Piers Paul Read
Encyclopedia
Piers Paul Read, FRSL (born 7 March 1941) is a British novelist and non-fiction writer.
, Buckinghamshire
. He is the third son of Sir Herbert Read
, a poet, art critic and theorist of anarchism
, and Margaret Ludwig Read, a professional musician, who was a convert to Catholicism
.
When Read was eight, his family moved to North Yorkshire
, where he was educated at Gilling Castle
and Ampleforth College
. His years at Ampleforth would later provide much of the material for the first part of his third novel Monk Dawson
(1969). In 1959 he went to St John's College
, Cambridge, where he read history. He received his B.A. in 1961 and M.A. in 1962. In 1963-64, he spent a year in West Berlin
on a Ford Foundation
Fellowship. There he made friends with two other beneficiaries of the Ford Foundation, Tom Stoppard
and Derek Marlowe
, and worked on his first novel Game in Heaven with Tussy Marx (1966). His stay in Berlin inspired his second novel The Junkers (1968, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
) and confirmed the general sympathy towards the Germans that he felt on account of his mother's part-German ancestry. On returning to England, he took a job as sub-editor on The Times Literary Supplement
and shared a flat in Pimlico
with Stoppard and Marlowe. At 24 he briefly dated Anna Wintour
, then 15. In 1967-68, he spent a year in New York - an experience he used in his fourth novel The Professor's Daughter (1971).
Read is a practising Catholic and Vice-President of the Catholic Writers' Guild of England and Wales. He is married to Emily Boothby (of the Boothby baronets
). They have two sons and two daughters. Read lives in London. In 2005, he correctly predicted the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope.
book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
which documented the story of the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
in the Andes mountains. Alive won the Thomas More Medal for the most distinguished contribution to Catholic literature in 1974 and has sold more than five million copies worldwide. The book was adapted into the 1993 film Alive: The Miracle of the Andes.
(1969), which won him a Hawthornden Prize
and a Somerset Maugham Award
, and was later made into the 1998 film of the same name
by Tom Waller
.
In 1978 he wrote the book The Train Robbers about the Great Train Robbery (1963)
in England in 1963.
In 1988 he was awarded a James Tait Black Memorial Prize
for his book, A Season in the West.
In 2003 his authorized biography of the actor Alec Guinness
was published.
In 2009 he wrote The Death of a Pope
(ISBN 9781586172954) set with the 2005 Papal conclave as a backdrop.
, murder and conspiracy theories
. Most of his main characters are fairly unsympathetic and some of them commit horrific deeds before they finally convert to God
.
Almost all of Read's novels are set in Europe. Many of his books show a great interest and sympathy especially for Germany - quite unusual in British literature
- and for Eastern Europe
an countries like Russia and Poland. In The Knights of the Cross, he explicitly satirizes the expectations and prejudice
s of the British readership towards the Germans.
Background
Read was born in BeaconsfieldBeaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. He is the third son of Sir Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
, a poet, art critic and theorist of anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, and Margaret Ludwig Read, a professional musician, who was a convert to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
.
When Read was eight, his family moved to North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, where he was educated at Gilling Castle
Gilling Castle
Gilling Castle is a castle near Gilling East, North Yorkshire, England . The castle was originally the home of the Etton family, who appeared there at the end of the 12th century...
and Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
. His years at Ampleforth would later provide much of the material for the first part of his third novel Monk Dawson
Monk Dawson (novel)
Monk Dawson, is a novel by English author Piers Paul Read, published in 1969 by Secker and Warburg in the UK and in 1970 by Lippincott in the US, the year it won both the Somerset Maugham Award and Hawthornden Prize. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1998...
(1969). In 1959 he went to St John's College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, Cambridge, where he read history. He received his B.A. in 1961 and M.A. in 1962. In 1963-64, he spent a year in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
on a Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
Fellowship. There he made friends with two other beneficiaries of the Ford Foundation, Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
and Derek Marlowe
Derek Marlowe
Derek William Mario Marlowe was an English playwright, novelist, and screenwriter.- Life :Derek Marlowe was born in Perivale, Middlesex, and lived there and in Greenford as a child. His father was Frederick William Marlowe and his mother Helene Alexandroupolos...
, and worked on his first novel Game in Heaven with Tussy Marx (1966). His stay in Berlin inspired his second novel The Junkers (1968, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman publisher Faber & Faber...
) and confirmed the general sympathy towards the Germans that he felt on account of his mother's part-German ancestry. On returning to England, he took a job as sub-editor on The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
and shared a flat in Pimlico
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
with Stoppard and Marlowe. At 24 he briefly dated Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...
, then 15. In 1967-68, he spent a year in New York - an experience he used in his fourth novel The Professor's Daughter (1971).
Read is a practising Catholic and Vice-President of the Catholic Writers' Guild of England and Wales. He is married to Emily Boothby (of the Boothby baronets
Boothby Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Boothby, both in the Baronetage of England. One creation is extant as of 2008....
). They have two sons and two daughters. Read lives in London. In 2005, he correctly predicted the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope.
Alive
Read is best known for his non-fictionNon-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors is a 1974 book by the British writer Piers Paul Read documenting the events of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.-Story:...
which documented the story of the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as the Andes flight disaster, and in South America as Miracle in the Andes was a chartered flight carrying 45 people, including a rugby team, their friends, family and associates that crashed in the Andes on October 13, 1972...
in the Andes mountains. Alive won the Thomas More Medal for the most distinguished contribution to Catholic literature in 1974 and has sold more than five million copies worldwide. The book was adapted into the 1993 film Alive: The Miracle of the Andes.
Other work
Read's first notable success was his novel Monk DawsonMonk Dawson (novel)
Monk Dawson, is a novel by English author Piers Paul Read, published in 1969 by Secker and Warburg in the UK and in 1970 by Lippincott in the US, the year it won both the Somerset Maugham Award and Hawthornden Prize. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1998...
(1969), which won him a Hawthornden Prize
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 a Somerset Maugham Award
Somerset Maugham Award
The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. It is awarded to whom they judge to be the best writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a book published in the past year. The prize was instituted in 1947 by William Somerset Maugham and thus...
, and was later made into the 1998 film of the same name
Monk Dawson
Monk Dawson is a film that was released in 1998, directed and produced by Tom Waller and starring John Michie, Benedict Taylor, Rhona Mitra and Paula Hamilton...
by Tom Waller
Tom Waller
Tom Waller is a film director and producer.Waller studied at Ampleforth College, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, and the Northern Film School in Leeds, England. Immediately upon graduating he founded production company De Warrenne Pictures Ltd...
.
In 1978 he wrote the book The Train Robbers about the Great Train Robbery (1963)
Great Train Robbery (1963)
The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered...
in England in 1963.
In 1988 he was awarded a James Tait Black Memorial Prize
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for his book, A Season in the West.
In 2003 his authorized biography of the actor Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
was published.
In 2009 he wrote The Death of a Pope
The Death of a Pope
The Death of a Pope is a 2009 novel by prize-winning English writer Piers Paul Read. It is Read's fifteenth novel.-Plot:The story begins in London where a Basque ex-priest named Juan Uriarte is on trial, accused of attempting to purchase chemicals and plotting a terrorist attack. The trial is...
(ISBN 9781586172954) set with the 2005 Papal conclave as a backdrop.
Themes
Read's novels are strongly influenced by his Catholic faith. His stories focus on the religious themes of sin and redemption. Read writes in a fairly traditional, linear style and he often uses plot elements from popular fiction, especially the thriller, like espionageEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, murder and conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
. Most of his main characters are fairly unsympathetic and some of them commit horrific deeds before they finally convert to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
.
Almost all of Read's novels are set in Europe. Many of his books show a great interest and sympathy especially for Germany - quite unusual in British literature
British literature
British Literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Manx, Jèrriais,...
- and for Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an countries like Russia and Poland. In The Knights of the Cross, he explicitly satirizes the expectations and prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
s of the British readership towards the Germans.
Fiction
- Game in Heaven with Tussy Marx (1966)
- The Junkers (1968)
- Monk DawsonMonk Dawson (novel)Monk Dawson, is a novel by English author Piers Paul Read, published in 1969 by Secker and Warburg in the UK and in 1970 by Lippincott in the US, the year it won both the Somerset Maugham Award and Hawthornden Prize. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1998...
(1969) - The Professor's Daughter (1971)
- The Upstart (1973)
- Polonaise (1976)
- A Married Man (1979)
- The Villa Golitsyn (1981)
- The Free Frenchman (1986)
- A Season in the West (1988)
- On the Third Day (1990)
- A Patriot in Berlin (1995)
- Knights of the Cross (1997)
- Alice in Exile (2001)
- The Death of a PopeThe Death of a PopeThe Death of a Pope is a 2009 novel by prize-winning English writer Piers Paul Read. It is Read's fifteenth novel.-Plot:The story begins in London where a Basque ex-priest named Juan Uriarte is on trial, accused of attempting to purchase chemicals and plotting a terrorist attack. The trial is...
(2009) - The Misogynist (2010)
Non-fiction
- Alive: The Story of the Andes SurvivorsAlive: The Story of the Andes SurvivorsAlive: The Story of the Andes Survivors is a 1974 book by the British writer Piers Paul Read documenting the events of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.-Story:...
(1974) - The Train Robbers (1978)
- Quo Vadis? The Subversion of the Catholic Church (a 45-page pamphletPamphletA pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
in the Claridge "Blasts" series) (1991) - Ablaze: The Story of ChernobylChernobylChernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
(1993) - The TemplarsKnights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
: The Dramatic History of the Knights Templar, the Most Powerful Military Order of the Crusades (1999) - Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
. The Authorised Biography (2003) - Hell and Other Destinations (US title: Hell and Other Essays) (2006)
See also
- Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek HomeMiracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek HomeMiracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home is a 2006 book by Nando Parrado and Vince Rause.-Story:Parrado co-wrote the 2006 book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, with Vince Rause...
- Alive: 20 Years LaterAlive: 20 Years LaterAlive: 20 Years Later is a 1993 documentary film produced, directed and written by Jill Fullerton-Smith and narrated by Martin Sheen.-Content:...
- Nando ParradoNando ParradoFernando "Nando" Seler Parrado Dolgay is one of the sixteen Uruguayan survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972. After spending two months trapped in the mountains with the other crash survivors, he, along with Roberto Canessa, climbed...
- Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as the Andes flight disaster, and in South America as Miracle in the Andes was a chartered flight carrying 45 people, including a rugby team, their friends, family and associates that crashed in the Andes on October 13, 1972...
Literature about the Author
- Crowe, Marian E. (2007). Aiming at Heaven, Getting the Earth: The English Catholic Novel Today. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, pp. 285–350. (Chapters on Monk Dawson, Polonaise and On the Third Day) ISBN 0739116401; ISBN 073911641X.
- Head, Dominic (2002). The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction. Cambridge University Press, pp. 28–29. (Discusses A Married Man) ISBN 0521660149; ISBN 0521669669.
- Whitehouse, J.C. (2004). "Piers Paul Read, A Season in the West", in Reichardt, Mary R. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Catholic Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, pp. 517–605. ISBN 9780313322891; ISBN 0313322899.
- Woodman, Thomas (1991). Faithful Fictions: The Catholic Novel in English Literature. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. (Briefly discusses all Read's novels up to The Free Frenchman) ISBN 0335096387.
- Read, Piers Paul. Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Vol. 38, pp. 353–355.