Louis de Bernières

Infobox Writer
name = Louis de Bernières

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caption = "De Bernières at the 2006 Humber Mouth festival"
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birthdate = Birth date and age|1954|12|8|mf=y
birthplace = London
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occupation = Novelist
nationality = British
period = 1990-
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Louis de Bernières (born London, UK on December 8, 1954) is a British novelist most famous for his book "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". In 1993, de Bernières was selected as one of the "20 Best of Young British Novelists", part of a promotion in "Granta" magazine. [ [http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/fiction/granta93.html] "Granta's Best of the Young British Novelists: 1993"] His fourth novel, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", was published in the following year, winning the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. [ [http://readers.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780099422044,00.html] "The Penguin Readers' Group Website"] It was also shortlisted for the 1994 Sunday Express Book of the Year. [ [http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/offthepage/guide.htm?command=Search&db=/catalog/main.txt&eqisbndata=0749397543] "Random House: Captain Corelli's Mandolin"] It has been translated into over 11 languages and is an international bestseller.

On 16 July 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in the Arts by the De Montfort University in Leicester, which he had previous attended when it was known as Leicester Polytechnic.

Biography

De Bernières grew up in Surrey, his surname being inherited from a French Huguenot forefather. He was educated at Bradfield College, and joined the army when he was 18, but left after four months of service at Sandhurst. He attended the Victoria University of Manchester and the Institute of Education, University of London. Before he began to write full-time he held a wide variety of jobs, including being a mechanic, a motorcycle messenger, an English teacher in Colombia.

Books

His Latin American trilogy

It was his experiences in Colombia (as well as the influence of writer Gabriel García Márquez, describing himself as a 'Márquez parasite') that, he says, profoundly influenced his first three novels, "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts" (1990), "Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord" (1991) and "The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman" (1992).

Corelli's Mandolin

De Bernières' most famous book is his fourth, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", in which the eponymous hero is an Italian soldier who is part of the occupying force on a Greek island during the Second World War.

In 2001, the book was turned into a film, also titled "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". De Bernières strongly disapproved of the film version, commenting, "It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby's ears being put on backwards."

Since the release of the book and the movie, Cephalonia, the island on which "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is set, has become a major tourist destination, and, as a result, the tourist industry on the island has begun to capitalise on the book's name. Of this, de Bernières said :"I was very displeased to see that a bar in "Agia Efimia" has abandoned its perfectly good Greek name and renamed itself Captain Corelli's, and I dread the idea that sooner or later there might be Captain Corelli Tours, or Pelagia Apartments."

Red Dog

His book, "Red Dog" (2002), was inspired by a statue of a dog he saw during a visit to Australia. [ [http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php/Red_Dog_by_Louis_de_Bernieres] "The Bookbag"]

Birds Without Wings

"Birds Without Wings" (2004), is set in Turkey, and tells the story of how a small community is affected by the First World War. The book also covers the history of Kemal Atatürk.

A Partisan's Daughter

"A Partisan's Daughter" tells of the relationship between a young Yugoslavian woman and a middle-aged English man around the time of Tito's demise.

Bibliography

Novels

*"The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts" (1990)
*"Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord" (1991)
*"The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman" (1992)
*"Captain Corelli's Mandolin" (1993)
*"Birds Without Wings" (2004)
*"A Partisan's Daughter" (2008)

hort stories

*"Labels" (1993)
*"Red Dog" (1993)
*"A Day out for Mehmet Erbil" (1999)
*"Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World (play for voices)" (2001)

References

External links

* [http://www.itvlocal.com/anglia/locallife/?player=ANG_LocalLife_15&void=196783 ITV Local Anglia's interview with Louis de Bernières May 2008]
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* [http://louisdebernieres.co.uk/ Louis de Bernieres own web site]