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    Author, Author
    Author, Author
    Author, Author
    Audiobook16 hours

    Author, Author

    Written by David Lodge

    Narrated by Christopher Kay

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In David Lodge's last novel, Thinks... the novelist Henry James was invisibly present in quotation and allusion. In Author, Author he is centre stage, sometimes literally.

    The story begins in December 1915, with the dying author surrounded by his relatives and servants, most of whom have private anxieties of their own, then loops back to the 1880s, to chart the course of Henry's 'middle years', focusing particularly on his friendship with the genial Punch artist and illustrator, George Du Maurier.

    By the end of the decade Henry is seriously worried by the failure of his books to 'sell', and decides to try and achieve fame and fortune as a playwright, at the same time that George Du Maurier, whose sight is failing, diversifies into writing novels. The consequences, for both men, are surprising, ironic, comic and tragic...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateJan 3, 2013
    ISBN9781471226847
    Author, Author

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    Reviews for Author, Author

    3.5/5

    115 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I didn't think I would like this book, because I don't have much interest in Henry James, but Lodge's writing is captivating. I became interested in James' trials in getting his work to be profitablly published and, in the case of his plays (who knew he wrote plays?) performed. The book starts with him on his deathbed, which of course is where it ends, but in between one gets to know a man who never deeply connected with anyone, but remains interesting. And there is much here about the life of a writer, and what it is like, particularly the reception of ones work, which informs the title.
    • 3/5
      Because Lodge's writing is rambling I found myself getting distracted and confused about what was happening when. Author, Author is a biography that focuses mainly on Henry James's relationships with Constance Fenimore Woolsen, the granddaughter of James Fenimore Cooper and with fellow author/friend George Du Maurier and the "horrible opening night" of his play "Guy Domville." The best part of the story was Henry's relationship with Constance Fenimore Woolsen (fondly known as Fenimore throughout the book). James struggles to have a relationship with her that is private yet meaningful.
    • 3/5
      This is probably a better than 3 star book, but it took me a while to get through it. It’s a little too long, and I’ve already read a couple of biographies of James, so I felt like I was covering same ground. Even thought this is fiction it seems to follow facts very closely, and is well written and interesting.
    • 4/5
      "Author, Author" is a fictionalization of the life of author Henry James, with particular attention to his years as a playwright. The book is well written, and assuming the specific details of his life were actually true (and the Lodge didn’t simply make them up), they flowed well within the narrative and never seemed forced or superfluous.Unfortunately, I struggled to finish the book. Again, it was well written, and I typically love writings set in the late 19th century, but it failed to capture my full attention. Likely by biggest distraction is that I have never read anything by Henry James. As the book progresses, it become clear that certain events described earlier in the book end up being the plot devices for works he later writes. Since I didn’t know the works, I missed the build-up. As a result, I failed to see the point of the book for about the first half. Now the flipside of that, since I have no knowledge of his works, it was always a surprise to me when one was successful or a failure. It’s like reading about a war and not knowing who’s going to win.The end of the book picked up, and I found a strong desire to see how it would end. But overall, it was a mediocre experience – possibly better enjoyed by someone with a more refined literary background than my own.
    • 3/5
      This book is about Henry James, and like Colm Tóibín's The Master, a key incident is the opening of James' play Guy Domville, where the venerable author was booed by the audience as he took a curtain call. But the wider focus here is James' desire for sales – partly for the cash and partly for the recognition – and his friendship with George Du Maurier, writer of the (contemporary) runaway bestseller Trilby.Lodge has done plenty of research and makes use of quotes from actual letters and diaries. I think he was imitating James in the broad social sweep of his work – it's a portrait of a group rather than an individual – and also to a certain extent in his style, although this is largely through long sentences.But – with the exception of the chapter about the ill-fated play, which explains very well how the debacle actually happened – for most of the book I was wondering what the point was.James comes across as a man prone to embarrassment and awkwardness who finds it difficult to make the emotional commitment, especially to women, that underlies a real connection. But he doesn't make a very human character and I found it hard to care about him. (From what I remember of The Master, which I read 18 months ago, that Henry James is more sympathetic because he is more keenly aware of his failings).
    • 5/5
      A book that really demonstrates to me how great an author Lodge is. I was not expecting to enjoy this at all, since the subject matter (Henry James) didn't interest me and the genre (historical novelised biography) was similarly unattractive. But all my preconceptions were overturned. This was gripping, moving, entertaining and informative. Lodge's respect for James shines through, yet he is also clearly conscious of his failings and does an excellent job of letting us be aware of these even when his character is not. If I read him correctly (and I know nothing of James' work) he has, once again, adopted the style of his subject whilst writing about it. This is a psychological novel, short on dialogue. Only at the very end does Lodge allow his authorial voice to intrude. I'm very glad I've read this book, and it makes me want to know more about Henry James. In fact, I had to resist the temptation to find out all I could about him whilst reading the book; I was sure it would spoil my enjoyment of it. It was far more rewarding to discover Henry James through Lodge's eyes.
    • 4/5
      Author! Author! tells the tale of Author Henry James. This book exists in a genre that many would consider limiting - its dramatic possibilities bound by a need to keep to recorded fact (although David Lodge stresses that many events are imagined, he records the differences between his events and recorded fact later in the novel). Even more difficult is the subject himself, whose posthumous blushes Lodge does not spare. Author! Author! should be a book which fails before a page is turned.Despite such difficult starting points, the book manages to be an intellectual, satisfying read. Set in the late nineteenth century, the bulk of the story follows James's career as he attempts to become a playwright. During this time he comes into contact with names that were later to become the leading thinkers of the age. James himself is portrayed as pompous, self-absorbed and snobbish, a self-appointed judge of literature whose vanity and lumbering seriousness often make him ridiculous. Yet despite this, the portrayal of James is not without sympathy; Lodge may add some knowing smiles in the middle of James's brooding about his lack of success, but this is the closest the character gets to two-dimensional. Flawed and sensitive, James's stubborn elitism (however scathing in private) rarely becomes unkind words, and his self-righteous is tinged by a sneaking suspicion that he may just be right - and his own gloomy surveys of his own behaviour.Author! Author! could never be a page-turner in the traditional sense, but as a gentle piece of intellectual nourishment it is a definite success.