21

st

CENTURY
PERIOD
21 CENTURY LITERATURE
st

 refers
to world literature in prose
produced during the 21st century.
 The range of years in 21st century
literature was written from (roughly) the
year 2001 to the present.
 The 2000s (decade) saw a steep
increase in the acceptability of
literature of all types, inspired by
the coming-of-age of millions of
people who enjoyed the works of
writers such as C. S. Lewis and
J. R. R. Tolkien in their youths.
 The 2000s (decade) also saw the
popularization of manga, or
Japanese comics, among
international audiences, particularly
in English-speaking nations.
 MANGA

 are comics created in Japan, or by

Japanese creators in the
Japanese language.
 The medium includes works in a broad
range of genres: action-adventure,
romance, sports and games, historical
drama, comedy, science fiction and
fantasy, mystery, suspense, detective,
horror, sexuality, and
business/commerce, among others.
 Many famous books like Harry Potter
series were converted into movies.
 Books on wars, guides for exams,
myths, etc. were frequent sellers in
this decade.
 Some books were written in simple
English and works of old writers
were translated into language that
was easier to understand.
 Mythology was converted into
graphic novel form to build interest
among young readers.
 C.S. Lewis
BIOGRAPHY:
AKA: Clive Staples Lewis
Born: Clive Staples Lewis
29 November 1898
Belfast, Ireland
Died: November 22, 1963 (aged 64) in Oxford,
England
Nationality: England
Occupation: Novelist, scholar, broadcaster
Genres; Christian apologetics, fantasy,science fiction,
children's literature
Notable work(s)
The Chronicles of Narnia
Mere Christianity
The Allegory of Love
The Screwtape Letters
The Space Trilogy
Till We Have Faces
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
 C. S. Lewis was a novelist, poet,
academic, medievalist, literary
critic, essayist, lay theologian,
and Christian apologist.
 He is best known both for his
fictional work, especially The
Screwtape Letters,
The Chronicles of Narnia, and
The Space Trilogy, and for his
non-fiction Christian apologetics,
such as Mere Christianity,
Miracles, and
The Problem of Pain.
 THE CHRONICLES OF
NARNIA
Set in the fictional realm
of Narnia, a fantasy
world of magic, mythical
beasts, and talking animals,
the series narrates the
adventures of various
children who play central
roles in the unfolding
history of that world.
 THE CHRONICLES OF
NARNIA
 consist of a series of seven fantasy novels for children
by C.S. Lewis.
 Book 1 - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
 Book 2 - Prince Caspian(1951)
 Book 3 - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
 Book 4 - The Silver Chair (1953)
 Book 5 - The Horse and His Boy (1954)
 Book 6 - The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
 Book 7 - The Last Battle (1956).
 These children's books are not only very popular with
8-12 year olds, but teens and adults also enjoy them.
SUMMARY
BOOK 1: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe (1950)
It tells the story of four ordinary
children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and
Lucy Pevensie, who have been evacuated
to the English countryside from London in
1940 following the outbreak of
World War II. They discover a wardrobe
in Professor Digory Kirke's house that
leads to the magical land of Narnia.
The Pevensie children help Aslan, a
talking lion, save Narnia from the
evil White Witch, who has reigned
over the land of Narnia for a century
of perpetual winter. The children
become kings and queens of this new-
found land and establish the Golden
Age of Narnia, leaving a legacy to be
rediscovered in later books.
 Prince Caspian: The
Return to Narnia (1951)
The Return to Narnia tells the story of the Pevensie
children's second trip to Narnia. They are drawn back
by the power of Susan's horn, blown by Prince Caspian
to summon help in his hour of need. Narnia, as they
knew it, is no more, as more than 1,000 years have
passed and their castle is in ruins, while all Narnians
have retreated so far within themselves that only
Aslan's magic can wake them. Caspian has fled into the
woods to escape his uncle, Miraz, who has usurped the
throne. The children set out once again to save Narnia
The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader (1952)
The Voyage of the ‘Dawn
Treader’ sees Edmund and Lucy Pevensie,
along with their priggish cousin,Eustace
Scrubb, return to Narnia. Once there, they
join Caspian's voyage on the ship Dawn
Treader to find the seven lords who were
banished when Miraz took over the throne.
This perilous journey brings them face to
face with many wonders and dangers as
they sail toward Aslan's country at the
edge of the world.
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Silver Chair is the first Narnia book
without any of the Pevensie children. Instead,
Aslan calls Eustace back to Narnia together with
his classmate Jill Pole. There they are given four
signs to aid in the search for Prince Rilian,
Caspian's son, who disappeared after setting out
ten years earlier to avenge his mother's death. 50
years have passed in Narnia and Caspian, who
was barely an adult in the Voyage of the Dawn
Treader, is now an old man, while Eustace is still
a child.
Eustace and Jill, with the help of
Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, face danger and
betrayal on their quest to find Rilian.
The Horse and His Boy (1954)

The story takes place during the

reign of the Pevensies in Narnia, an era
which begins and ends in the last chapter
of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A
talking horse called Bree and a young boy
named Shasta, both of whom are in
bondage in the country ofCalormen, are
the protagonists. By "chance", they meet
and plan their return to Narnia and
freedom. Along the way they meet Aravis
and her talking horse Hwin who are also
fleeing to Narnia.
The Magician's Nephew (1955)

The prequel The Magician's Nephew brings the

reader back to the origins of Narnia where we learn
how Aslan created the world and how evil first
entered it. Digory Kirke and his friend
Polly Plummer stumble into different worlds by
experimenting with magic rings made by Digory's
uncle. They encounter Jadis (The White Witch) in
the dying world of Charn, and witness the creation
of Narnia. Many long-standing questions about the
world are answered as a result. The story was set in
1900, when Digory was a 12-year-old boy. He is a
middle-aged professor and host to the Pevensie
children by the time of The Lion, the Witch and the
The Last Battle (1956)
The Last Battle chronicles the
end of the world of Narnia. Jill and
Eustace return to save Narnia
from Shift, an ape, who tricks
Puzzle, a donkey, into
impersonating the lion Aslan,
precipitating a showdown between
the Calormenes and King Tirian.
 Quentin Tarantino
BIOGRAPHY:
 Was born March 27, 1963) is an
American film director, screenwriter,
producer, and actor.
 His films have been characterized by
nonlinear storylines, satirical subject
matter, and an aestheticization
of violence that often results in the
exhibition of neo-noir characteristics.
 Tarantino has been dubbed a "director
DJ," comparing his stylistic use of mix-
and-match genre and music infusion to
the use of sampling in DJ exhibits.
 Pulp fiction
 There are a total of seven narrative
1. "Prologue—The Diner" (i)
2.Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus
Wallace's Wife"
3."Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
4. Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a—flashback, b
—present)
5."The Gold Watch“
6. "The Bonnie Situation"
7. "Epilogue—The Diner" (ii)
 Pulp fiction summary:
"Prologue -The Diner"
"Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny"
(Amanda Plummer) are having breakfast
in a diner. They decide to rob it after
realizing they could make money off the
customers as well as the business, as
they did during their previous heist.
Moments after they initiate the hold-up,
the scene breaks off and the title
credits roll.
 Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus
Wallace's Wife"
As Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) drives, Vincent Vega
(John Travolta) talks about his experiences in Europe, from
where he has just returned: the hashish bars in Amsterdam,
the FrenchMcDonald's and its "Royale with Cheese." The pair
—both wearing dress suits—are on their way to retrieve a
briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has transgressed
against their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace. Jules tells
Vincent that Marsellus had someone thrown off a fourth-
floor balcony for giving his wife a foot massage. Vincent
says Marsellus has asked him to escort his wife while
Marsellus is out of town. They conclude their banter and
"get into character" which soon involves executing Brett in
dramatic fashion after Jules recites a baleful "biblical"
pronouncement
"Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's
Wife"
 The "famous dance scene":[12] Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (
Uma Thurman) do the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's.
 In a virtually empty cocktail lounge, aging prizefighter Butch Coolidge (
Bruce Willis) accepts a large sum of money from mobster Marsellus Wallace (
Ving Rhames), agreeing to take a dive in his upcoming match. Vincent and
Jules—now dressed in T-shirts and shorts—arrive to deliver the briefcase, and
Butch and Vincent briefly cross paths. The next day, Vincent drops by the
house of Lance (Eric Stoltz) and his wife Jody (Rosanna Arquette) to purchase
high-grade heroin. He shoots up before driving over to meet Mrs. Mia Wallace
(Uma Thurman) and take her out. They head to Jack Rabbit Slim's, a 1950s-
themed restaurant staffed by lookalikes of the decade's pop icons. Mia
recounts her experience acting in a failed television pilot, "Fox Force Five."
 After participating in a twist contest, they return to the Wallace house with
the trophy. While Vincent is in the bathroom, Mia finds his stash of heroin in
his coat pocket. Mistaking it for cocaine, she snorts it and overdoses. Vincent
rushes her to Lance's house for help. Together, they administer anadrenaline
shot to Mia's heart, reviving her. Before parting ways, Mia and Vincent agree
not to tell Marsellus of the incident.
Prelude to "The Gold Watch"
Television time for young Butch (Chandler Lindauer) is
interrupted by the arrival of Vietnam veteran Captain
Koons (Christopher Walken). Koons explains that he
has brought a gold watch, passed down through
generations of Coolidge men since World War I.
Butch's father died of dysentery while in a POW camp
, and at his dying request Koons hid the watch in his
rectum for two years in order to deliver it to Butch. A
bell rings, startling the adult Butch out of this
reverie. He is in his boxing colors—it is time for the
fight he has been paid to throw.
"The Gold Watch"
Butch flees the arena, having won the bout. Making his
getaway by cab, he learns from the death-obsessed driver,
Esmarelda Villa Lobos (Angela Jones), that he killed the
opposing fighter. Butch has double-crossed Marsellus,
betting his payoff on himself at very favorable odds. The
next morning, at the motel where he and his girlfriend,
Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros), are lying low, Butch
discovers that she has forgotten to pack the irreplaceable
watch. He returns to his apartment to retrieve it, although
Marsellus' men are almost certainly looking for him. Butch
finds the watch quickly, but thinking he is alone, pauses for
a snack. Only then does he notice a machine pistol on the
kitchen counter. Hearing the toilet flush, Butch readies the
gun in time to kill a startled Vincent Vega exiting the
bathroom.
 Butch drives away, but while waiting at a traffic light,
Marsellus walks by and recognizes him. Butch rams Marsellus
with the car, then another automobile collides with his. After
a foot chase the two men land in a pawnshop. The
shopowner, Maynard (Duane Whitaker), captures them at
gunpoint and ties them up in a half-basement area. Maynard
is joined by Zed (Peter Greene); they take Marsellus to
another room to rape him, leaving a silent masked figure
referred to as "the gimp" to watch a tied-up Butch. Butch
breaks loose and knocks out the gimp. He is about to flee,
when he decides to save Marsellus. As Zed is sodomizing
Marsellus on a pommel horse, Butch kills Maynard with a
katana. Marsellus retrieves Maynard's shotgun and shoots Zed
in the groin. Marsellus informs Butch that they are even with
respect to the botched fight fix, so long as he never tells
anyone about the rape and departs Los Angeles, that night,
forever. Butch agrees and returns to pick up Fabienne on
Zed's chopper.
"The Bonnie Situation"
 The story returns to Vincent and Jules at Brett's. After they execute him,
another man (Alexis Arquette) bursts out of the bathroom and shoots wildly
at them, missing every time before an astonished Jules and Vincent return
fire. Jules decides this is a miracle and a sign from God for him to retire as
a hitman. They drive off with one of Brett's associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr
), their informant. Vincent asks Marvin for his opinion about the "miracle"
and accidentally shoots him in the face.
 Forced to remove their bloodied car from the road, Jules calls upon the
house of his friend Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino). Jimmie's wife, Bonnie, is
due back from work soon, and he is very anxious that she not encounter
the scene. At Jules' request, Marsellus arranges for the help of Winston
Wolfe (Harvey Keitel). "The Wolf" takes charge of the situation, ordering
Jules and Vincent to clean the car, hide the body in the trunk, dispose of
their own bloody clothes, and change into T-shirts and shorts provided by
Jimmie. They drive the car to a junkyard, from where Wolfe and the
owner's daughter, Raquel (Julia Sweeney), head off to breakfast. Jules and
Vincent decide to do the same.
"Epilogue-The Diner"
As Jules and Vincent eat breakfast in a diner, the discussion returns
to Jules' decision to retire. In a brief cutaway, we see "Pumpkin"
and "Honey Bunny" shortly before they initiate the hold-up from
the movie's first scene. While Vincent is in the bathroom, the hold-
up commences. "Pumpkin" demands all of the patrons' valuables,
including Jules' mysterious case. Jules surprises "Pumpkin" (whom
he calls "Ringo"), holding him at gunpoint. "Honey Bunny" (whose
name turns out to be Yolanda), hysterical, trains her gun on Jules.
Vincent emerges from the restroom with his gun trained on her,
creating a Mexican standoff. Reprising the biblical passage he'd
recited at Brett's place (Ezekiel 25:17), only this time with
sincerity rather than for effect he explains, Jules expresses his
ambivalence about his life of crime. As his first act of redemption,
he allows the two robbers to take the cash they have stolen and
leave, pondering how they were spared and leaving the briefcase
behind for Jules and Vincent to return to Marsellus, finishing Jules'
final job for his boss.
2001- The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: Jonathan Earl Franzen
August 17, 1959 (age 54)
Western Springs, Illinois, USA
 Occupation: Novelist, essayist
 Nationality: American
 Period: 1988–present
 Genres: Literary fiction
 Literary movement: Social realism
 Notable work(s):
The Corrections (2001), Freedom
(2010)
THE CORRECTIONS
BY Jonathan Franzen
 It revolves around the
troubles of an elderly
Midwestern couple and their
three adult children, tracing
their lives from the mid-
twentieth century to "one last
Christmas" together near the
turn of the millennium.
 Summary:
 The Corrections focuses on the Lamberts, a traditional and
somewhat repressed Midwestern family, whose children
have fled to the east coast to start new lives free from the
influence of their parents. The novel moves back and forth
in time throughout the late twentieth century, depicting
the personal growth and mistakes of each family member
in detail. The book climaxes around the time of the
technology driven economic boom of the late nineties as
the troubled family's problems begin to boil to the surface.
 Alfred Lambert is a railroad engineer and the stern
patriarch of the Lambert family, based in the fictional
town of St. Jude. After his children grow up and move to
the east coast, Alfred retires, but soon begins to suffer
from Parkinson's disease, causing his organized and
repressed personality to fracture. Alfred's loyal wife Enid
has long suffered from his
tyrannical behavior, but his increasing dementia
makes her life still harder. She is also tortured by
the questionable life choices of her three children
and their abandonment of midwestern Protestant
values. As the economic boom of the late nineties
goes into full swing, the family's massive problems
become impossible to ignore.
 Gary, the eldest Lambert son, is a successful but
seemingly depressed and alcoholic banker in
Philadelphia who suspects his life is carefully
controlled by his manipulative wife and children.
Chip, the middle child, is a Marxist academic
whose disastrous affair with a student loses him a
tenure-track job and lands him in the employ of a
Lithuanian crime boss defrauding
American investors. Denise, the youngest
of the family, is a successful chef in
Philadelphia but loses her job after
interlocking romances with both her boss
and his wife.
 The separate plot-lines converge on
Christmas morning back in St. Jude,
when Enid and her children are forced
to confront Alfred's accelerating
physical and mental decline.
 2002 - Atonement
by Ian McEwaN
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: Ian Russell McEwan
21 June 1948 (age 65)
Aldershot, England
 Occupation: Novelist,
screenwriter
 Nationality: English[2]
 Period: 1975–present
 Genre: Short Stories, Libretto
, Fiction, Drama, Children
His notable works:
 First Love, Last Rites 1987
 The Child in Time in 1993
 Amsterdam in 1998
 Atonement in 2002
 ATONEMENT SUMMARY:
 "Atonement" is a book written in three major parts:
 Part One tells the story of one day/night in 1935 at the
Tallis family estate north of London, England. It focuses on
Briony Tallis, the thirteen-year-old youngest daughter of
three, who aspires to be a writer. She has written a play
to be performed at dinner for the homecoming of her
brother, Leon, and put on by herself and her three cousins
who are staying with the Tallises for the summer because
of a divorce between their parents. Before the play can be
properly rehearsed, Briony witnesses a scene between her
older sister Cecilia and the son of the family charwoman
Robbie Turner. What is an innocent act is greatly
misunderstood by the young imagination, and this sets off
a series of events with eternal consequences.
 Following the fountain scene, Briony intercepts a
letter from Robbie to Cecilia and reads it. In it, she
discovers perverse desires and sets out to protect her
sister from this sex-craved maniac. Before she can do
so, she witnesses the couple making love and
mistakes it for assault, further confirming her
assumption that Robbie is out to harm Cecilia.
 Before the night is through, her twin cousins run
away from home triggering the rest of the dinner
guests to search for them in the dark night. Briony,
who is searching alone, witnesses a rape taking place
of her older cousin Lola. Not one to miss her
opportunity, Briony convinces everyone at the scene,
including authorities, that the assailant was Robbie
Turner, and he is taken to jail.
 Part Two takes place five years later. It follows Robbie Turner as he retreats
through France as a soldier during the war. The reader has learned he
served three years in prison for his crime and is now able to exonerate
himself by serving in the army. Separated from his battalion, Robbie is
marching through the countryside with two other corporals trying to get to
the evacuation town of Dunkirk. During his march, Robbie experiences the
atrocities of war, and has plenty of time to consider his situation as soldier,
criminal, and victim of Briony's false accusations. The three men make it to
Dunkirk which is in a state of complete chaos. Robbie is severely wounded
but is determined to make it home to Cecilia who is waiting for him.
 Part Three picks up the eighteen-year-old Briony who has signed up as a
nurse in London. Suffering from guilt for her crime as girl, Briony hopes
nursing will act as a penance for her sin. Briony is also still writing. She
submits a story to a London journal which is rejected, but in the rejection
she is encouraged to develop the story further as it is quite good. When the
soldiers return from Dunkirk, Briony experiences the horrors of war first
hand, and is humiliated at her failure to perform her duty. At the end of
Part Three, Briony seeks out her older sister. Before she does, she attends
the wedding of Paul Marshall (whom she knows to be Lola's rapist) and Lola.
Briony does nothing to stop the marriage.
 When she visits her sister, it is discovered that Robbie is still alive
and living with Cecilia. This makes Briony happy to see. She does not
so much as ask for forgiveness from the two lovers (who refuse it
anyhow) as simply admit her guilt and seek counsel on what she can
do to make it better. Robbie and Cecilia give Briony a list of
instructions to follow that will help clear Robbie's name. Briony
agrees to do each one, and heads back to work in London. The last
we see of Robbie and Cecilia are on the tube station platform.
 The final section of the boo, London, 1999, is a letter from the
author to the reader. It is revealed here that the author is Briony
herself. She explains that she was able to write the war parts of the
book with the aid of letters form the museum of archives and a pen-
pal relationship with one of the corporals with whom Robbie
marched. Briony attends a birthday party/family reunion at her old
home, the original scene of the crime. She also reveals that she is
dying. In a final twist, Briony informs her reader that she has made
up the part about visiting Cecilia and Robbie in London and how both
people died in the war. Her act to let their love last forever in the
pages of her book will be her final atonement to her crime.
2003 - Roman TriptycH
(Meditation) BY Pope John Paul II
BIOGRAPHY:
 Birth name: Karol Józef Wojtyła
 Born: 18 May 1920
Wadowice, Republic of Poland
 Died: 2 April 2005 (aged 84)
Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
 Nationality: Polish (with Vatican
citizenship)
 Native name: Polish: Jan Paweł II
 Church: Roman Catholic Church
 Papacy began: October 1978
 Papacy ended: 2 April 2005
 Successor: Benedict XVI
 John Paul II is considered one of the most
influential leaders of the 20th century.
 He was one of the most travelled world
leaders in history, visiting 129 countries
during his pontificate.
 In1978,became the first non-Italian pope in
more than 400 years.
 Hewas a vocal advocate for human rights and
used his influence to effect political change.
 He died in Italy in 2005. It was announced in
July of 2013 that he would be declared a saint
in April of the following year.
Roman Triptych is the
spiritual testament in
poetry of the man who will
surely come to be known
as John Paul the Great.
Fully illustrated in colour
and with an Introduction by
the then Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger.
 2004 - Free Culture
by Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence "Larry" Lessig (born June 3, 1961) is an American
academic and political activist.
He is a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright,
trademark, and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in
technology applications.
He is director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at
Harvard University and the Professor of Law at
Harvard Law School.
Previously, he was a professor of law at Stanford Law School
and founder of the Center for Internet and Society.
Lessig is a founding board member of Creative Commons and
the founder of Rootstrikers, and is on the board of MapLight.[2]
He is on the advisory boards of the Democracy Café,[3]
Sunlight Foundation[4] and Americans Elect.[5] He is a former
board member of the Free Software Foundation,
Software Freedom Law Center and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation.[6]
2005 - Harold Pinter
 BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: October 10,1930
Hackney, east London, England
 Died: 24 December 2008 (aged 78)
London, England
 Caused of his Death: liver cancer
 Occupation: Playwright, screenwriter, actor, theatre
director, poet
 Nationality: British
 Period: 1947–2008
 Notable award(s)
o Companion of Honour (2002)
 Nobel Prize in Literature (2005)
 Légion d'honneur (2007)
 David Cohen Prize (1995)
 Laurence Olivier Award (1996)
Spouse(s)
Vivien Merchant (1956–1980; divorced)
Lady Antonia Fraser (1980–2008; his death)
 Children
One son with Merchant,
six stepchildren with Fraser
 Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a
Nobel Prize-winning English playwright, screenwriter, director and actor.
 His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming
(1964), and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His
screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963),
The Go-Between (1970), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial
(1993), and Sleuth (2007).
 He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of
his own and others' works.
 Pinter received over 50 awards, prizes, and other honours, including the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 and the French Légion d'honneur in 2007.
2006 - The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
Born : Charles McCarthy
July 20, 1933 (age 80)
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Occupation: Novelist, playwright
Nationality: American
Genres : Southern Gothic, Western, Post-apocalyptic
Notable work(s):
Suttree (1979), Blood Meridian (1985),
All the Pretty Horses (1992) (Border Trilogy),
No Country for Old Men (2005), The Road
(2006)
Spouse(s): Lee Holleman (1961–1962; divorced)
Annie DeLisle (1967–1981; divorced)
Jennifer Winkley (1997–present)
Children: Cullen McCarthy, son, b. 1962 (with Lee Holleman)
John McCarthy, son, b. 1998 (with
Jennifer Winkley)
2008 - 2666: A Novel
by RobertO Bolaño
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: Roberto Bolaño Ávalos
28 April 1953
Santiago, Chile
 Died:
15 July 2003 (aged 50)
Barcelona, Spain
o Caused of his Death:
Liver Disease
 Occupation:
Writer, poet
 Language:
Spanish
 Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (28 April 1953 – 15 July
2003) was a Chilean writer, author of novels,
short-stories, poems, and essays.
 In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize
for his novel Los detectives salvajes (
The Savage Detectives)
 In 2008 he was posthumously awarded the
National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for
his novel 2666, which was described by board
member Marcela Valdes as a "work so rich and
dazzling that it will surely draw readers and
scholars for ages.
 "He has been described by the New York Times as
"the most significant Latin American literary voice
of his generation."
BOLAñO’S WORK:
2666
 explores 20th-century
degeneration through
a wide array of
characters, locations,
time periods, and
stories within stories.
 The title of 2666 is
typical of the book's
mysterious qualities.
2666 SUMMARY:
I. "The Part about the Critics" describes a
group of four European literary critics who
have forged their careers around the elusive
German novelist Benno von Archimboldi.
Their search for Archimboldi ultimately leads
them to the Mexican border town of Santa
Teresa in Sonora.
II. "The Part about Amalfitano" concentrates on
Oscar Amalfitano, a mentally unstable
professor of philosophy at the University of
Santa Teresa, who fears his daughter will be
caught up in the violence of the city.
III. "The Part about Fate" follows Oscar Fate, an
American journalist for an African-American
interest magazine, who is sent to Santa Teresa to
cover a boxing match (despite knowing very little
about boxing) but becomes interested in the
murders.
IV. "The Part about the Crimes" chronicles the
murders of dozens of women in Santa Teresa from
1993 to 1997. It also depicts the police force in
their mostly fruitless attempts to solve the crimes.
V. "The Part about Archimboldi" reveals that the
mysterious writer is Hans Reiter, born in 1920 in
Prussia. This section explains how a provincial
German soldier on the Eastern Front became an
author in contention for the Nobel Prize.
2009 - The Humbling
by Philip Roth
BIOGRAPHY:
Born: Philip Milton Roth
March 19, 1933 (age 80)
Newark, New Jersey, USA
Occupation: Novelist
Nationality American
Period: 1950s–present
Genres: Literary fiction
Spouse(s) Margaret Martinson
Williams (1959-1963)
Claire Bloom (1990-1994)
PHILIP ROTH’S WORK:
 The Humbling is a
novel by Philip Roth
published
in the fall of 2009 by
Houghton Mifflin Harco
urt
.
o It is Roth's 30th book
and concerns "...an
aging stage actor
whose empty life is
altered by a
'counterplot of
The Humbling SUMMARY:
PART ONE
 Simon Axler is a famed sexagenarian stage actor
who suddenly and inexplicably loses his gift. His
weak attempts at portraying Prospero and
Macbeth on stage at the Kennedy Center in
Washington lead to poor reviews, sending Axler
into a profound depression and cause him to give
up acting and contemplate suicide with a shotgun
he keeps in his attic. His wife, Victoria, a former
ballerina, is unable to deal with Axler's depression
and moves to California, where their son lives.
Axler checks himself into a psychiatric hospital on
the advice of his physician and stays there for 26
days.
 In the hospital, Axler meets another patient, Sybil Van
Buren, who tells him about catching her second husband
sexually abusing her young daughter. She expresses
shame at not immediately reporting her husband or
removing him from the home and admits to attempting
suicide. Sybil asks Axler whether he would be willing to
kill her husband and he tells her he fears he would
"botch the job".
 Months after his stint in the hospital, Axler's agent,
Jerry Oppenheim, visits him at his upstate New York
home to tell him about an offer to play James Tyrone in
Long Day's Journey into Night. Axler refuses, fearing
another failure. In the fan mail Oppenheim brings, Axler
finds a letter from Sybil, thanking him for listening to
her problems in the hospital. She says she did not
recognize him at the time but decided to write him
after catching one of his old movies on TV.
 Part two
 Pegeen Mike Stapleford, the 40-year-old daughter
of two actors he performed with around the time
she was born, pays Axler a visit at his house.
Pegeen has just moved nearby to work as a
professor at a Vermont women's college after
ending a six-year relationship with a woman who
decided to undergo sex reassignment surgery to
become a man. Pegeen's job was secured after she
slept with the school's "smitten" dean, Louise
Renner.
 Simon and Pegeen begin an affair despite Pegeen's
having lived as a lesbian for the previous 17 years.
Louise is furious that Pegeen has broken off their
relationship and begins stalking her.
 Months later, Louise calls Pegeen's parents in Lansing,
Michigan, to tell them that their daughter is now sleeping
with Axler. Pegeen is distressed that her parents have learned
about the relationship she wanted kept secret. Her father,
Asa, tells her he disapproves because of the age difference
but Simon suspects he merely envies his professional success.
Asa directs community theater in Michigan.
Part three
 Axler reads in the local newspaper that Sybil has shot and
killed her estranged husband. He contacts Sybil's sister and
offers to help with her murder defense.
 One night, Pegeen "offers" Axler a 19-year-old college student
of her acquaintance named Lara. Lara becomes a fantasy of
his and a character in Pegeen's sexual role-playing. Soon
after, while Axler and Pegeen are dining out, he notices
Tracy, a young woman getting drunk at the restaurant bar,
and they take her home for a threesome.
 Afterward, Axler asks her why she agreed to go
home with them, and she admits she recognized
him as a famous actor. After this adventure, Axler
feels rejuvenated and decides he wants to perform
in Long Day's Journey after all. He also decides
that he wants to father a child with Pegeen and
visits a fertility specialist without telling her.
 Two weeks later, Pegeen ends their relationship,
telling Axler she "made a mistake." He accuses her
of leaving him to be with Tracy and believes
Pegeen's parents have turned her against him. He
calls her parents, shouting at them in an angry
tirade. After the call, Axler kills himself with his
shotgun.