21

ST

CENTURY
PERIOD
 21ST CENTURY IN LITERATURE

 refersto 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 Lif
 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
Wardrobe 40 years later.
 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
BY QUENTIN TARANTINO
 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 an
adrenaline 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.
 He was 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
BIOGRAPHY:
 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 unusual
erotic desire.'"
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.