi s l ife,
whi ch seems rather odd.
Fi nal l y when he died, Shake
speare di dn't leave any letters
or diaries that referred to hi s
writing career at al l . No one has
ever found any earl y drafts of a
play, or i ndeed any play of hi s
writings either.
So then, who did write hi s
plays? Many names have been
suggested, i ncl udi ng Queen
El izabeth I , Christopher Mar
lowe, the Earl of Oxford, Roger
Man ners and the Ea rl of Rutla nd.
But remember, these are just
doubts raised by a few people.
To the world at large, Wi l l i am
Shakespeare was undoubtedly,
one of the giants of Engl i sh lit
erature.
Stratjord- Upon-Avon, the birth
place of Shakespeare
33
What was Christopher Marlowe's great
est contribution to English literature?
Christopher Marlowe was born i n Canter
bury in 1 564, the same year as hi s great rival
Wi l l i am Shakespeare. Marlowe was a short
tempered man, qui ckto anger, and to make
enemi es. He spent two weeks in Newgate
jai l in 1589, charged with murder, though
he was later ac
quitted.
Marlowe's dra
matic career
spanned only six
short years. I n that
time, he wrote The
Jew of Malta', The
Tragical Hi story of
Doctor Faustus',
'The Queen of
Carhage','Edward
1 1 ', and 'The Mas
sacre at Paris'. Hi s
A stone monument of
work ranged from
William Shakespeare
tragedy to hi stori-
cal drama. He al so
wrote popul ar poetry such as ' Hero and Le
ander', and 'The Passi onate Shepherd'.
His greatest contribution to Engl i sh thea
tre was his i nfl uenti al use of bl ank verse in
writi ng his dramatic works. Bl ank verse is
verse i n whi ch the l i nes do no
'
t rhyme as
they do i n conventi onal poetry. However,
the l i nes are set to a regul ar beat or metre.
Marlowe was the first to use bl ank verse i n
drama, but Wi l l i am Shakespeare soon fol
lowed his exampl e to great accl ai m.
34
Shakespeare
and Plutarch
Plutarch had a
tremendous in
fluence on the
writings of Wil
liam Shake
speare. This is
especially true in
the case of ' Ju
lius Caesar', and
'Antony and
Cleopatra'
Shakespeare
based these
plays on what he
had read from
Plutarch's 'Lives
of Noble Gre
cians and Ro
mans'. Though
he based the
events in these
plays mostly on
Plutarch's biog
raphy, he also
made additions
to Plutarch's sto
ry for his own
dramatic pur
poses. We can
say that he
sometimes gave
a twist to history
in order to de
velop character
and theme.
Tel l Me Why
Why is Ben Johnson
renowned?
al so got him i nto
troubl e with the au
thorities. Ben Jonson was a
poet, essayist and
pl aywright. I n 1 598,
Jonson wrote what
i s consi dered hi s frst
great play, 'Every
Man in Hi s Humour'.
Di d you know that
Shakespeare acted in
Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson was
al so a great writer
of masques, which
i nvolved music and
danci ng, si nging and
acti ng, and elabo
rate stage setti ngs.
one of jonson's pl ays in 1 6 1 6?
Hi s plays were comedi es that
had eccentric characters in them,
and were very popul ar. Jonson
presented a tragedy, too, i n
1 603, titled 'Sejanus'. However,
the pl ay was unpopul ar, and it
In 1 61 6, Ben Jonson
was appoi nted Poet Laureate
which was a presti gious posi
tion with a substanti al pay. He
is general l y regarded as the
second most i mportant dram
atist after Wi l l i am Shakespeare
duri ng the reign of James I .
Why is Thomas Wyatt's name associated
with sonnets?
Thomas Wyatt was a member of the court
ci rcl e of Henry VI I I . He was popul ar and ad
mi red for hi s attractive appearance and ski l l
i n music, l anguages, and arms. He served on
a number of di pl omati c missi ons and was
knighted i n 1537, but his real fame was as a
poet. None of Wyatt's poems were publ i shed
duri ng his l ifeti me, excepti ng a few poems in
a col lection cal l ed 'The Court of Venus'.
Wyatt, al ong wi th Surrey, was the frst to
i ntroduce the sonnet i nto Engl ish. Di d you
know that Wyatt and another poet Surrey
share the title "father of the Engl i sh sonnet?"
1 00 Great Writers
35
Why is Ihara Saikaku fa
mous in Japan?
I hara Saikaku was a poet
and novelist and one of the
most bri l l i ant fgures of the
1 7th century revival of Japa
nese l itera
ture. Sai kaku
began hi s
l iterary ca-
reer as a
hai kai poet.
A hai kai i s a
comi c l i nked
J a p a n e s e
verse form.
Sai kaku as
toni shed hi s
c o n t e mpo
raries with
his ski l l at
composi ng sequences of
thousands of stanzas in a si n
gl e sitting.
His writi ng captures the
way of the townspeople,
which was sl owly repl aci ng
the ways of the warriors.
At the age of 40, Sai kaku
publ i shed hi s frst work
of fction, 'The Life of an
Amorous Man', which was a
great success. This was fol
lowed by about two dozen
books duri ng the last decade
of hi s l ife.
36
Why is Matsuo Basho re
garded as the master of
haiku poetry?
Matsuo Basho was a
Japanese poet and writer
who l ived in the 1 7th century.
He took hi s pen name Basho
from his 'basho-an', which
was a hut made of pl antai n
leaves, to where he woul d go
to write hi s poems in peace.
Born of a wealthy fami-
Matsuo Basho
Iy, Basho was a
Samurai , or war
rior, unti l the age
of 20, at whi ch
ti me he devoted
hi mself to his po
etry.
Basho was the
mai n fgure i n
the development
of haiku, whi ch
i s a short three
l i ne poem con
sisting of 1 7 syl
lables. He is con
si dered to have
written the most
perfect exam
ples of thi s form
of poetry. Hi s po
etry explores the
beauties of na
ture, and is i n
fl uenced by Zen
Buddhi sm.
Basho's most
famous work
was 'Oku no
H o s o m i c h i '
(Narrow Road to
the Deep North).
Thi s was pub
l i shed in 1 702 af
ter hi s death.
1 00 Great Writers
Why is William Tyndale called 'the a
r

.
chitect of the English language?'
Wi l l i am Tyndal e was a preacher and
schol ar who trans
lated the Bible i nto
an early form of
modern Engl i sh. He
was skil led in eight
l anguages-Hebrew,
Greek, Latin,
Spani sh, French,
Ital ian, Engl i sh, and
German! Both the
ki ng and the Church
William
Tyndale
were
agai nst his
idea of a Bi bl e trans
l ation, and he had to leave the country.
The pri nti ng of the Engl i sh New
Testament was begun at Cologne in 1 525.
Tyndal e was the frst to use Gutenberg'S
movabl e-type press for pri nti ng the scrip
tures in Engl i sh.
The commentaries i n hi s transl ation pro
moted views that were opposed by the
Church. Tyndale's translation was banned,
and Tyndal e hi msel f was burned at the
stake i n 1 536. He was a true schol ar and i s
cal l ed the 'ar
chitect of the
Engl i sh l an
guage' as so
many of the
phrases that he
i nvented are
sti l l in our l an
guage today
37
Thomas Campion
Thomas Campion
Tomas Campion
was a physician, a com
poser, and a poet. His
frst published works
were fve songs, which
appeared in 1591, and
his frst collection of
poems, was published
in Latin in 1595. By
1597, Campion had
focused his attention
almost completely on
writing the words and
music for songs. The
lyrics in his works are
distinguished by their
fne musical quality.
Campion died on March
1, 1620, in London,
probably of the plague.
He never married and
died with only twenty
three pounds to his
name!
38
Why was Thomas More execut
ed?
Thomas More was a successful law
yer and schol ar who wrote a popul ar
book cal led 'Utopia', about an i mag
i nary world that was perfect in eve
ry way. HenryVl 1 i appoi nted hi m to
many hi gh posts and missi ons, and
fnal ly, made hi m Lord Chancel l or i n
1 529. However, he resi gned i n 1 532,
when he disagreed wi th Henry's
opi nions regardi ng marriage and
the supremacy of the Pope.
Thomas More
Tel l Me Why
Thomas More
spen
t
the rest
of hi s l ife in wr
i ti ng, mostly
in defense of
the Church. I n
1 534, he re
fused to ac
cept the King
as the Head of
the Church of Engl and and was
confned to the tower. Fifteen
months later, he was tried and
convi cted of treason. He tol d
the court that he coul d not go
agai nst hi s consci ence, and
tol d hi s judges that he hoped
they woul d meet agai n i n
heaven! He was beheaded on
Jul y 6, 1 535.
Why is Nicholas Udall asso
ciated with English comedy?
Ni chol as Udal l , an Engl i sh
school master, was a transl ator,
playwright and author.
Udal l's pl ay 'Ral ph Roister
Doister' is regarded as the frst
compl ete Engl i sh comedy.
The play is di sti ngui shed by
its elements of native Engl i sh
humour. It is about a brag
gart sol di er-hero who is fnal
l y shown to be a coward. The
play was remarkabl e because it
marks the emergence of come
dy from the medi eval moral ity
1 00 Great Writers
plays and farces. Sadly, 'Ral ph
Roister Doister,' was not pub
l i shed unti l afer the author's
death.
John Skelton
John Skelton
John Skelton's birth and
rank are unknown, yet he
rose to become one of the
closest advisors of King
Henry VI I . He made fun of the
Catholic Church, but the king
appoi nted him to its clergy.
He was praised as the most
gifed poet in England, yet
soon after his death, he was
al most entirely forgotten.
Only in the twentieth century
was Skelton rediscovered,
afer nearly 500 years!
39
What were the
Earl of Surrey's con
tributions
t
o poet-
Henry Howard,
Earl of Surrey was
a mighty soldier. I n
1 537, he fel l out of
favour at the court.
He was i mprisoned
i n Wi ndsor, and
hi s famous poem
' Prisoned i n Wi ndsor'
in whi ch he recal l s
hi s boyhood days i n
Wi ndsor, was written
in the same year. He
was later released,
and came back i nto
favour. But by 1 546,
he had fal l en out of
favour agai n, and
40
Earl of Surrey - a painting
was executed on January 1 9, 1 547 on
Tower Hi l l .
Surrey's works consi st pri mari ly of son
nets and poems. Along with Sir Thomas
Wyatt, he was responsi bl e for bri ngi ng
the sonnet from I tal y i nto Engl i sh poetry
in hi s translations of Vi r gi l . Surrey was al so
the frst Engl i sh poet to publ i sh i n bl ank
verse. Most of hi s poetry was publ ished
posthumousl y in 1 557, ten years after hi s
death.
s Shakespeare hnked to George
5 0 g e'
George Gascoi gne was a sol di er and
poet and was the most versatile writ
er bel ongi ng to the frst hal f of the reign
of Queen El izabeth I. He translated from
Tel l Me Why
Ari osto, the prose come
dy 'Gl i-Suppositi' under the ti
tl e of The Supposes'. I t i s the
frst comedy written i n Engl i sh
prose.
He al so transl ated from
the I tal i an the prose tal e
of 'J eroni mi ' ,
whi ch was per
haps the frst
novel pri nt
ed in Engl i sh.
He wrote the
mock heroic
poem of Dan
B a r t h o l o m
ew, and wrote
three acts
of 'Jocasta',the
George
Gascoigne
frst adaptation of a Greek trag
edy performed on the Engl i sh
stage. George al so prepared
masques for Queen El izabeth
and the The Steel Gl ass', the
frst extensive Engl i sh satire.
Perhaps his greatest trib
ute is the fact that Wi l l iam
Shakespeare used George's
comedy 'The Supposes' as a
source for hi s play 'The Tami ng
of the Shrew.'
What was Jo n Lyly's contri
bution to Engl sh Lite ature?
John Lyly was the frst Engl i sh
writer who wrote several com
edies. He produced no few-
1 00 Great Writers
er than ni ne pieces. He be
came famous with the publ i
cation of the prose romance
'Euphues' or 'The Anatomy of
Wit.' He al so wrote a sequel,
and he started a writi ng style
known as Euphui sm, from the
word ' Euphues' whi ch means
'graceful ' i n Greece. Thi s style
has two di sti nct features. The
sentences are very elaborate,
and there are pl enty of prov
erbs, si mi l es and i ncidents
from history adorni ng the
prose. He also wrote several
prose comedies for chi l dren.
Lyly had a strong i nfl uence
on other writers of his time, i n
cl udi ng Wi l l i am Shakespeare
whose ' Haml et', 'Love's Labour
Lost' and 'Much Ado about
Nothi ng' al l show the i m
pact that Lyly had on hi m.
41
Edmond Spenser
Which work was Edmond
Spenser's masterpiece?
Born around 1 552 , Edmund
Spenser was known as 'the
pri nce of poets'. Hi s master
piece i s undoubtedly 'The
Faerie Queen', a romantic epi c.
Si nce Spenser was not born
i nto a wealthy fami ly, he need
ed a patron to provide for hi s
support whi l e he worked. Pa
trons expect that the artists
they supported to write flat
tering words. Thi s was cer
tai nl y the case with Spenser's
work, 'The Faerie Queen',
which flatters El izabeth I . I n thi s
work, Spenser presents hi s ide
as of what constitutes an ideal
Engl and. Spenser greatly i nfu-
42
enced the other writers of hi s
ti me. Generati ons of readers
students, and schol ars have ad

mi red hi m for hi s unbounded
i magi nati on, hi s i mmense clas
sical and rel i gi ous l earni ng, his
keen understandi ng of moral
and pol itical phi l osophy, and
ul ti mately, hi s abi l ityto del i ght.
Why is Miguel Cervantes'
work the origi n of the word
.
UIXO IC
'
Mi guel Cervantes was a nov
el i st, playwright, and poet and
the creator of Don Qui xote, the
most famous fgure i n Spani sh
l iterature. As a chi l d, Cervantes
led an adventurous l ife, trav
el l i ng around Spai n with hi s
father, who sol d medicines.
When he grew up, he went to
Italy and joi ned a Spani sh reg-
f
i ment in Naples. He yas once
captured by pi rates, and spent
fve years as a slave unti l hi s
fami l y coul d rai se enough mon
ey to pay hi s ransom. Hi s frst
play was based on hi s experi
ences as a captive. He sufered
bankruptcy and was i mpris
oned at least twice. However,
it i s general l y bel i eved that
Cervantes was honest, but
a vi cti m of ci rcumstances.
His greatest work i s 'Don
Quixote' that he wrote whi l e
i n pri son. Hi s i dea was to give a
picture of real l ife and manners
and to express hi msel f in cl ear
l anguage, i n si mpl e words and
everyday forms of speech. The
book gi ves a panorami c view
of the T 7'" century Spani sh so
ciety. The central characters
are an el derly, i deal istic knight,
who sets out on hi s old horse
to seek adventure, and a ma
terial i stic squi re Sancho Panza,
who accompanies his master
from one fai l ure to another.
I n fact, the book i nspi red the
word ' quixotic' which means
'fool i shl y i mpractical though
i nspi red by hi gh i deal s.'
The book was a great suc
cess. Accordi ng to a story, King
Phi l i p I I I of Spai n once saw a
1 00 Great Writers
MigueZ Cerantes
man readi ng besi de the road
and l aughi ng so much that
the tears were rol l i ng down
hi s cheeks. The ki ng sai d, 'That
man i s either crazy or he is
readi ng Don Quixote!" Is it any
wonder that the book's been
around for four hundred years,
and has i nspi red vi rtual l y eve
ry l iterary movement from the
eighteenth-century onwards?
43
Lope de Vega
Why was Lope de Vega con
sidered to be a prodigy?
Lope de Vega was a prol ifc
playwright, pi oneer of Spani sh
drama. He was the author of as
many as T comedies and
several hundred shorter dra
mati c pieces, of whi ch about
bhave been pri nted. His l ife
was as dramati c as hi s plays.
As a chi ld, Lope was con
si dered to be a prodigy. He
started to compose verses at
an earl y age, before he coul d
use a pen. At the age of ten
he started to transl ate po- ,
ems from Latin, and at twelve
Lope wrote his frst play!
He joi ned the Spani sh
Armada, but escaped the fate
of many of hi s fel l ow sol di ers
in the war agai nst Britai n. He
4
returned home safely, and
even composed an epi c poem
duri ng his six month voyage.
Lope was the frst Spani sh
dramatist to make hi s l i vi ng as
a playwright. He wrote romanc
es, verse hi stories of recent
events, verse biographies of
sai nts, prose tales, and poems.
Most of Lope's plays revolve
around the confi cti ng cl ai ms of
love and honour. Hi s most pop
ul ar work is 'The Sheep Wel l ' .
Why is Calderon famous
as a Spanish dramatist?
Pedro Cal deron was a dram
atist and poet who succeed
ed Lope de Vega as the great
est Spani sh pl aywright of the
Gol den Age. He wrote his frst
play when he was onl y thi r-
Pedro Calderon
Tel l Me Why
teen. Cal deron was sti l l very
young when he was

commis
sioned by Phi l i p I V to write
a series of plays for the roy-
al theatre in the Buen Retiro.
Cal deron's early pl ays had been
of a secul ar nature. However,
his later dramas were deeply
rel i gious i n theme and treat
ment. In fact, many commen
tators thi nk that Cal deron was
at hi s best as a wri ter of 'autos,'
whi ch are rel i gi ous plays that
resembl e the Engl i sh Mystery
plays of the Mi ddl e Ages.
Calderon's works are mark
ed by i ntense devotion to
the church, absol ute loyal
ty to the king, and a high
ly developed sense of hon
our. Probably the best known
of his dramatic works is the
secul ar play, 'Life i s a Dream'.
1 00 Great Writers
Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo
was a writer of the Spanish
Golden Age. Quevedo's
style relied on the use
of wit and elaborate
metaphors. It refected
of his own somewhat
cynical attitude towards
literature as a whole.
Quevedo was fercely
distrustful of complicated
literature, and he
attempted to introduce a
style of poetry that was,
for his time, remarkably
clean and concise. A
gifted novelist as well,
Quevedo was notorious
as a master satirist, and
he used his considerable
talent for mockery to
make fun of other writers.
45
Francois Villon
Why was the poet Francois
Villon different from other
writers of his day?
Francois Vi l l on was a poet
and schol ar who led the l ife of
a cri mi nal . He kil l ed a priest i n
T 4bb, then joi ned a cri mi nal
organization and became i n
volved i n robbery, thef, and
brawl i ng. I mprisoned sever
al ti mes, he received a death
sentence i n T 4, which
was changed to bani shment.
His works were publ ished af
ter hi s death and they were i n
the form of bequests to fri ends
and acquai ntances. Hi s famo
us work 'The Testament' re
views hi s l ife with great emo
tional and poetic depth.
Why did one of Moliere's comic plays have a tragic end?
Mol iere, whose real name
was Jean Baptiste Poquel i n,
composed twelve of the most
famous ful l-l ength comedies of
al l ti me. He was al so the lead
ing French comi c actor and
stage di rector i n the T 7'"centu
ry. Mol iere establ i shed comedy
as a serious, fl exi bl e art form.
Mol i ere's troupe was given
a permanent theatre in Paris
by King Loui s XIV. From that
ti me onwards, His pl ays at
tacked human weaknesses
such as snobbi shness, hypoc
risy and meanness. On Feb T 7,
T 7J, Mol i ere col l apsed of a
46
l ung ai l ment whi l e performi ng
the pl ay and di ed. a truly trag
ic end to a comic playwright!
I Me y
How did John Donne's po
etry refect his life?
John Donne trai ned as a law
yer, but his frst job was as a
government ofci al . He secret
ly married hi s employer's ni ece,
and hi s earl iest poems are some
of the most passi onate love po
ems ever written. Later on, he
became a priest, and hi s poet
ry changed too. He now dealt
mostly with rel i gi ous themes.
His most famous poem,
'Death be not Proud' re
mai ns one of the al l ti me clas
si cs of Engl i sh Literature.
Why is'Paradise Lost' one of
the greatest amongst English
poems?
John Mi lton was one of the
greatest of Engl i sh poets. His
powerful prose and the elo
quence of his poetry had an i m
mense i nfuence, especi al ly on
' 00 Great Writers
the T '" century verse. Besides
poems, Mi lton publ i shed pam
phlets defendi ng civil and re
l i gi ous ri ghts. I n T b T , Mi lton
became bl i nd. However, bl i nd
ness hel ped hi m to sti mul ate hi s
verbal ri chness. Mi lton's mas
terpi ece is 'Paradise Lost ,' whi ch
tel l s the bi bl i cal story of Adam
and Eve, who were tempted
by Satan i nto di sobeying God.
I t i s an extremely l ong poem,
and amazi ngly, it was com
posed enti rel y i n Mi lton's head,
and di ctated to members of hi s
fami ly. Thi s epi c poem i n bl ank
verse was divided i nto twelve
books, and Mi lton decl ared
that his aim in writi ng it was to
justif the ways of God to men.
John Milton
47
How did Francois
Rabelais make hi s
reade s laugh'
Francois Rabel ai s
was a Franci scan
monk, humanist, and
physician, whose com
ic novel s 'Gargantua'
and ' Pa nt agr uel ' a re
among the most hi lar
ious cl assics of world
l iterature. These books
describe the adven
tures of a giant father
and son, both of whom
have enormous appe
tites. Rabel ai s made
hi s readers l augh by
havi ng hi s rude but
funny gi ants travel i n
a world ful l of greed,
stupidity, vi ol ence,
and grotesque jokes.
Rabel ais mixed i n
his books el ements
from different narra-
48
tive forms, and peppered them with
broad popul ar humour. With his food
of outrageous ideas and anecdotes,
Rabel ais emphasized the physical joys
of l i fe - food, dri nk, and bodi ly func
ti ons- and mocked asceticism and op
pressive rel i gi ous and political forces. I n
fact, though Rabel ai s constantly made
hi s readers l augh, hi s books are al so i m
portant, because they brought to l i ght
and attacked the worst pol itical, educa
ti onal and pol itical abuses of his time.
Why is Thomas Nashe's 'The
Unfortunate Traveller' called a pica
resque novel '
Thomas Nashe bel onged to a ci rcl e of
writers who came to London duri ng the
rei gn of Queen El izabeth I and wrote
for the stage and the press. Usi ng the
pen name 'Pasqui l ' Nashe wrote sever
al pamphlets, and was also i nvolved i n
several l i terary controversies.
Francois Rabelais
Tel l Me Why
I n T b9 Nashe wrote ' Pi erce
Penni l esse', a short book
about a writer so sick of being
broke he decides to try a new
patron - the Devi l . It was an i n
stant hit. I n T b9J,he was jai led
by the London authorities for
criticizing them in a rel igi ous
pamphlet, 'Christ's Tears'. Four
years later, Nashe co-wrote a
pl ay cal led The I sl e of Dogs.' I t
caused such uproar that al l
the theatres were closed and
Nashe hi msel f had to cl ear out
of London, barel y escaping ar
rest.
Duri ng hi s career, Nashe
tried different types of writi ng,
and hi s novel The Unfortunate
Travel l er' i s thought to have
been the frst picaresque nov
el . A picaresque novel was an
early form of novel whi ch was a
frst person account of the ad
ventures of a rogue as he drifs
from pl ace to pl ace. Nashe
wrote about the wi l d over
seas adventures of a young
ster cal led Jack Wi l ton. Nashe
1 00 Great Writers
Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd was one
of the most important of
the English Elizabethan
dramatists who preced
ed Shakespeare. Kyd's best
known play, 'The Spanish
Tragedy', was the most pop
ular and infuential trag
edy of Elizabethan times.
In its day, 'The Spanish
Tragedy' was even more
popular than Shakespeare's
plays, and it continued to
be performed throughout
the Elizabethan period. The
only other play which can be
attributed to Kyd with cer
tainty is 'Cornelia', which he
adapted from a French play
by Robert Garnier.
i s admi red for his fre and i nde
pendence, and hi s new way of
handl i ng words. Nashe,s l ive
ly style survived hi m and has
had a bi g efect on subsequent
writers.
49
John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was
to be the last of the
great Elizabethan
playwrights. It was
mankind's angui sh
and evil which cap
tured his i magina
tion. But hi s verse
is poetry of the
hi ghest order, and
holds its own with
the best poets of
the period. Hi s most
famous work are
'The White Devil'
and 'The Duchess
of Malf'. Afer 'The
Duchess of Malf'
Webster lapsed
into mostly sec
ond-rate work. He
died i n the 1630's,
and afer his death,
Elizabethan thea
tre began to de
cline.
50
Why is John Fletcher considered a
great comedy playwright?
John Fl etcher came from a fami l y whi ch
has given many disti ngui shed names
to Engl i sh l iterature. He col l aborated
with Franci s Beaumont and other drama
tists on comedi es and tragedi es between
about T and I b. Fl etcher seems to
have preferred comedy and thi s i s cer
tai nly what he i s best-known for.
The frst of the plays that Fl etcher wrote
in col l aboration wi th Franci s Beaumont
was 'The Woman-Hater' but thei r most
famous play was the uproari ously-fun
ny 'Kni ght of the Burni ng Pestle'. They
even made fun of the audi ence, espe
ci al l y people who l i ked to sit on the stage
and i nterfere with the play. Afer the i m
mense success of thi s play, Beaumont
and Fletcher never l ooked back. It was
a sad day for Engl i sh
theatre when Franci s
Beaumont died pre
maturel y of a fever i n
I T .
Fl etcher's frst re
corded sol e-author
shi p pl ay was 'The
Faithful Shepherdess',
and he conti nued
to write plays on hi s
John Fletcher
own. These i ncl uded
a hi storical tragedy, comedies, a pol iti cal
drama and a tragedy. Hi s pl ays are fast
movi ng, well-constructed, and, in the
<ase of the comedies, sti l l funny.
Tel l Me Why
Virginia Wool
Why is Virgi ni a Woolf cred
ited with re-inventing the
novel?
The Engl i sh novel i st, crit
ic, and essayist Vi rgi nia Woolf
ranks as one of England's most
di sti nguished writers of the
mi ddl e part of the twentieth
century. Her novels can per
haps best be descri bed as i m
pressi oni stic, whi ch is a l iter
ary style whi ch attempts to i n
spi re i mpressi ons rather than
recreati ng real i ty. I n T 9T 7, for
amusement, she and her hus
band Leonard Woolf founded
100 Great Writers
Hogarth Press by setti ng
and hand pri nti ng on an ol d
press 'Two Stories' by ' L. and V.
Woolf.' The vol ume was a suc
cess, and over the years they
publ ished many i mportant
books.
Hogarth Press publ i shed the
best and most ori gi nal work
that came to its attenti on, and
the Woolfs as publ i shers fa
voured young and unknown
writers. Vi rgi ni a Woolf herself
was the author of about ff
teen books. The last, 'A Writer's
Diary', was publ ished in T 9bJaf
ter her death. Her most famous
works are ' Mrs. Dal l oway', 'To
the Li ghthouse', and 'Jacob's
Room' as wel l as 'The Voyage
Out,' and ' Ni ght Out.' Virgi nia
al so wrote experi mental nov
els and is credited with re-in
venti ng the novel. She was
al so a cham
pi on of wom
en's rights as
i s seen from
her essay
'A Room of
One's Own.' __ ....
Why is H.G.Wells known as
a writer of science fction?
Herbert
'
George Wel l s was
not only an author; he was
also a sociologist, journal i st,
and a histori an. He was a fan
tastic and very descri ptive writ
er, and gai ned fame as an au
thor of science fction, though
he wrote on other themes l i ke
politics and history al so. Some
of H.G. Wel l s' most famous
books are 'War of the Worlds'
and 'The Ti me Machi ne.' He
wrote many other books, such
Mark Twain
How did Mark Twain's love
for the Mississippi enrich
English Literature?
Mark Twai n i s one of the aI /
ti me great American authors.
Twai n was raised in Hanni bal ,
Mi ssouri and as a young man
hel d a series of jobs. Hi s 'pen
name', Mark Twai n, was taken
from Mi ssi ssi ppi riverboat ter-
b2
as 'The Worl d Set Free,' 'The
Soul of a Bi shop,' 'The Secret
Pl aces of the Heart' and many
more.
I n one of his books, 'War of
the Worl ds,' H.G. Wel l s writes
about Marti ans attacking Earth.
mi nol ogy- it i s the river man's
term for water two fathoms
deep. Twai n's l ove of thi s great
river i nspi red hi m and shi nes
through al l hi s works. His real
name was Samuel Langhorne
Cl emens. Hi s humorous tal es of
human nature, especi al l y 'The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer'
and ' Huckl eberry Fi nn' remai n
standard texts i n hi gh school
and college l iterature classes.
Through these two most pop
ular and loved novels, Twai n
captured hi s boyhood esca-
I n another book, 'The Ti me
Machi ne,' the mai n charac
ter bui l ds a time machi ne, i n
whi ch he coul d travel i nto
the future. Wel l s' books made
people i nterested i n science
and space. I n his time not
many peopl e bel i eved in the
sort of technol ogy used i n hi s
books. The peopl e who were
al ive then woul d probabl y
be amazed at our technol
ogy now. Wel l s' books were
somewhat l i ke predictions,
and therein l i es his greatness.
pades al ong the Missi ssi ppi
River. The stories are ful l
of adventure and humour.
I n hi s own day, Twain was a
tremendously popul ar fg
ure and a cel ebrated pub
l i c speaker who toured wide
ly. Other Twai n cl assics i n
cl ude 'Life on the Missi ssi ppi ',
'A Connecticut Yankee i n
Ki ng Arthur's Court', and the
short story 'The Cel ebrated
Jumpi ng Frog of Cal averas
County'. He i s also known for
hi s travel book 'The I nnocents
Abroad.' Consi dered the great
est humourist i n Ameri can l it
erature, Twai n's varied works
i ncl ude novels, short stories,
and essays.
1 00 Great Writers
Who wrote Dracula?
Do you l i ke horror stories?
Wel l , one of the greatest hor
ror stories was written by
Bram Stoker, the author of
the cl assi c T 97vampi re nov
el Dracul a.
Abraham ' Bram' Stoker was
a sickl y chi l d, and his mother
tol d hi m a lot of horror stories
whi ch may have i nfuenced
his l ater writi ngs. Stoker later
became an outstandi ng ath
lete. He was in the civil serv
ice for T years and the man
ager of actor Henry I rving for
7years, writing letters for hi s
employer and accompanyi ng
hi m on tours. Duri ng thi s pe
riod, he wrote many fantastic
stories and novels, cementing
hi s famewith Dracul a. Stoker's
tal e made vampi res famous,
and hi s Count 'Dracul a' be
came the model for the popu
l ar movie Dracul as of the '"
Edith Wharton
What was Edith Wharton's
contribution to English
era ure?
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54
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Why was Robert Lewis
Stevenson called 'tusitala'?
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Robert Louis Stevenson
Mary SheUey
P. B. Shel ley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major
English romantic poets widely considered
to be among the fnest lyric poets in the
English language and the husband of Mary
Shelley. He combined powerul poetic
gifts with a questioning mind and made an
emotional and passionate appeal for the
social improvement of society. His greatest
works were 'Prometheus Unbound', 'To a
Skylark', and 'Adonais.' He drowned while
sailing off the Italian coast.
Mary Shelley was an English romantic
novelist, biographer, and editor who is
best known as the writer of 'Frankenstein'.
When she was just nineteen she visited
the poet Lord Byron with her lover Percy
Shel ley- and she wrote the story after
Byron dared his guests to write ghost
stories. Mary wrote a really scary tale
about a scientist who created a monster
out of body parts, and the monster was
so terrifying that Mary and Frankenstein
became immortal!
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1 00 Great Writers
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Why was Bernard Shaw so
controversial?
George Bernard Shaw
Which author has a
footbal l team named
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Walter Scott
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56
Tel l Me Why
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George Orwell
George Orwell was a British novelist,
essayist, and critic. He served for fve
years in the Burmese police, and
also lived for some time as a tramp
and dishwasher! His most famous
book was 'Animal Farm' in which he
attacked the Russian Revolution.
His other famous book ' Ni neteen
Eighty Four', describes the horrors of
dictatorship.
George Orwell
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1 00 Great Writers
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57
Don't fear!
I'm ypur
masterpiece
Why is 'Moby Dick' consid
ered Herman Melville's mas
terpiece?
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Why did U. H. Lawrence
t avel extensively.
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D. H. Lawrence
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Why did Rudyard Kipli ng's
poor eyesight prove a bless
ing in disguise?
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1 00 Great Writers
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59
James Joyce
Why was James Joyce re
garded as an i nnovator i n
20th century writing?
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Why di d Henry James write
such detailed descriptions?
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Henr James
Tel l Me Why
1 | | name my new
book "The | O Man
and the Sea"
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Why did Ernest Heming
way's writings refect hi s ad
venturous life?
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1 00 Great Writers
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Ernest Hemingway
61
Why di d Nathaniel Haw
thorne write about witch
craft?
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62
Why is Thomas Hardy con
sidered i mmortal?
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Tel l Me Why
Thomas Hardy
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Why did Mary Anne Evans
write under the name George
Eliot?
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1 00 Great Writers
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Mar Anne Evans
63
Why is 'Madame Bovary'
considered Gustave
Flaubert' s masterpiece?
Fl aubert was French novelist
of the real i st school . He aban
doned hi s l aw studies at age 22
for a l ife of writ
i ng. As a writ
er, Fl aubert was
a perfecti oni st,
and he bel ieved
that a novel ist
shoul d not judge,
teach, or expl ai n,
but remai n neu
tral . Fl aubert
i s known best
for hi s sensa
t i onal ' Madame
Bovary'. Written i n 1 857, i t i s
a cl assi c tal e of romance and
retribution. The novel created
a storm, and its subject mat
ter and real i sti c treatment out
raged French society. Fl aubert
was brought before the court
and acquitted- on charges of
obscenity
'Madame Bovary' remai ns
one of the most frequent
ly taught works of French l it
erature both in France, and i n
universities across the worl d.
The novel took fve years to
complete. Duri ng thi s time,
Fl aubert worked in sul l en soli-
64
tude, sometimes taking a week
to complete one page. He was
never satisfed with what he
had composed, and vi ol ent
ly tormented his brai n for the
best turn of a phrase, the most
absol utely fnal adjective. Hi s
other novel s i ncl ude the exot
ic 'Sal ammbo', 'A Senti mental
Education', The Temptation
of Sai nt Anthony' and Trois
Contes'. But there i s no doubt
at al l that ' Madame Bovary'
was hi s masterpiece.
Why were the novels of
Charles Dickens so popular?
Charl es Di ckens was one of
the most i nfl uential and great
est writers of the Victori an era.
From 1 837 ti l l
1 841 , Charl es
took to writ
i ng nov
el s, but hi s
novel s were
publ i shed i n
smal l parts
i nstead of
at one ti me.
He wrote
novels l i ke
^
'Ol iver Twist', CharlesDickens
' N i c h o l a s
Nickel by', and The Ol d
Curi osi ty Shop'. From 1 841
to 1 860, Charles wrote a few
Tel l Me Why
more novels, whi ch were
very much based on hi s per
sonal experience. 'David
Copperfeld', ' Bl eak House', 'A
Tale of Two Citi es", and 'Great
Expectations', are among hi s
famous works duri ng that pe
riod. Because hi s novels were
publ i shed i n i nstal ments i n pe
riodicals, many more people
coul d aford to read them, as
periodi cal s were not as expen
sive as books. Moreover, each
i nstal ment would end with
a hook that kept his readers
wonderi ng what was comi ng
next, thus ensuri ng the sal es of
the next i nstal ment!
Di ckens also took part in pro
tests and campai gns agai nst
soci al i njustice, hypocrisy i n
the society and wrote stories,
pamphlets, and pl ays in thi s
context. Although Di ckens's
mai n professi on was as a nov
el ist, he conti nued hi s journal
i sti c work unti l the end of hi s
l ife
Di ckens had the rare gi f of
being abl e to capture the i m
agi nation of the audi ence. Hi s
powers of observation were
amazi ng, and he had a rare
wit. Hi s characters were un
forgettable, and hi s command
of the l anguage i ncredi ble.
1 00 Great Writers
Dickens was a sympathizer of
the poor, the suferi ng, and the
oppressed and when he di ed,
one of Engl and's greatest writ
ers was lost to the worl d.
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe was an
observant reporter, histo
rian, humorist, and grand
story teller. He is best
known as the author of the
famous book 'Robinson
Crusoe.' It i s the story
of a shipwrecked sailor
who is washed ashore
on a desered island. He
spends 28 years on this
remote tropical island enc
ountering natives, cap
tives, and muti neers be
fore being rescued. The
story is written in a simple
narrative style, and is
considered to be one of
the most widely published
books in history.
65
Lewis Carroll
Which famous children's
author was also a brilliant
mathematician?
Have you heard of the maths
teacher who wrote chi l dren's
novel s? Lewis Carrol l di d
just that. Whi l e working as a
maths lecturer at Christchurch,
Oxford, he wrote novels for
chi l dren. He al so wrote bri l l iant
mathematical works!
'Lewis Carrol l ' was the pen
name adopted by Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson. Carrol l
was very shy, and hi d hi s
hands conti nual l y i n a pair of
grey-and-bl ack gl oves. He was
troubl ed by a stammer, but
he got al ong well with chi l
dren. Duri ng a pi cni c i n 1 862,
Carrol l tol d a l ong story to a
gi rl named Al i ce Li ddel l . Hi s fa
mous book, Al ice's Adventures
66
in Wonderl and,' was born out of
this tale. Al ice, a seven year ol d
gi rl is the heroi ne of thi s story.
She dreams that she pl unges
down a rabbi t hol e. She meets
such strange creatures as the
Cheshi re cat, the Mad Hatter,
the March Hare and the Ki ng
and queen of hearts. The i nci
dents i n this novel are i l l ogi cal
and have a dream l i ke qual ity.
Thi s story is continued in the
novel, 'Through the Looki ng
Gl ass,' whi ch i s even more fa
mous. Lewis Carrol l del ighted
his friends with games, puz
zles and ri ddl es and some of
hi s novel s have puzzled gener
ati ons of readers.
Ripley's Five Books
ou may be familiar with
Rober L. Ripley's 'Believe
it or Not'. Once an author
asked him. "What fve
books would you take
along if you were forced
to spend fve years in
exile on a deser island?"
Ripley replied. " I will ta
ke the Bible, The Good
Earh by Pearl S. Buck,
Les Miserables by Victor
Hugo, Outline of History
by H.G. Wells, and Believe
it or Not!"
Tel l Me Why
Why are the Bronte sisters famous?
The Bronte sisters l ed a strange and trou
bled l ife. They lost their mother at an earl y
age, and two of thei r sisters died whil e they
were i n school . They l ived i n a cold house by
the Pari sh graveyard. Yet Charl otte, Emi ly,
and Anne Bronte wrote some of the finest
novels i n the Engl i sh
l anguage.
A si mple present
from thei r father, a
box of toy sol di ers,
changed the course
of thei r l ife. Char
lotte seized a toy
sol di erand decl ared
hi m to be her hero.
This sparked thei r
i magi nation, and
they began to
write.
In 1 846, the three
Bronte Sisters
si sters publ i shed a
col lection of poems
at thei r own expense. Just two copies were
sol d. Thi s fai l ure did not defeat them. Each
one started writi ng a novel, but al l the three
novels were later rejected by publ i shers. Fi
nal l y i n 1 847, Charl otte Bronte's novel, 'Jane
Eyre,' was publ i shed. It became an i mmedi
ate success. The same year saw the publ ica
tion of Emi ly Bronte's novel 'Wutheri ng
Hei ghts' and Anne Bronte's, 'Agnes Grey'.
Curiously, al l the three Bronte sisters wrote
under mal e pen names! Thus the Bronte si s
ters made l iterary hi story.
1 00 Great Writers
Famous
Pen Names
I nstead of their
real names,
some writers
used pen
names. Here
are some fa
mous pen
names. Their
real names are
in brackets:
Boz (Charles
Dickens), Lewis
Carroll (Charles
Lutwidge
Dodgson),
George Eliot
(MaryAnn
Evans), Maxim
Gorki (Aleksei
Peshkov), Knut
Hamsun (Knut
Pedersen),
O.Henry (WiI
liamSydney
Porer), George
Orwell (Eric
Arthur Blair),
Saki (Hector
Hugh Munro),
Mark Twain
(Samuel Lang
horne Clem
ens), Voltaire
(Francois Marie
Arouet).
67
Enid Blyton
Why is Enid
Blyton a legend i n
children's litera
ture?
Enid Blyton l it up
the world of chi l dren with her books. She
was the el dest of three chi l dren. Her father
Thomas Ca rey Blyton pa i nted, wrote poetry,
played the pi ano, and was a photographer
too. Eni d Blyton was brought up to be a
musi ci an. Her fami ly thought her writi ng
was a waste of ti me!
I n 1 91 7, her first publ i shed poem ap
peared in Nash's Magazi ne. She edited
' Sunny Stories', a new magazi ne for chi l
dren. Many of her stories, plays, and songs
were wel l received.
Blyton's first ful l-l ength chi l dren's adven
ture book, The Secret I sl and' was publ i shed
i n 1 938. This was a fast movi ng story woven
around loveable characters. This led to such
series as The Famous Five', The Secret
Why is it said that Jane
Austen's novels mark the
transition in English litera
ture from neoclassicism to
romanticism?
frequently featured i n her nov
el s. Romanti ci sm also gave i m
portance to i nspi rati on. Jane
Austen's novels were bri l l i antly
witty and beautifully struc
tured.
Jane Austen, the noted Eng
l i sh novel i st made
romanticism fash
ionabl e. I n romanti
ci sm, the author's
feel i ngs, tastes, and
opi ni ons fi nd thei r
way i nto the writi ng.
This i s cal l ed subjec
tivity. For i nstance,
Jane Austen loved
danci ng, and it is
68
Jane Austen
Unl i ke most other
writers, Jane Austen
had a happy chi l d
hood. She was the
seventh chi l d of Rev
erend George Austen
and hi s wife Cassan
dra. She was born i n
Hampshi re, Engl and.
At the age of four
teen, she wrote her
Tel l Me Why
Seven', 'The Adventure Series',
'The Mystery Series' and the ' Bar
ney' mystery books. Her works
cel ebrate good food, the spi rit of
fri endshi p, and honesty.
Blyton coul d write 1 0,OOOwords
a day! In 1 940,
el even books
were pub
l i shed in her
name.Blyton's
books have
sold over 60
mi l l i on cop
ies!
first novel , 'Love and Fri endshi p'. I n
her early twenties, Jane Austen
wrote three novels. They were later
re-worked and publ i shed as 'Sense
and Sensi bi l ity', ' Pri de and Preju
dice,' and ' Northanger Abbey'.
'Sense and Sensi bi l ity' and ' Pri de
and Prejudice' were publ ished i n
1 81 1 and 1 8 1 3 respectively. ' Mans
field Park' came out i n 1 81 4, and
' Emma', i n 1 81 6. Jane Austen died at
the age of forty one. Northanger
Abbey was publ i shed i n 1 8 1 8, the
year after her death. None of the
books publ i shed i n her l ifeti me had
her name on them - they were de
scribed as bei ng written 'By a Lady'!
1 00 Great Writers
5omersetMaugham's
bestTen
Theworld
famous
writer
Somerset
Maugham
(in picture)
selected
the following as the 1 0
best novels of the world:
1 . War and Peace (1 866)
by Leo Tolstoy
2. Pere Goriot (1 834)
by Honore de Balzac
3. Tom Jones (1 749)
by Henry Fielding
4. Pride and Prejudice
( 1 81 3) by Jane Austen
5. The Red and the Black
( 1 831 ) by Stendhal
6. Wuthering Heights
(1 848) by Emily Bronte
7. Madame Bovary ( 1857)
by Gustave Flauber
8. David Copperield
(1 849-1 850) by
Charles Dickens
9. The Brothers Karama
zov ( 1 880) by Fyodor
Dostoevsky
1 0. Moby Dick ( 1851 )
by Herman Melville
69
Why is Dosto-
evsky regirded as
the father of Rus
sian realism and the
master of psycho
logical realism?
Fi rst thi ngs first.
based on his experi
ence in Siberia.
Dostoevsky's fic
ti on i s notabl e for its
deep and i ntense
understandi ng of
human psychology.
In his novel 'Cri me
and Puni shment',
the young Raskol ni k
Real i sm refers to the
representation of
thi ngs in a way that
i s true to l ife. Fyodor
Dostoevsky was a
Fyodor Dostoevsky
ov murders a pawn
master of real i sm. His l ife reads
l i ke a story. Dostoevsky was
born i n Moscow, Russia, to
Mi khai l Dostoevsky, an army
surgeon, and Mari a Nechaeva.
Hi s father was an al cohol ic, and
hi s fami ly l ived i n fear. Hi s best
friend was murdered when
Dostoevsky was ni ne years ol d.
I n 1 846, he publ i shed 'Poor
Fol k'. Thi s book l aunched hi s
writi ng career.
However, Dostoevsky started
attendi ng meetings of a group
whi ch was i nterested i n reform
ing Russi an society. He was
thrown i nto prison, and sen
tenced to death. M in utes befor
hi s execution, hewas pardoned,
and his sentence reduced to
five years of hard l abour in Sibe
ria. 'The House of the Dead'
publ i shed in 1 862 was a fic
ti onal account of pri son l ife
70
broker, and under
goes mental sufferi ng. I n hi s
novel, 'The I di ot', Dostoevsky
criticised materi al ism, the ten
dency to consider belongi ngs,
and physical comfort as more
i mportant than spi ritual val ues.
'The Brothers Karamazov' was
Dostoevsky's l ast novel. Love,
hate and the search for God
were the subjects of thi s novel.
It i s the first ma-
/
jor work i n psy-

chol ogi cal real- 1

ism. In spite of
poor physical
heal th and epi
l eptic attacks,
D o s t o e v s k y
went on to be
come the father
of Russi an real
i sm, and master
of psychol ogi
cal real i sm.
Tel l Me Why
Why i s Best Sellers
James Feni
more Cooper
considered to be
thefirst true Ameri-
Do you know which are the
best selling books of all time?
'The Bible,' comes first and 'Quota
tions from the Works of Mao Tse-
can novelist?
A badly written novel
sparked of James Cooper's writ-
tung' comes second in
this list.
ing career. Afer readi ng the novel, he
boasted to his wife that he coul d write
better than that. His wife chal l enged hi m
to prove it. Thus, the gentl eman farmer
who had i nherited a mountai n of debt,
unexpectedl y turned i nto a successful
writer.
However, Cooper's first book, ' Precau
tion', was a fai l ure. His second, The Spy'
publ i shed in 1 821 became an i nstant suc
cess. It was publ i shed both in the U.b and
Europe. Most of hi s novels tel l the tal e of
American settlers and thei r conflict with
the native Red I ndi ans. His l ove for the
wi l d was reflected i n hi s works. Cooper
was prol ific. He produced book afer book.
His ' Leatherstocking Tales' were wel l
loved. These featured the adventures of
Natty Bumppo, the resourceful American
settler. As a mark of respect to hi s dead
mother, he took Feni more as hi s mi ddl e
name.
Cooper came from a weal thy fami l y
whi ch founded Cooperstown, New York,
but it had fal l en on bad days. His famous
novel, The Last of the Mohicans', publ i shed
in 1 826, has discontinuation of both a way
of l ife and a fami ly l i ne as its theme. I n 1 834,
1 00 Great Writers
he publ ished 'A Le
tter to Hi s Country
men', whi ch criti
cized American cul
ture. American news
papers made hi m out
to be a vi l l ai n! James
James Fenimore
Cooper
Feni more Cooper,
the first true Ameri
can novelist di ed on
September 1 4, 1 851
at hi s home, one day
short of hi s sixty sec
ond bi rthday.
71
Why does Alexander Dumas
enjoy a special place among
French writers?
Alexander Dumas, the great
French writer, never wrote a
compl ete novel by hi mself! He
woul d come up with the pl ot,
characters, and ofen some of
the i mportant passages, but
the mai n writi ng was done by a
changi ng group of assi stants!
He i s famous for creating the
characters of L'Artagan, Athos,
Arami sand Porth os in 'The Three
Musketeers'. A musket i s a gun
with a l ong barrel. Further ad
ventures of the musketeers fol
lowed i n 'Twenty Years Afer',
and 'The Vicomtede Bragel one'.
His other famous creation was
'The Count of Monte Cri sto'. He
al so wrote many plays and sto
ries.
Why is 'Gull iver's Travels'
known as Jonathan Swift's
the masterpiece?
I magi ne bei ng trapped in a
l and of ti ny people. In 'Gul liver's
Travels', Gul l iver i s washed on
to the shore of Li l l i put, fol l ow
i ng a shi pwreck. For the ti ny
peopl e of Li l l i put, Gul l iver i s a
gi ant. Then he l ands up in Brob
di ngnag, a land of giants. There
he i s seen as ti ny, and i s even
put i nto a bi rd cage!
Washington Irving
2
Have you heard about the fictional character, 'Rip Van
Winkle'? He slept for so many years that when he got up his
clothes had grown out of fashion! Well, Washington Irving
created Rip Van Winkle. He appears in I rving's most famous
work, 'The Sketch Book', published in 1 81 9. Washington Irv
ing was also the first American to make a living solely out of
writing.
Tel l Me Wh
Gul l iver escapes, and arrives at a country
of gentle tal ki ng horses. The genui ne affec
tion they have for each other moves Gul l iver
so much so that he l ongs to stay with them.
'Gul l iver's Travels' i s the masterpiece of
Jonathan Swif, the Engl i sh-I ri sh author. Try
to get a copy of Gul l iver's Travel s. You are
sure to enjoy it!
Why are the
b
ooks of Victor Hugo still
ular.
Victor Hugo's funeral was a nati onal event
attended by two mi l l i on people. Hi s charac
ters live on one hundred and thi rty two
years after his death. Jean Val Jean, the hero
of 'Les Mi serables' is l abel l ed a cri mi nal for
l ife because he stole a loaf of bread. The
novel throws l i ght on the soci al condi ti ons
i n Hugo's France. Hugo wrote thi s novel
whi l e in exi le. The hunchbacked bell ri nger
Quasi modo, and hi s tragi c love for Esmer
al da, the beautiful gypsy gi rl are portrayed
in his novel 'Notre-Dame de Paris'. It was pub
l ished in 1 831 .with this novel, Hugo gained
lasting fame. In 1 841 , Victor Hugo was el ected
to the presti gious Academi e Francaise. Vic
tor Hugo al so pub
l i shedseveral vol umes
of l yric poetry.
1 00 Great Writers
Victor Hugo
BEST SELLERS
BORN IN PRISONS
ome best sellers
came from pris
ons. Authors
wrote them while
they were injail.
Here are some Ex
amples: ( The au
thor's name is
given in brackets)
Henriade
(Voltaire)
Pilgrim's
Progress
(John Bunyan)
Don Quixote
(Miguel De
Cervantes)
.Hymn tothe
Pillory
(Daniel Defoe)
Glimpses of
World History
(Jawaharlal
Nehru)
.The Gentle
Grafer
(O.Henry)
History of the
World (Sir
Walter Raleigh)
De Profundis
and Apologia
(Oscar Wilde)
73
Why is Sherlock Holmes
an i mmort1 character?
Say the word detective, and
the i mage of Sherl ock Hol mes
spri ngs to the mi nd. He was so
l ife-l i ke that readers forgot
that they were readi ng about
a character i n a book. They
even send mai l to hi s fictional
address i n Baker Street! Sher
Conan Doyle
lock Hol mes was a qui et and i ntel l i gent
character, but his creator Arthur Conan
Doyle got ti red of hi m. He wanted to
write 'serious' novels. So i n one of hi s
later books, he ki l l ed hi m off. There was a
publ i c outcry, and Doyle was forced to
bri ng Hol mes back from the dead. Hol
mes formed a memorabl e partnershi p
al ong with hi s uni ntel l igent associate
Dr. Watson.
Hol mes first appeared i n Doyle's story,
'A Study in Scarlet'. It was publ ished as a
serial i n Strand Magazine. Hol mes ap
peared in 'The Si gn of the Four' ( 1 889),
'Adventures' ( 1 891 ) and 'The Hound of
the Baskervi l les' ( 1 902). Col lected Hol
mes stories appeared in 'Adventures of
Sherlock Hol mes'. I t ran i nto five vol
umes. More than 1 75 fi l ms have been
made on Sherlock Hol mes.
Arthur Conan Doyle was Scotti sh by
birth and a doctor by professi on. He be
l i eved in ghosts, and pl ayed first cl ass
cricket. He al so di splayed hi s detective
talent, in just the same manner of Sher
lock Hol mes!
74
Why is
Maxim Gorky
known as a
'writer of the
people'?
Maxim Gorky
was a Russi an he
ro. He was deepl y
moved by the
wretched condi
tions of hi s coun
trymen. He di d a
vari ety of diffi cul t
jobs to make
ends meet. When
Gorky toured Rus
sia, the sufferi ngs
of i ts peopl e
melted hi s heart,
and a revol uti on
ary was born. He
joi ned the Com
muni st Party. I n
1 905, he was ar
rested by the
Tel l Me Why
\ Referencebooks
The authors Norris and Ross McWhirter are responsible for
the internationally popular Guinness book of World Records.
The following are their great reference books:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Guide to Reference Books (American Library Association)
The World Almanac
Year Book of International Organizations
Oxford English Dictionary
National Geographic Society Atlas
Urich's International Periodical Directory
World of Learning (Europa, 2 vols.)
U.N Statistical Yearbook
1 ,000,000 de Decimales de Pi (Guilloud et Bouyer)
Dictionary of National Biography
Halsbury's Laws of England
Czarist government, and exi led. 1 91 7 was
the year of the October Revol uti on. Fol
l owi ng the revol ution, Gorky was made
head of the propaganda department i n
Russi a.
Gorky means 'the bitter one' i n Russi an.
Maxi m Gorky i s the pen name of Al eksei
Peshkov. Gorky was a l iterary geni us.
'Mother', hi s most famous novel has been
translated i nto al l the l eadi ng l anguages
of the worl d. Hi s novels, pl ays and autobi
ographies describe the woes of the Rus
si ans i n the pre-revol uti onary days. Hi s
other wel l known literary works are 'Lower
Depths,' and 'My Chi l dhood and Remi nis
cences'. Gorky occupi ed a pl ace of hon
our i n the hearts of hi s countrymen as a
1 00 Great Writers
Maxim Gork
hero of the October
Revol uti on. Gorky
breathed hi s last i n
1 93 1 .
75
Why is it said that
unsuccessful love af
fairs made the great
riter Goethe'
A tragedy that
does not kill you
makes you stronger.
The writer in Johann
Wolfgang Goethe
was moulded by sev
eral unsuccessful love af-
fai rs. Fai l ed love features
promi nently in his writi ngs. Hi s
first major work, 'The Sorrows
of Young Werther,' appeared i n
1 774. Werther's hopeless love
for Lotte Buff, the wife of a close
friend ends i n mental break
down and suicide. Young read
ers identified with thi s novel.
Emoti ons and l ocal colour are
hi ghl ighted in thi s novel.
'The Sorrows of Young Wer
ther' i s among the most i nflu
ential texts of German romanti
cism. Goethe's second novel,
'Wi l hel m Mei ster's Apprentice
shi p' also revolves around fai l ed
love and the feel i ng of being
alone i ntheworl d. Like Werther,
Wi l hel m suffers a tragi c blow i n
l ove but he gives hi mself up to
worand becomes a playwright
and an actor.
Goethe was an admi ni strator
i n the court of Duke Karl August
76
of Wei mar. Goethe
supported freedom
and progress, but
bel i eved that aris
tocracy had an i m
portant rol e to pl ay
i n society. Young
readers criticized
him for his views on
ari stocracy.
'Faust' was Goethe's dra
matic masterpiece. It first ap
peared in 1 808. This drama be
came his passion, and heworked
on it for more than thi rty years.
It is based on a play by Engl i sh
dramatistChristopherMarlowe.
I t tel l s the chi l l i ng tale of Faust,
the man who sold hi s soul to
the devi l. The second part of
' Faust' appeared in 1 838. The
pl ay brought Goethe i nterna
tional success, and had a great
i nfl uence on modern drama.
\
~
Tel l Me Why
Goethe on Kalidasa
"Wouldst thou the young year's blossom and the fruit of its
decline,
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted,
fed?
Wouldst thou the heaven and earth itself in one sole name
combine,
I name thee, 'Shakuntala', and all at once is said". - These are the
much quoted words in which Goethe praised India's great poet Ka
lidasa and his legendary work Abhijnanashakuntalam'.
Why i s Friedrich
Schiller known to be
a great German po
et?
Friedrich Von
Schi l l er's passion for
writi ng was l abel led
as fool i sh by his fa
ther. Schi l l er was fo
rced to joi n hi s father 's
regiment i n the army. He
conti nued to write, and was al
most arrested for negl ecti ng hi s
duties! The conflict wi th hi s fa
ther found its way i nto Schi l ler's
writi ng. In Schi l ler's first play,
The Robbers', Karl Moor, a no
bl e outlaw viol entl y rejects hi s
father i n hi s search for justice. I t
waswarml ygreeted i n Germany
and Engl and. The pl ay 'Don
Carlos,' al so depicts a conflict
between a father and a son.
Schi l l er gai ned lasting fame as
a poet. Hi s 'Ode to Joy,' was later
1 00 Great Writers
set to music by Ludwig
Van Beethoven. It is
currently the anthem
of the European Un
i on.
Schi l l er al so wrote
hi storical plays such
as 'Mary Stuar,' and
the dramatic trilogy,
Wallenstein'. His mag-
nificent control and beauti
ful use of the German language
inspired generations of poets,
writers and readers.
My dad is
my inspiration ..
77
78
How did Hans Christian
Andersen become a writ
er?
Have you read the fai ry
tal e of 'The Ugl y Duckl i ng',
the one in whi ch the ugl y
duckl i ng turns i nto a beauti
ful swan? I t was written by
Hans Christi an Andersen,
and his l ife was si mi l ar to
that fai ry tale. His father was
a poor Dani sh shoemaker.
His paternal grandmother
was a gardener i n Greyfriars
Hospital. Andersen l i stened
to the tradi ti onal stories of
Denmark told by the ol d
women i n the spi nni ng
rooms of the hospital .
Andersen set out to be an
actor but fai l ed. He wrote
three novel s between 1 835
and 1 837 - ' The I mprovisa
tor', 'O.T' and ' Only a Fi ddl er'.
His novels were popul ar.
However, hi s fame rests on
hi s fai ry tales. The first vol
ume of hi s fai ry tales was
publ ished in 1 835. He was
treated as an equal by Victor
Hugoand Alexandre Dumas,
famous writers in thei r own
ri ght. I n Germany, he was so
popul ar that German pub
l i shi ng compani es engaged
in bi ddi ng wars over the
ri ghts to hi s books.
Duri ng the late 1 840's, An
dersen wrote some of hi s best
fai ry tales - these i ncl ude 'The
Ni ghti ngale', 'The Ugl y Duck
l i ng', 'The Snow Queen,' and
'The Story of a Mother'. I n
these tales, common peopl e
took on the rol e of heroes.
They were portrayed as i ntel
l i gent, hard working, and
brave. The popul arity of hi s
fai ry tal es l ives on, and they
have been translated i nto
every major l anguage. By the
time of his death i n1 875, An
dersen was consi dered to be a
nati onal monument!
Hans Christian
Andersen
Tel l Me Why
Georg Buchner
1 00 Great Writers
Why is Georg Buchner's 'Danton's
Death' considered a masterpiece of
German literature?
Have you heard of the French revol u
ti on? It began i n France i n 1 789. Ki ng
Loui s XVI was overthrown, and a short
l ived republ ic was establ i shed. 'Dan
ton's Death,' i s a compl ex hi storical
drama based on the French Revol uti on.
I t displays many l evel s of meani ng i n
the study of the French Revol uti on and
the purpose of history. It was written by
Georg Buchner i n 1 835, and i s consi d
ered to be a masterpiece of German l it
erature.
Georg Buchner was born i n the Ger
man vi l l age of Goddel au to Ernst Karl
Buchner, a physici an, and Carol i ne.
When he was three, the fami l y moved
to Darmstadt.
Buchnerwas sympathetictothesoci al
mi sery of the peasant cl ass. Hi s writi ngs
had a note of sadness i n them. They fo
cus on the confl i ct between the i deal s
of human freedom and the ci rcum
stances of hi story. Buchner is consi d
ered to be a geni us, who was gifed wi th
a complex poeti c vi si on. Apart from
'Danton's Death' , al l of Buchner's works
were publ i shed afer hi s death. The
Georg Buchner prize for literature cre
ated by the city of Darmstadt in 1 923 is
one of the most coveted German l iter
ary awards.
79
Why is Ivan Turgenev considered to
be a great Russian writer?
The pen i s mi ghtier than the sword,
and Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev proved it
with his writi ng. In 'A Hunter's Sketches',
he criticized the establ i shed social cus
tom of serfdom. The peasants or 'serfs'
were equival ent to slaves. It is bel i eved
that Tsar Al eksander II read Hunter's
Sketches. The book melted his heart, and
he set the serfs free!
Turgenev publ i shed hi s first story, Ivan Turgenev
'Khor and Kal i nich,' i n1 847. He travel l ed
i n Europe, and devel oped friendshi ps wi th the famous writers,
Fl aubert and Zol a. His novel, 'Fathers and Sons,' angered soci ety.
I t deal s wi th Ni hi l i sm. Ni hi l i sm bel i eves that existi ng soci al sys
tems must be total l y destroyed but it offered no other alternati ve.
80
Why have Ibsen's plays been
widely accepted in the world 0lit
erature?
Henri k I bsen's pl ay, 'A Dol l 's House,'
created a sensation. In A Dol l's House,
Nora, the mother of three chi l dren is
treated l i ke a doll by her husband. She
leaves herfami lytofulfi l hersel fspi ritu
al ly. I bsen threw l i ght on the thoughts
and the complexities of the i ndivi dual .
Hi s work was more focused on charac
ter than on plot. ' Peter Gynt' tel l s the
story of Peter's i mmoral l ife and hi s
fantastical journey through the worl d.
Ibsen's most controversial play was
'Ghosts' - the story of an al cohol ic's
wife who sacrifices
herself to the mar
ri agebecauseofsoci al
Tel l Me Why
The hosti l e reception to hi s novel
forced Turgenev to leave Russi a and
settle i n Pari s.
Hi s novel s ' Rudi n' ( 1 856), 'A Nest of
Gentl emen' ( 1 859) and 'On the Eve'
( 1 860) were based on social and po
l iti cal i ssues. By the 1 870's, Turgenev
was recognized as one of the worl d's
l eadi ng wri ters. Turgenev al so wrote a
number of plays. 'A Month i n the
Country' i s noted for i nnovati ons i n
dramati c style. I n the pl ay, 'A Provi nci al
Lady', he pokes fun at the bel i efs of the
country ari stocrats. Turgenev was a
great Russi an writer whose fame
spread throughout the worl d. He di ed
i n1 883.
conventions.
Henri k I bsen was born i n Skein,
Norway, to a wealthy merchant fam
i ly. However, his father sufered fi
nanci al losses and was unabl e to give
I bsen a good education. I bsen devel
oped a deep di strust for society, and
thi s i s reflected i n
hi s plays. I bsen's
plays have been
universal ly praised,
and he i s among
the most i nfl uen
ti al pl aywri ghts i n
the devel opment
of modern drama.
1 00 Great Writers
\
Antonio U as
'My land has
\ palm trees,
where the night
ingale sings' ...
this is the first
line of 'Song of
Exile', Brazil's
best known po
em. It was
penned by An
tonio Goncalves
Dias (pictured
above) in 1 843.
Dias wrote on
nature, and the
glorification of
the native peo
ple. He cele
brates Brazil in
his poetry col
lections, Pri
meiros Cantos
and Ultimos
Cantos.Antonio
Dias is regarded
as the national
poet of Brazil.
81
Lo Tolstoy
Why do critics
say that Tolstoy's
writing reveals 're
al life'?
If l i fe coul d write
its own story, it
woul d write l i ke Tol
stoy. Even the
mi nute detai l s of hi s
characters' l ives
Why is Emile Zola
considered a great
writer?
82
were recorded by Tolstoy - l i ke a pai nter
addi ng smal l brushstrokes to create a l ife
l i ke pai nti ng. 'War and Peace,' i s hi s mas
terpiece. The 'War' i n the title refers to Na
pol eon's wars from 1 805 to 1 820. I n the
novel, Tolstoy rejects the theory that great
men make hi story.
Tolstoy's ' Anna Kareni na' tel l s the tal e of
the ari stocratic Anna, and her love affai r
with a dashi ng army oficer. The Death of
Ivan l I yich,' and The Kreutzer Sonata,' are
hi s later novel l as.
Tol stoy shared wi th Mahatma Gandhi , a
belief in passive resistance towards evi l -
the pri nci pl e whi ch the I ndi an I ndepend
ence movement successful l y empl oyed.
Leo Tolstoy was born in 1 828. His mother
died when he was two, and his father when
he was ni ne. Rai sed by relatives, Leo Tol
stoy went on to become a great Russi an
novelist - a writer of the ' real l i fe'.
Emi l e Zola, the great French novelist and
critic had a dream. He wanted to be a pub
l i shed author. To that end, he started work
ing in a publ i shi ng house and publ i shed
works of ficti on. But hi s earl y works went
unnoticed. Then i n 1 865, he publ i shed
'Claude's Confessi on' - a scandal ous auto
bi ographi cal work. I t caught the notice of
hi s empl oyers and they gave him notice to
quit. Though he lost hi s job, Zol a gai ned
attention as an emergi ng author.
'Therese Raqui n', his second novel was a
modest success. He fol l owed it with a series
Tel l Me Why
of twenty works known together as the
'Rougon-Macquart cycl e.' It revolves around
the l ife of a fami l y l ivi ng under Napol eon.
Zol a' s style of wri ti ng was based on the
accurate depiction of detai l . Thi s i s cal l ed
'natural i sm.' Zol a i s the founder of the 'natu
ral i st movement.' The Drunkard,' which was
publ i shed i n 1 877 made him famous.
Why do we consider Balzac one of the
creators of real i sm i n French literature?
Honore de Balzac was negl ected by his
mother and, spent hi s earl y years i n board
i ng school. In 1 81 9, Balzac rented a shabby
room in Pari s and began to write.
Balzac spent up to T hours a day wri ti ng.
He wrote on bl ue paper ai ded by l arge cups
ofTurki sh coffee. By 1 822, Balzac had written
several novels and plays under vari ous pen
names. All his writi ngs were i gnored but
Bal zac conti nued to put pen to paper.
I n 1 833, Balzac col lected al l of his novels,
l i nked them together as a series, and pub
l i shed them under the title, The Human
Comedy'. I t i ncl uded hi s wel l known works,
1 00 Great Writers
'Father Gori ot', 'The
Peasants' and 'Lost
I l l usi ons'. This col
lection of 90 novel s
portrayed more
than 2000 life l i ke
characters. Hi s cha
r acterswere l ifel i ke.
Hence Balzac is re
garded as a he crea
tor of real i sm in
French l iterature.
Katherine
Mansfield
K
atherine
Mansfield
was the first
important
writer to
emerge from
NewZea
land. Virgin
ia Woolf, the
great writer,
considered
her as a seri
ous rival. 'In
a German
Pension/
was her first
complete
volume of
short stories.
Her stories
question tra
ditional ide
as about so
cial class,
family life,
and mar
riage. They
exerted a
lasting influ
ence on
modern
short story
writers.
83
What makes
Anton Chekhov a
world famous
writer?
Dusk', a col l ection
of short stories, and
compl eted hi s first
pl ay, 'Ivanov'. The
Seagul l ', a tragi c
tal e of love was hi s
first great success
i n theatre.
Chekhov pre-
Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov began to
write whi l e study
ing medi ci ne i n
Moscow Universi
ty. His fami l y was
neck deep in debt,
and desperately
Anton Chekhov
sented l ifeas it was.
His new descri ptive
techni que l ed to
needed the money Chekhov
got from writi ng. Hi s first story
appeared in 1 880 in the comi c
magazi ne, ' Fragments'. Chek
hov fine-tuned his descri ptive
techni que duri ng his five years
at ' Fragments'.
Chekhov graduated i n 1 884,
and began to practice medi
ci ne. ' New Ti me', one of Russi a's
most presti gi ous news papers,
began to publ i sh his work
.
I n
1 887, Chekhov bagged the
coveted Push ki n prize for 'At
the development of modern
i sm and i nfl uenced later gen
erati ons of writers. Hi s l ast pl ay,
The Cherry Orchard,' was a
huge success. ' Uncl e Vanya',
The Three Sisters' are among
hi s most famous works. Chek
hov di ed in 1 904.
Why is Tagore's 'Gitanjali'
famous?
Li keadi amond, Rabi ndranath
Tagore's geni us had many fac
es. He was a nati onal poet, a
l eadi ng pol itical fi gure, a pai nt-
Samuel Joseph Agnon
Samuel Joseph Agnon was the greatest writer of modern He
brew fiction. Born in Buczacz; which is now in Poland, he left
home for Palestine in 1 907. His folk-epic, 'The Bridal Canopy,' is a
modern Hebrew classic. Agnon's greatest novel is 'The Day Be
fore Yesterday' which is set in the second wave of Jewish emigra
tion to Palestine. Samuel Joseph Agnon won the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1 965.
84
Tel l Me Why
Einstein and Tagore
er, and an educati onal vision
ary. He was also a novelist. He
wrote and composed I ndi a's
national anthem. Rabindranath
Tagore's works are a heady mix
ture of pol itics, po
etry, and spi ritual ity.
Tagore established
Shanti Ni ketan - a
school 'where the
mind i s without
fear'. I t blossomed
i nto a meeti ng pl ace
for nati onal and i n
ternati onal schol ars
of music, pai nti ng,
si ngi ng, and l anguages.
Tagore's union with nature is
the cornerstone of hi s poetry.
'Gitanjal i ,' is a col lection of hi s
rel i gi ous and spi ri tual poetry. I t
takes a new l ook at the relation
shi p between Nature and God.
I n 1 9 1 3, Tagore was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Literature
for his Engl i sh transl ation of
'Gitanjal i.'
Which famous German au
thor won the Nobel Prize for
Literature i n 1 9461
Herman Hesse was a German
writer, but was deepl y i nfl u
enced by Eastern thought.
'Si ddhartha,' is hi s most popul ar
novel . I n hi s novel ' Demi an', a
young man is torn between a
l ife of pl easure and an orderl y
mi ddl e cl ass l ife. Herman
Hesse won the Nobel Prize i n
1 946. He is one of the popul ar
writers of the German speaki ng
worl d.
Ni kos Kazantzakis
I
n 1 955, Nikos Kazantzakis was thrown out of
the Greek Orthodox Church and his novel 'The
Last Temptation of Christ,' was banned.
'lorba the Greek', 'Askitki and Odyssey: a
Modern Sequel' are his other well known
works. Kazantzakis is better known as a philoso
pher than as a writer.
1 00 Great Writers 85
Why di d Kafka often deal with domes
tic confl icts i n hi s writing?
Have you heard of the word Kafkaesque?
It refers to the Czech novelist Franz Kafka, or
to the nightmari sh fictional worl d he creat
ed. Franz Kafka's chi l dhood was spent i n
fear of hi s father. So, Kafka's novel s deal
with the confl ict between father and son. I n
some novels, hi s characters plead i nno
cence before the powerful .
'The Metamorphosis,' is hi s best known
story. In it, Gregor Samsa, a sal esman wakes
up one day and fi nds that he has changed
i nto a gi ant, ugl y i nsect! This is the most
i mportant work i n 'moderni sm'. 'Modern
i sm' breaks awayfrom traditi onal forms and
ideas. 'The Trial,' re
volves around the
physical andmental
sufferi ng of Josef K.,
who is arrested
without reason. 'The
Who wrote the popular
Spanish poetry collection,
'Twenty Love Poems and a
Song of Despair' at the age of
twenty?
Pablo Neruda was a writer
and a roami ng pol itician. In
1 924, Neruda publ i shed 'Twenty
Love Poems and a Song of De
spair'. l t is one of the most popu
l ar poetry col l ecti ons i n the
Spanish speaking worl d. Strik- '
i ng i mages and a sense of con
nection with the natural i n hu
man love sets it apart. Neruda's
love poetry i s origi nal and vi
brant.
86
Neruda was appointed as the
Chi l ean ambassador to the
Burmese capital of Rangoon.
He was deepl y moved by the
hardshi ps of the workers i n the
nitrate mi nes ofChi le. He served
as a senator, and was once a
candidate in the Chi l ean presi
dential elections.
Neruda changed his writi ng
style repeatedly. Hi s col lection,
'Residence on Earth,' i s written
i n a style whi ch came to be
known as ' Nerudai sm.' I t is fi l l ed
wi th leaps of thought without
reason, pecul i ar use of l an
guage, and powerful i mages
Tel l Me Why
Castle,' is one of hi s most
i mportant works. Kafka's
novels capture the
strangeness of modern
l ife and the feel i ng of be
i ng cut off from people
and the world.
Kafka's geni us was not
recognized in his l ifeti me.
He asked hi s friend and
fel l ow writer Max Brod to
destroy al l hi s writi ngs
afer hi s death. Lucki ly,
Brod disobeyed hi s frien
d's last wish and the wo
rld di scovered a geni us.
presented without ex
pl anati on. He used thi s
style to represent the
complexity of the hu
manmi ndandmodern
l ife. He won the Nobel
Prizfor;Literature i n

1 9

1 00 Great Writers
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0f8t0f In T 90
Have you ever said no to a pri ze?
Wel l , Jean-Paul Sartre sai d no to
the bi ggest prize of them al l - the
Nobel Pri ze! He bel ieved that the
Nobel Prize represented traditional
mi ddl ecl ass val ues, whi ch went
agai nst his bel i efs. Sartre was an
existenti al ist. Ex
istenti al i sts be
l i eved in the su
preme i mpor
tance of human
freedom.
Sartrewas born
in Pari s i n 1 905.
Sartre's l i fe and
hi s works were
i nfl uenced by hi s friend Si mone de
Beauvoir, the French phi l osopher,
a nd writer a nd other existentia l i sts.
'La Nausee' was his first novel. 'Be
ing and Nothi ngness', his nonfic
ti on work, lays down the founda
ti ons of hi s phi losophy. Hi s pl ay,
' No Exit' presents three characters
trapped in a room with no way out.
They come to bel ieve that 'hell is
other people'. Sartre was pl agued
by bl i ndness in the fi nal years of hi s
l ife, but he succeeded i n openi ng
the eyes of the worl d to hi s phi
l osophy.
87
Why is Samuel Beckett regarded
as a great playwright?
Samuel Beckett studi ed i n the
school whi ch taught the great writer
Oscar Wi l de -
the Portora
Royal School i n
I rel and. Beckett
came from an
A n g l o - I r i s h
fami ly, but he
wrote mostly
in French. He
worked as a
lecturer in Paris
Samuel Beckett in a
from 1 928 to
Paris Cafe
1 930, where the great writer James
Joyce became hi s l ifel ong friend. He
acted as one of Joyce's assistants
while he was writing ' Fi nnegan's
Wake'.
'Whoroscope', publ ished in 1 930,
i s his first poem. While working as a
lecturer in Tri nity Col l ege, Beckett
wrote a series of stories about the
l ife of a Dubl i n i ntel l ectual . These
were later formed i nto the col lection
'More Pricks than Kicks'. Beckett qui t
hi s job, and embarked on a career as
a freel ance writer
.
I n 1 932, he pub
l i shed hi s first novel, ' Dream of Fai r
to Mi ddl i ng Women'. I t was drawn
l argel y from his own experiences.
'Wai ti ng for Godot', ' Endgame',
'Krapp's Last Tape' and 'Happy Days'
are among hi s major plays.
88
How did Alber Camus
attract readers?
Al bert Camus was at the
hei ght of hi s popul arity
when he died. Hi s l i fe be
gan in poverty in Al geria.
The experience of poverty
and the fear of death were
reflected i n his Al geri an
essays col lected i n the
'Wrong Si de and the Ri ght
Side', ' Nupital s and Sum
mer'.
Camus realized that the
human mi nd had no ca
pacity to understand
death. Therefore, al l thi ngs
i n l ife become meani ng-
Albert Camus
l ess. This was the basi s of
hi s doctrine of the absurd
or unreasonable. Hi s novel,
'The Stranger,' deal s with
al ienation - the feel i ng of
being cut off from peopl e
and the worl d. 'The Myth
Tel l Me Why
Patrick White
Patrick White is considered to be the most original Aus
tralian novelist. 'Happy Valley', 'The Tree of Man', 'Riders in
the Chariot', 'A Fringe of Leaves
and Voss' are among his ma
jor novels. He won the
Nobel Prize for Litera
ture in 1 973.
of Sisyphus', 'Cross Purpose',
'Cal i gul a', 'The Pl ague' are
among hi s most famous works.
Al bert Camus was awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature, and
came to be known as the lead
i ng voice for moral ity i n l itera
ture.
How was Saramago influ
enced by hi s grandfather?
Saramago i s the most famous
nickname i n the writing worl d.
Saramago was a wi l d radi sh
eaten i n Azi nhaga, Portugal by
the very poor. Jose Saramago
was born to poor, l andless farm
ers in Azi nhaga. Young Sara
mago was very much attached
to his grandparents. Years later,
he began to write to preserve
the memories of hi s grandpar
ents. At 54, a jobless Saramago
took up novel writi ng as a ful l
ti me career.
Saramago's novels share
some si mi l arities with the magi c
real i sm of some Latin American
1 00 Great Writers
Jose Saramago receiving his
Nobel Prize
novel s - a techni que i n whi ch
real i sti c description is com
bi ned with el ements of dream
or fantasy. I n hi s novel 'The
Stone Raf', Portugal breaks of
from Europe and floats south
on the ocean. ' Bl i ndness/ is hi s
most widel y read book i n the
Engl i sh speaking worl d. I t tel l s
the tal e of a mysterious bl i nd
ness that strikes peopl e i n an
unnamed country. I n 1 998, Sar
amago was awarded the Nobel
Pri ze for Literature.
89
Julio Cortazar
Julio Cortatar was a writer who played the jazz trumpet. He
was born i n Brussels to Argentinian parents. 'Bestario', a book of
stories was his first major success. His novel 'Rayuela' won Cora
zar many followers round the world.
T. S. Eliot
Why is T.S. Eliot fa
mous?
Thomas Stearns El iot
had poetry in hi s bl ood.
Hi s mother Charl otte
El iot was a poetess with
more than a drop of tal
ent. At Harvard, he di s-
covered in Dante's poetry, a l ifel ong
source of i nspi ration.
I n 1 91 4, El iot moved to London,
where he met the writer Ezra Pound.
Pound pl ayed godfather to El iot. The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,' ap
peared in the magazine, 'Poetry', on
Pound's recommendation. Modern
poetry begi ns with the thi rd l i ne of
'Prufrock'. El i ot's 'The Wastel and', a
poem of morethan four hundred l i nes,
became the most famous exampl e of
modern poetry. The poem pai nted a
picture of an ugl y society sadl y l acki ng
i n spi ritual val ues.
The Cocktai l Party', a drama in verse,
was seen by more than a mi l l i on peo
ple in El i ot's l ifeti me. He al so wrote a
number of poems on cats!
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz was born in 1 91 4 in Mexico City,and
was a poet and essayist. The revolution of the
word was the revolution of the world for Paz. 'The
Labyrinth of Solitude' is his fundamental study of
Mexican identity. In 1 962, Paz was appointed
Mexican Ambassador to India. His stay in India
Octavia Paz
gave birth to 'The Grammarian Monkey and East
Slope'. Paz believed poetry to be the secret religion of the mod
ern age. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1 990.
90
Tel l Me Why
Goldoni
Goldoni was the
great reformer of
Italian comedy.
He freed Italian
drama from the
tradition of come
dy made up on the
spur of the mo
ment.
Why is Jack London fa
mous?
I n 1 897, Jack London sai led
i nto the Kl ondi ke gold rush in
Canada. A gold rush i s the rapi d
mi gration of peopl e to an area
where gol d i s suddenly di scov
ered. Jack London's famous
novel The Cal l ofthe Wi l d,' i s set
in the Kl ondi ke gol d rush. Hi s
novel, The Sea-Wolf,' was made
i nto the first ful l l ength Ameri
can movie. He was one of the
first writers to bui l d a l arge for
tune from hi s ficti on al one. Jack
London wrote a lot of commer
ci al magazi ne fiction, the first
writer to do so. Sometimes, he
purchased pl ots for hi s works
from other writers!
Why did William Words
worh's poems cause a sensa
tion?
Wi l l i am Wordsworth's words
were worth thei r wei ght in gol d.
1 00 Great Writers
'He was the nearest of al l writers
to Shakespeare and Mi lton, and
yet i n a style perfectly unbor
rowed and his own', wrote hi s
friend and fel l ow poet Coleridge.
Hi s i ntense love for nature l i ghts
up his poems. Wordsworth
sensed the spi rit that lives in na
ture. The perfect use of l anguage,
the freshness of his thought, and
hi s magnificent i magination
made his poems sensati onal .
Yet they were si mpl e.
I n 1 798, Wordsworth pub
l i shed hi s first col lection of po
ems, 'Lyrical Bal l ads', together
wi th Coleridge. Thi s col l ecti on
marks the bi rth of the Romanti c
school i n Engl i sh poetry. I n
1 843, he was appoi nted Poet
La u reate on the death of Robert
Southey, another Lakel and po
et. 'Daffodi l s,' is one of hi s most
famous poems.
Novalis
Novalis, the fa
mous German au
thor and philoso
pher is often known
as the prophet of
romanticism. 'We
are near awakening
when we dream
that we dream',
wrote Novalis.
91
Why is Ezra Pound known as 'the
et's poet'?
Pound, a restless rebel, i s one of the
founders of modern poetry. Born i n
I daho i n the U.S, he went to London,
and worked as the secretary of the
great poet, W.B Yeats. For a ti me he
was an i magi st. I magists bel ieved i n
the use of fresh l anguage and a true
understandi ng of nature. Pound's
short poem, ' I n a Station of the Metro'
i s an i magist masterpiece. Pound
hel ped T. 5 El i ot and
James Joyce to
publ i sh thei r works
i n the magazi nes,
Egoist and Poetry.
In 1 91 4, he married
the artist Dorothy
Shakespeare. Dur
i ng that period, he
wrote one of hi s
most popul ar po
ems, ' Homage to
Sextus Propertius'.
'Cathay', his
Eng-
Ez
r Pound
l i sh transl ati on of ..
n S a 1MIII
'On Libery,' is one of the
smallest of the world's great
books. It was written by the Brit
ish philosopher John Stuar Mill
in 1 859. It deals with the power
that society can exer on the in-
dividual.
Chi nese works i s among
the most beautiful of hi s
writi ngs. 'Cantos,' i s
Pound's major poetic
work. It was first pub
l i shed in ten sections, and
later, as a si ngl e vol ume
col lection. It revolves
around the poet's quest
for worl dly wi sdom. Hi s
'ABC of Readi ng' estab
l i shed the modernist po
etic techni que. Pound is
known as the poet's poet
for his i nfluence on twen
tieth century poetry. He
publ i shed over 70 books,
and transl ated Japanese
plays and Chi nese poetry.
Accordi ng to Pound,
great l iterature i s si mply
l anguage charged with
meani ng to the utmost
possi bl e degree.
Which American poet
was named the 'nun of
Amherst'?
Emi ly Di cki nson was
born in Amherst, U.5.A.
Her mother sufered from
di pressi on. She dressed
in white, and spent most
of her time shut up in her
room. She never married.
Though she wrote over
James Baldwin
James Baldwin was a Black American writ
er. He gained fame with his first novel, 'Go
Tell it on the Mountain'. 'Giovanni's Room',
'The Fire Next Time', 'If Beale Street could
Talk' and Just Above my Head,' are his other
imporant novels.
1 800 poems, onl y seven were
publ i shed in her l ifeti me. Emi ly
Di cki nson was born in Amherst,
U.s.A. Her mother sufered from
depressi on.
Di cki nson began writi ng po
ems in the trad i ti ona I style. After
years of practice, she started
experi menti ng with her writ
i ng. Her poems dealt not only
with death, faith and deathl ess
ness, but al so with nature,
home, and the power and l i mits
of l anguage. Di cki nson tai lored
manyofher poems i nto packets
with needl e and thread.
The writer Thomas Hi ggi nson
was her fri end. She sent hi m
four poems. 'The Famous Safe
i n thei r Al abaster Chambers,'
was one of them. After Di ckin
son's death i n 1 886, her sister
Lavina brought out her poems.
I n her poetry, she frequently
used dashes and capital ized
her nouns randomly. She al so
used of-rhymes, broken
rhythm, and strange compari
sons. The nun of Amherst
changed the face of poetry for
ever.
Which famous English poet
etched his poems on copper
plates?
'Tiger, tiger burni ng bri ght, i n
the forests of the ni ght'. These
are the first l i nes of Wi l l iam
Bl ake's poem, 'Tiger'. Bl ake et
ched hi s poems on copper
pl ates and i n the minds of hi s
readers.
Ah! I found
a poem on this
plate!
94
Harold
Pintr
Harold Pinter
(1 930-2008)
was a great
English play
wright, actor,
and director.
His plays are
associated
with the
'Theatre of
the Absurd',
and are typi
cally marked
bya sense of
menace. Pin-
ter was a
master of dia-
10gue. 'The
Birhday Par
ty', 'The Care
taker', and
'Party Time',
'Monologue
and No Man's
Land', 'The
Homecom
ing' are some
of his notable
plays.
"1 write be
cause I want
to write ",
said Harold
Pinter.
Why is O. Henry
known as 'the mas
ter of surprise end
ings'?
Wi l l i am Sydney
Porter was accused
of steal i ng money
from a bank, and
was thrown i nto pris-
on. There, he started O. Henr
to write short stories.
He took the pen name, O. Henry, the name
of hi s favourite warden.
'Cabbages and Ki ngs,' was O. Henry's first
col lection of short stories. 'The Ransom of
Red Chief,' is a typical O. Henry story. It tel l s
the tal e of two ki dnappers who ki dnap a
boy, find that he is a real nui sance, and fi
nal ly pay the boy's father to take hi m back!
O. Henry was a master of surprise endi ngs.
He wrote about the common fol k and hi s
humorous, energetic style was i nfl uenced
by Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce. In hi s
l ifetime, O. Henry publ i shed ten col l ecti ons
of over si x hundred short stories.
Why is Oscar Wilde considered as a
great writer?
"1 have nothing to declare except my gen
i us", said Oscar Wilde. A genius he was, yet au
thority hunted him. Hi s behaviour was judged
to be i ndecent, and hewasthrown i nto prison.
I nteresti ngly, Wil de began l ife i n the l ap of
l UXUry. Hi s mother was a poet, and she
opened hi s eyes to the wonders of poetry.
Whi l e studyi ng in Oxford, Wilde became a
leading l ight of The Aestheticism movement.
Tel l Me Why
'Art for art's sake/ was their motto. They
were known for shocking dialogue and
strange way of dressi ng. Wi l de's sensa
ti onal l i festyle was parodied on the stage.
His fi rst col lection of verse is titled, 'Poems'.
Wi l de's onl y novel The Picture of Dori an
Gray', publ i shed in 1 891 , made hi m fa
mous. Wi l de is al so regarded as a master
playwright. The I mportance of being Ear
nest/ is considered to be his best play. 'An
Ideal Husband', 'A Wom
an of no Importance' are
among his other i mpor
tant plays. Oscar Wilde
died i n 1 900.
Why is Robert
Browni ng known as
the 'master of dra
matic monologue'?
Great writers are
great readers too. I n hi s
Oscar Wilde teens, Browni ng di s-
covered Shel l ey,who
had a l asti ng i nfl uenceon his poetry. Some
of Browni ng' s best known lyrics appeared
i n his col lection ' Bel l s and Pomegranates'.
Browni ng's greatest work i s The Ri ng
and the Book'. I t has ten different descrip
tions, each from a different viewpoi nt, of
the same murder. Browni ng is the master
of dramatic monol ogue as evidenced by
his poem The Last Duchess'. The words
reveal not onl y setti ng and action, but the
speaker's character as wel l . Browni ng
used sudden openi ngs, i rregul ar rhythm
and ordi nary l anguage.
1 00 Great Writers
Alfred
Tennyson
Alfred, Lord
Tennyson was
a great lyrical
poet. He had a
gift for writing
musical lines of
great beauty in
simple and
graceful lan
guage. 'Tears',
'Idle Tears',
'The Lady of
Shal lot', 'Idylls
of the King,'
and 'Ulysess,'
are among hi s
great poems.
He contributed
popular phras
es to the Eng
lish language
such as "My
strength is as
the strength of
ten, ecause.
, my hear is
pure".
How did Agatha
Christie become a
well known writer
of detective sto
ries?
Why is John Keats
regarded as a great
writer?
"A thi ng of beauty
is a joyforever", wrote
the Engl i sh poetJohn
Keats. He l ived for
onl y twenty-five
Hercul e Poi rot was
the Bel gi an detective
with the egg shaped
head created by Ag
atha Christie. He
Agatha Christie
years, but the beauty
he created l ives on.
solved cases by usi ng hi s brai n.
Mi ss Marpl e was Christie's an
other famous fictional detec
tive. Shewas a spi nster - atypi cal
Engl i sh character. Unl i ke Poi rot,
she used her femi ni ne sense to
solve cri mes. Mi ss Marple fea
tured i n seventeen novels, the
first bei ng ' Murder at the Vicar
age' and the last, 'Sl eepi ng
Murder'. Miss Marple i s bel ieved
to be based on Christie's own
grandmother!
Keats was often scorned by crit
i cs i n hi s l ifeti me because he
came from a humble back
ground.
Keats's first book of poems
appeared i n 1 81 7. I t was not
very ori gi nal . 'The Eve of St.
Agnes,' was his first descri ptive
poem that was, in every sense,
his own creation. Today, John
Keats i s known pri mari l y for hi s
odes. I n 'Ode to a Ni ghti ngal e',
he i s tempted to reject harsh
real ity and fi nd es
cape i n the beauty of
the ni ghti ngal e's
song. 'The Ode to
Autumn' was per
haps hi s greatest
work.
Why is Khalil Gi
bran famous all
over the world?
I n 56 years, Agatha
Christie wrote 66 de
tective novels. Her
play, 'The Mousetrap,'
is London's l ongest
runni ng pl ay. 'The
Murder of Roger Ack
royd', ' Murder on the
Orient Express',
'Death on the Ni le,'
and 'Ten Little Ni g
gers,' are among her
best known works.
lohn Keats
Gi bran's poetry i s
frequently read at
forei gn weddi ngs.
96
Tel l Me Why
Gi bran was Lebanese by bi rth,
but his works i nfl uenced
American popul ar cul ture. 'The
Prophef, his most famous
book, has been a best sel l er
from the 1 920's. Spi ritual ity i s
much more preci ous than ma
teri al weal th - that i s the mes
sage of The Prophet'.
When Gi bran's mother took
her chi l dren to the United
States, hi s father remai ned i n
Lebanon to water the fami ly's
wal nut grove.
Gi bran's first
works were i n
Arabic. They
were central
to the devel
opment of
modern Ara
bic l iterature.
Gi bran wrote
Khalil Gibran
for New York's
first Arabic
newspaper 'AI Magar'.
From 1 91 8 onwards, Gi bran
wrote mostly i n Engl i sh. The
Madman' i s a sl i m vol ume offa
bl es that fal l somewhere be
tween poetry and prose. He
revol utionized the l anguage of
poetry in the twenties and the
thi rties. His style, a combi nation
of beauty and spi ri tual ity came
to be known as ' Gi brani sm'.
1 00 Great Writers
It is our policy to correct errors,
and present dif ering views and
clarications about the contents
in previous issues. Please send in
yourjeedback,mentioning the
title and page number.
Dr. N.5. Narayanan Nai r, re
tired Professor of Ayurveda
College,Thiruvananthapuram,
Keral a has made some i mor
tant additi ons to our August
i ssue, STORY OF FI RSTS. He
quotes detailed descriptions
from Ayurvedi c cl assi cs l i ke
'AshtangaHridaya', 'Charaka
Samhita', and 'Susrutha Sam
hita' about many objects that
were menti oned i n our i ssue.
For exampl e, tables are men
tioned i n Ayurvedic texts, so
are vari ous surgi cal i nstru
ments l i ke scissors, scal pel,
etc. He writes that the Asavas
and Ari shtas mentioned i n
the Ayurvedi c texts are self
fermented al cohol, just l i ke
wi ne. For footwear, 'paduka'
i s the term used i n Ayurvada.
' Mahanasa' i s the word used
for kitchen, and there are
menti ons about diferent
types of cooking in Ayurveda.
/u|/ yOuL|Nu/Oyu|u|Nul/.
- dlor
97
Aren't there many little things you have wondered about, but didn't know whom to ;
ask? Send us your questions, and we will give you the fascinating reasons behind the
. .
incredible mysteries of life,
Why does frozen food keep well?
You mi ght have noticed fro- in it wi l l get frozen, hence the
zen food, or food i tems that food i s saved from decompos
kept in freezers remai n i ntact, i ng.
or unspoi l ed for a l ong period Moderndi scoveries haveena
ofti me. Do you know the secret bled sub-zero temperatures to
behi nd thi s? It is because the be obtained by cool i ng air to
freezi ng of the water i nside the about -3000(! The temperature
food forces the bacteria, which i n the freezing compartment of
cause it to decompose, i nto in- a domestic refrigerator i s about
activity. -4C, and that of a deep-freezer
Bacteria are mi croscopic or- about -1 5C.
gani sms, or forms of l ife whi ch
C|COO
occur in ai r, water and soil al l
wCgC1|O2C
over the worl d. They fl ouri sh
OOO ?
and mul ti pl y parti cul arly wher
ever organi c matter is present.
Most fresh food contai ns 75 to
90 per cent of water, whi ch i s
i deal for the bacteria to fl ourish,
and this resul ts i n the qui ck de
composi ng of food. If we cool
the food several degrees below
zero degree cel si us, the water
as wel l as the bacteria present
MANORAMA TELL ME ` 100 GREAT WRITERS
Editor: Ammu Mathew Editor-in-Charge: N. M. Mohanan'
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P.B. No. 226. Kottayam 686 001 at M, M, Publications Ltd. P. B. No, 226, Kottayam 686 001
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