David John Lodge CBECBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
, (born 28 January 1935 at
BrockleyBrockley is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross.It is covered by the London postcode districts SE4 and SE14.-History:...
, London, England) is an English author.
In his novels, Lodge often satirises academia in general and the
humanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
in particular. He was brought up Catholic and has described himself as an "
agnosticAgnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
Catholic". Many of his characters are Catholic and their Catholicism is a major theme. Examples include his novels
The British Museum Is Falling DownThe British Museum Is Falling Down is a comic novel by British author David Lodge about a 25-year-old poverty-stricken student of English literature who, rather than work on his thesis in the reading room of the British Museum, is time and again distracted from his work and who gets into all...
(1965),
How Far Can You Go?How Far Can You Go? is a novel by British writer and academic David Lodge. It was renamed Souls and Bodies when published in the United States...
(1980; published in the U.S. as
Souls and Bodies) and
Paradise NewsParadise News is a novel by British author David Lodge.-Plot summary:The story begins with Bernard, a laicised Catholic priest, escorting his unwilling father Jack to Hawaii at the request of his aunt Ursula, who is dying of cancer. On the day after arrival, Jack is hit by a car and sent to hospital...
(1991).
Biography
Lodge's first published novel
The PicturegoersThe Picturegoers is the first novel by British novelist David Lodge.The novel interweaves scenes at and near a neighborhood movie theatre, using movies as a touchstone for exploring Catholic values in a changing world, where the cinema introduces values and behaviors from the greater society that...
(1960) draws on his early experiences in 'Brickley' (based on
BrockleyBrockley is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross.It is covered by the London postcode districts SE4 and SE14.-History:...
in S E London) , which are also described in his novel
Therapy. World War II forced Lodge and his mother to evacuate to
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and
CornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
Lodge studied at
University College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, obtaining a
BAA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(with honours) in 1955. In 1959 he married Mary Frances Jacob and received an
MAA Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from UCL. He went on to earn a
PhDDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at the
University of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, and taught English literature there from 1960 until 1987, being particularly noted for his lectures on Victorian fiction. From 1964-5 he was Harkness Fellow in the United States. He retired from his post at Birmingham in 1987 to become a full-time writer, but retains the title of Honorary Professor of Modern English Literature at the University and continues to live in Birmingham. His papers are housed in the University of Birmingham Library's Special Collections.
Apart from his frequent themes of academia and Roman Catholicism, Lodge's works tend to feature the same fictional locales. The town of "Rummidge", modelled after
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(UK), and the equally imaginary US state of "Euphoria," situated between the states of "North California" and "South California" feature prominently. Euphoria's State University is located in the city of "Plotinus," a thinly disguised version of
Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
Several of his novels, including
Small WorldSmall World: An Academic Romance is a humorous "campus novel" by the British writer David Lodge. It is a sequel to Lodge's 1975 novel, Changing Places....
(1984), and
Nice WorkNice Work is a novel by British author David Lodge. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. In 1989 it was made into a four-part BBC television series directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Warren Clarke and Haydn Gwynne...
(1989), have been adapted as television series, the latter by Lodge himself.
Nice Work was filmed at the University of Birmingham. In 1994 Lodge adapted
DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
'
Martin ChuzzlewitThe Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialized between 1843-1844. Dickens himself proclaimed Martin Chuzzlewit to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels...
for the BBC.
In 1997 David Lodge was made a
Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, and in the 1998 New Years Honours list, he was appointed
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for his services to literature.
Two of Lodge's novels have been shortlisted for the
Booker PrizeThe Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
and in 1989 Lodge was himself chairman of the Booker Prize judges. His comic novel
Deaf Sentence (2008), about a hard-of-hearing, retired academic, is based on his own hearing problems.
Awards and recognition
- Winner of the Hawthornden Prize
The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender. Authors are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature" which can be written in either poetry or prose...
and the Yorkshire Post Fiction Prize for Changing PlacesChanging Places is the first "campus novel" by British novelist David Lodge. The subtitle is "A Tale of Two Campuses", and thus both the title and subtitle are literary allusions to Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. A successful sequel, Small World, was published in 1984.-Synopsis:Changing...
- Whitbread Book of the Year (1980) for How Far Can You Go?
How Far Can You Go? is a novel by British writer and academic David Lodge. It was renamed Souls and Bodies when published in the United States...
- Shortlisted for the Booker Prize (1984) for Small World
Small World: An Academic Romance is a humorous "campus novel" by the British writer David Lodge. It is a sequel to Lodge's 1975 novel, Changing Places....
- Shortlisted for the Booker Prize (1988) for Nice Work
Nice Work is a novel by British author David Lodge. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. In 1989 it was made into a four-part BBC television series directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Warren Clarke and Haydn Gwynne...
- Winner of the Sunday Express Book of the Year award (1988) for Nice Work
Nice Work is a novel by British author David Lodge. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. In 1989 it was made into a four-part BBC television series directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Warren Clarke and Haydn Gwynne...
- Regional winner and finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize (1996) for Therapy
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
- The television serialization of Nice Work
Nice Work is a novel by British author David Lodge. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. In 1989 it was made into a four-part BBC television series directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Warren Clarke and Haydn Gwynne...
(which he adapted himself) won the Royal Television Society's Award for best Drama serial in the year 1989 and a Silver Nymph at the International Television Festival (Monte Carlo; 1990).
Fiction
- The Picturegoers
The Picturegoers is the first novel by British novelist David Lodge.The novel interweaves scenes at and near a neighborhood movie theatre, using movies as a touchstone for exploring Catholic values in a changing world, where the cinema introduces values and behaviors from the greater society that...
— 1960
- Ginger You're Barmy
Ginger You're Barmy is a comic novel by David Lodge based on his experiences as a conscript to two years National Service in post-war Britain between August 1955 and August 1957.The title comes from the rhyme:Ginger, you're barmy,...
— 1962
- The British Museum Is Falling Down
The British Museum Is Falling Down is a comic novel by British author David Lodge about a 25-year-old poverty-stricken student of English literature who, rather than work on his thesis in the reading room of the British Museum, is time and again distracted from his work and who gets into all...
— 1965
- Out of the Shelter
Out of the Shelter is a novel by British author David Lodge.-Plot:The story tells a child's experience in the Blitz during World War II and his rescue from an air-raid shelter. Suffering from a wartime childhood and post-war shortages in London, Timothy has little to enrich his early youth...
— 1970
- Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses
Changing Places is the first "campus novel" by British novelist David Lodge. The subtitle is "A Tale of Two Campuses", and thus both the title and subtitle are literary allusions to Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. A successful sequel, Small World, was published in 1984.-Synopsis:Changing...
— 1975
- How Far Can You Go?
How Far Can You Go? is a novel by British writer and academic David Lodge. It was renamed Souls and Bodies when published in the United States...
(US edition: Souls and Bodies) — 1980
- Small World: An Academic Romance
Small World: An Academic Romance is a humorous "campus novel" by the British writer David Lodge. It is a sequel to Lodge's 1975 novel, Changing Places....
— 1984
- Nice Work
Nice Work is a novel by British author David Lodge. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. In 1989 it was made into a four-part BBC television series directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Warren Clarke and Haydn Gwynne...
— 1988
- Paradise News
Paradise News is a novel by British author David Lodge.-Plot summary:The story begins with Bernard, a laicised Catholic priest, escorting his unwilling father Jack to Hawaii at the request of his aunt Ursula, who is dying of cancer. On the day after arrival, Jack is hit by a car and sent to hospital...
— 1991
- A David Lodge Trilogy — 1993 - single volume comprising Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work
- Therapy — 1995
- The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up: And Other Stories — 1998
- Home Truths — 1999 (novella - written from original play)
- Thinks ...
Thinks ... is a novel by British author David Lodge.-Plot summary:The novel is exclusively set at the University of Gloucester, based loosely on the University of York thanks to the author's brief residence there...
— 2001
- Author, Author
Author, Author is a novel by David Lodge, written in 2004. The book is based on the life of the author Henry James. It was released at about the same time as The Master by Colm Tóibín and other books about James, and Lodge wrote The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novel about this...
— 2004
- Deaf Sentence — 2008
- A Man of Parts (H. G. Wells) — 2011
Non-fiction
- Language of Fiction — 1966
- The Novelist at the Crossroads — 1971
- The Modes of Modern Writing — 1977
- Working with Structualism — 1981
- Write On — 1986
- After Bakhtin — 1990
- The Art of Fiction (book)
The Art of Fiction is a book of literary criticism by the British novelist David Lodge. The chapters of the book first appeared in 1991-1992 as weekly columns in The Independent on Sunday and were eventually gathered into book form and published in 1992...
— 1992
- Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader — 1992
- The Practice of Writing — 1997
- Consciousness and the Novel — 2003
- The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novel — 2006
Adaptations for television
- Small World — 1988
- Nice Work
Nice Work is a novel by British author David Lodge. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. In 1989 it was made into a four-part BBC television series directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Warren Clarke and Haydn Gwynne...
— 1989
- Martin Chuzzlewit
Martin Chuzzlewit was a 1994 TV mini series produced by the BBC. It is based on the novel by Charles Dickens, with a screenplay by David Lodge. The music was composed by Geoffrey Burgon...
— 1994
- The Writing Game — 1995
Further reading
- Ammann, Daniel. David Lodge and the Art-and-Reality Novel. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, 1991. ISBN 978-3-8253-4404-7
- Bergonzi, Bernard
Bernard Bergonzi is a British literary scholar, critic and poet. He is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Warwick and an expert on T. S. Eliot.He was born in London and studied at the University of Oxford...
. David Lodge (Writers and Their Work). Tavistock, Devon: Northcote House Publishers, 1995. ISBN 978-0-7463-0755-7
- Martin, Bruce K. David Lodge. New York: Twayne, 1999. ISBN 0-8057-1671-8
External links