Brian Moore (novelist)

Brian Moore (Christian name pronounced "Bree-an") (25 August 1921 – 11 January 1999) was an Irish novelist. He was acclaimed for his descriptions of life in Northern Ireland in the post-war era, in particular his explorations of the intercommunal divisions of The Troubles. Moore was also admired for his insight into female psychology, with women as the central narrative character in several of his books.

Moore was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1975 and the inaugural Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1987, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. Moore also wrote screenplays and several of his books were made into films.

Biography

Moore was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

His father, a surgeon, was pro-Axis during World War II, although Moore himself was a volunteer air raid warden during the bombing of Belfast by the Luftwaffe. He also served as a civilian with the British army in North Africa, Italy and France.

Moore had grown up in a large Roman Catholic family of nine children, but rejected that faith early in life. Some of his novels feature staunchly anti-doctrinaire and anti-clerical themes, and he in particular spoke strongly about the effect of the Church on life in Ireland. A recurring theme in his novels is the concept of the Catholic priesthood. On several occasions he explores the idea of a priest losing his faith. These works were criticized by his sister, who was herself a Roman Catholic nun.

His earliest novels were thrillers, published under his own name and the pseudonyms Bernard Mara and Michael Bryan. [Denis Sampson. "Brian Moore: The Chameleon Novelist." Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1998. p. i.] Moore's first novel outside the genre, " Judith Hearne", remains among his most highly regarded. It was made into a film, with Dame Maggie Smith playing the lonely spinster who is the book/film's title character. Several other Moore novels were made into adapted for the screen, including "Intent to Kill" (1958), "The Luck of Ginger Coffey", "Catholics", "Black Robe", "Cold Heaven", and "The Statement". He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "Torn Curtain" and "The Blood of Others", based on the novel "Le Sang des autres" by Simone de Beauvoir.

Brian Moore died in 1999 at his home in Malibu, California, aged 77, of pulmonary fibrosis. He had been working on a novel about the 19th-century French symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud. [http://www.robertfulford.com/BrianMoore.html]

Moore's archives, which includes unfilmed screenplays, drafts of various novels, working notes, a 42 volume journal (1957-1998), and his correspondence, are now at The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas. [http://research.hrc.utexas.edu:8080/hrcxtf/view?docId=ead/00167.xml]

Moore has been the subject of two biographies, "Brian Moore: The Chameleon Novelist" (1998) by Denis Sampson and "Brian Moore: A Biography" (2002) by Patricia Craig.

Bibliography

Novels

*"Wreath for a Redhead" (1951) (U.S. title: "Sailor's Leave")
*"The Executioners" (1951)
*"French for Murder" (1954) (as Bernard Mara)
*"A Bullet for My Lady" (1955) (as Bernard Mara) [http://www.mysteryfile.com/Kiss05.html#Mara]
*"Judith Hearne" (1955) (reprinted as "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne")
*"This Gun for Gloria" (1957) (as Bernard Mara)
*"Intent to Kill" (1957) (as Michael Bryan)
*"The Feast Of Lupercal" (1957) (reprinted as "A Moment of Love")
*"Murder in Majorca" (1957) (as Michael Bryan)
*"The Luck of Ginger Coffey" (1960)
*"An Answer From Limbo" (1962)
*"The Emperor Of Ice-Cream" (1965)
*"I Am Mary Dunne" (1968)
*"Fergus" (1970)
*"The Revolution Script" (1971)
*"Catholics" (1972)
*"The Great Victorian Collection" (1975, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize)
*"The Doctor's Wife" (1976)
*"The Mangan Inheritance" (1979)
*"The Temptation of Eileen Hughes" (1981)
*"Cold Heaven" (1983)
*"Black Robe" (1985)
*"The Colour of Blood" (1987, winner of the Sunday Express Book of the Year)
*"Lies of Silence" (1990)
*"No Other Life" (1993)
*"The Statement" (1996)
*"The Magician's Wife" (1998)

Non-fiction

*"Canada" (1963)

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/253500.stm Obituary from the BBC]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005416 Brian Moore's] entry in [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=HomePage&Params=A1 The Canadian Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/N/novel/novel_moore.html Review of his work from Channel 4]
*
* [http://www.laweekly.com/art+books/books/brian-moore-19211999/6901/ L.A. Weekly obit]
* [http://www.laweekly.com/art+books/books/an-irishman-in-malibu/6888/ An Irishman in Malibu: Profile from Los Angeles Times Magazine]

ee also

*List of Northern Irish writers