Paul Bowles: biography, literary career, books, reader reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Paul Bowles is an American writer and composer, whom many call a classic of modern literature. His work mainly fell on the second half of the 20th century. He is the author of the novels "Under the cover of heaven", "Let it pour", "House of the Spider", "Above the World", collections of short stories. In this article we will talk about his biography, as well as about the main works.

Childhood and youth

Paul Bowles was born in 1910. He was born in one of the districts of New York. He grew up in a family with very conservative views. Was the only child of his parents.

In literature, Paul Bowles made his debut in 1928 with the story "Waterfall", which was published in the student's literary newspaper. Within a few months, his poems appeared in French editions. Gradually, popularity began to come to him.

When the hero of the article was 18 years old, he left America to travelaround the world. Paul Bowles has traveled to Europe, Mexico, North Africa, traveled almost all of Central America.

Passion for music

Back home, Bowles began to study music. And in 1931, for the first time, he finds himself in the Moroccan city of Tangier, which played a big role in his fate. The people and the town itself made an indelible impression on the writer.

Having returned to the USA, he writes musical works for chamber orchestras and theaters, and actively publishes critical articles in which he describes modern theatrical performances.

Private life

In 1937, Bowles met the aspiring writer Jane Auer, who at that time was only 20 years old. Between them there is a romance, a year later they get married, but the marriage is short-lived. After spending about a year and a half together, Bowles and Auer part ways.

At the same time, they continue to maintain close friendly relations, help each other in everything. They even work together. In the future, in several of Bowles' works devoted to Algeria and Morocco, one can find episodes about their relationship with Auer.

In 1943, the first novel of the ex-wife of the hero of our article was published in print, which critics perceive ambiguously. After the end of World War II, she begins work on her second major prose work, and Bowles leaves for Tangier in 1947. In the north of Morocco, he spends almost the rest of his life.

A year later, Auer returns tospouse, they are reunited. In Tangier they live in a creative union, meeting with many famous writers: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal. It was in Morocco that Bowles began to write his most famous work, the novel Under the Cover of Heaven, which was published in 1949. A few decades later, it was even filmed by Bernardo Bertolucci, and the author himself appeared in the final scene of the picture. Time magazine experts included the book among the best hundred novels of the 20th century.

Death of wife

In 1957, Jane was diagnosed with a serious illness. She suffers during this period from drug and alcohol addiction. From time to time she has epileptic seizures. Paul takes care of his wife, takes her to the doctors, but all to no avail. In 1973, she dies in Malaga, Spain.

During this period, Bowles wrote many stories, the most famous of which is "Midnight Mass", as well as the novel "House of the Spider". In Morocco, he actively participates in the cultural life of the country, supporting local modernist writers. In particular, Mohammed Zefzaf, author of the story "The Guide" and the novel "Another Try to Survive." She also helps Muhammad Shukri, even translates his novel "By Bread Alone" into English.

Bowles has done a lot of translation work in recent years. It also adapts for the English-speaking reader the works of the Swiss writer of Russian origin Isabelle Eberhard and the Guatemalan Rodrigo Rey Rosa.

In 1999Bowles dies in Tangier. He was 88 years old. The writer was buried in his native New York.

Novel "Under the cover of heaven"

This novel has become the most famous work of the American writer. In the book "Under the cover of heaven" Paul Bowles describes the events that unfold in the Algerian port city of Oran. Here comes a couple of Americans - Keith and Port Moresby - along with a mutual friend George Tanner. They travel all over Algeria, hiding from a world crippled by war. Recall that the novel was written in 1949 - just a few years after the victory over fascism.

In Oran, Port becomes infected with typhus. In agony, he dies on the territory of the French fort right in the middle of the Sahara desert. After this tragedy, Kit leaves the fort, setting off to wander wherever his eyes look. She joins a passing caravan.

It contains a merchant named Belkassim. He makes Kit his mistress and takes him to the village. An American woman finds herself locked in Belkassim's harem. The other wives help her escape.

Being alone in the middle of a foreign country, she goes through a difficult path to survive. On the street, he becomes a victim of rape, after which he finally goes crazy. She is found by the sisters of mercy, who transfer the woman to the American embassy. This is one of the most dramatic novels ever written by Paul Bowles. "Under the Cover of Night" ends in the same café in Oran where it all began. George Tanner meets Kit, who by that time had already lostsanity.

It is known that the writer dedicated the work to his relationship with his wife Jane Auer. The book has been translated into Russian twice. In 2011, Alexander Skidan did it, and four years later, Vladimir Boshnyak.

Screening

Bowles' most famous novel was filmed by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci in 1990. He gave the picture about the tragic journey of an American couple through North Africa the same name as the literary work itself.

Starring John Malkovich and Debra Winger. George Tanner was played by Campbell Scott.

At the end of the picture, the author himself, Paul Bowles, appears. It turns out that throughout the film he acted as a narrator.

Reviews

Readers reacted very controversially to the novel, which was written by Paul Bowles. Reviews of "Under the cover of heaven" were diametrically opposed. The majority, noting that the book was written, of course, with talent, admitted that after reading they felt raped, like the main character. Once again, there was a conviction of how cruel and unfair the Muslim world is to a woman. And also how reckless one has to be to face him willingly.

At the same time, the novel was highly appreciated by Bowles' contemporary Tennessee Williams, arguing that it reflected everything beautiful and terrible that contains the Sahara and the cities surrounding it.

Those who especially liked this piece are advisedread it slowly so as not to miss the revelations that the author has prepared in the course of this narrative.

Let it pour

The second novel written by Paul Bowles is Let It Pour. It was written in 1952, three years after its high-profile debut. With the work of this American classic, the domestic reader had the opportunity to get acquainted for the first time relatively recently. For example, this book was first translated and published only in 2015.

The action of the book "Let it pour" takes place on the territory of Bowles' favorite city of Tangier, where he spent many years of his life. The protagonist is an ordinary New York bank teller Nelson Daer, who comes to Morocco in search of a new life. It was supposed to be fundamentally different, not like what he constantly had to deal with in America.

In Tangier, he finds himself among impoverished aristocrats, successful international swindlers, crooks of all stripes and clumsy foreign spies. It is here that he feels the strength to give free rein to his own instincts, starting to explore the underside of a civilized society. It soon becomes clear that it will not be so easy for Daer to stop. As a result, he goes too far.

Impressions of the novel

Paul Bowles has been working on the book for a long time. Readers characterize it as stuffy, muddy and sandy, just like the Sahara, against which the events of this novel unfold. Daer, who comes to Tangier to diversify his boring life, is faced withthe fact that everything here is the same, and in some manifestations even worse. The job he was counting on cannot be found, and a soul mate is also nowhere to be seen. So he has to hang around bars, drink gin and have lengthy philosophical conversations with dubious individuals.

Everything he aspires to seems small and insignificant to the reader. The main thing is that he himself understands this very well. Under the sultry Moroccan sun, the hero turns out to be another "outsider", like the protagonist of the novel by Albert Camus. As a result, Daer increasingly thinks about the fact that life is pain, entropy and loss. At the same time, she is completely silent and indifferent to a person.

House of the Spider

Spider House was written by Paul Bowles in 1955. During this time, he took care of his wife Jane, who suffered from both illness and alcohol addiction.

The heroes of this work are a tourist from America Lee, a cynical writer Stenham and a young potter's apprentice Amar. These three heroes, whom, at first glance, nothing can unite, find themselves in the middle of a powerful political hurricane. In the ancient city of Fez, the Moroccans are rebelling against the policies of the French colonizers. From the exchange life of the heroes soon there is no trace left.

Political instability

In this novel, turbulent events develop. Paul Bowles in "House of the Spider" talks about incidents that he himself witnessed. The city of Fez itself occupies an important place in the work. In the mid-1950s, when this book was being written,it was divided into two parts: French and Spanish.

The French find themselves in a position to overthrow the Sultan in order to put a more manageable and accommodating monarch on the throne. At this time, among the young educated Moroccans there are more and more ambitious individuals who seek to gain power over the dark people.

The modern reader may be struck by the fatalism of the Moroccans. They are convinced that fate cannot be changed. All this is even more mesmerizing in Paul Bowles' Spider House.

Above the world

After a hiatus of 11 years, Bowles is writing his latest novel, his fourth. In the book "Above the World", the main characters also go to an exotic country to dispel boredom. Only not to North Africa, but to Panama.

Dr. Taylor Slade and his young wife quite naively believe that common sense and money can protect him from any misfortunes.