A defence of humanism, liberal democracy and literary clarity, the book was listed among the best of 2007 by The Village Voice. The Metropolitan Critic (1974), his first collection of literary criticism, was followed by At the Pillars of Hercules (1979), From the Land of Shadows (1982), Snakecharmers in Texas (1988), The Dreaming Swimmer (1992), Even As We Speak (2001), The Meaning of Recognition (2005) and Cultural Amnesia (2007), a collection of miniature intellectual biographies of over 100 significant figures in modern culture, history and politics. John Gross included James's essay "A Blizzard of Tiny Kisses" in the Oxford Book of Essays (1992, 1999). He wrote literary criticism for newspapers, magazines and periodicals in Britain, Australia and the United States, including, among many others, the Australian Book Review, The Monthly, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, The Liberal and The Times Literary Supplement. Selections from the column were published in three books – Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket and Glued to the Box – and finally in a compendium, On Television. Mark Lawson described a James review as "so funny it was dangerous to read while holding a hot drink". James became the television critic for The Observer in 1972, remaining in the role until 1982. ![]() Having, he claimed, scrupulously avoided reading any of the course material (but having read widely otherwise in English and foreign literature), James graduated with a 2:1-better than he had expected-and began a PhD thesis on Percy Bysshe Shelley. His contemporaries at Cambridge included Germaine Greer (known as "Romaine Rand" in the first three volumes of his memoirs), Simon Schama and Eric Idle. While there, he contributed to all the undergraduate periodicals, was a member and later President of the Cambridge Footlights, and appeared on University Challenge as captain of the Pembroke team, beating St Hilda's, Oxford, but losing to Balliol on the last question in a tied game.ĭuring one summer vacation, he worked as a circus roustabout to save enough money to travel to Italy. ![]() James gained a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge, to read English literature. During his first three years in London, he shared a flat with the Australian film director Bruce Beresford (disguised as "Dave Dalziel" in the first three volumes of James's memoirs), was a neighbour of Australian artist Brett Whiteley, became acquainted with Barry Humphries (disguised as "Bruce Jennings") and had a variety of occasionally disastrous short-term jobs – sheet metal worker, library assistant, photo archivist and market researcher. In 1962, James moved to England, which became his home for the rest of his life. After graduating, James worked for a year as an assistant editor for the magazine page at The Sydney Morning Herald. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English in 1961. At the university, he contributed to the student newspaper, Honi Soit, and directed the annual students' union revue. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (despite winning a bursary award to Sydney Boys High School) and the University of Sydney, where he studied English and psychology from 1957 to 1960, and became associated with the Sydney Push, a libertarian intellectual subculture. James, an only child, was brought up by his mother (Minora May, née Darke), a factory worker, in the Sydney suburbs of Kogarah and Jannali, living some years with his English maternal grandfather. James would later state that his life's works originated in his father's death. ![]() He was buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong. Although he survived the prisoner-of-war camp, he died when the American B-24 carrying him and other freed allied POWs ran into the tail of a typhoon en route from Okinawa to Manila, and crashed into the mountains of southeastern Taiwan. James's father, Albert Arthur James, was taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. ![]() He chose "Clive", the name of Tyrone Power's character in the 1942 film This Above All. He was allowed to change his name as a child because "after Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it". James was born Vivian Leopold James in Kogarah, a southern suburb of Sydney.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |