Gilbert Adair (1944–2011)
Author of The Holy Innocents
About the Author
Gilbert Adair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 29, 1944. He wrote numerous books during his lifetime including A Night at the Pictures, Myths and Memories, Hollywood's Vietnam, Flickers, and Surfing the Zeitgeist. His novels, Love and Death on Long Island and The Dreamers, were adapted show more into films, the later by Adair himself. He also helped write the screenplays The Territory, Klimt, and A Closed Book. He won the Author's Club First Novel Award for The Holy Innocents in 1988 and the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for his book A Void in 1995. During the 1990s, he wrote a regular column for the Sunday Times. He died in early December 2011 at the age of 66. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Gilbert Adair
The Real Tadzio: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and the Boy Who Inspired It (2001) 49 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Adair, Gilbert
- Legal name
- Adair, Gilbert
- Birthdate
- 1944-12-29
- Date of death
- 2011-12-08
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- novelist
poet
film critic
journalist
literary theorist
translator - Awards and honors
- The Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize (1995)
- Short biography
- Gilbert Adair was a Scottish novelist, poet, film critic and journalist. Born in Edinburgh, he lived in Paris from 1968 through 1980. He is most famous for such novels as Love and Death on Long Island (1997) and The Dreamers (2003), both of which were made into films, although he is also noted as the translator of Georges Perec's postmodern novel A Void, in which the letter e is not used. Adair won the 1995 Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for this work.
In 1998 and 1999 Adair was the chief film critic for The Independent on Sunday, where in 1999 he also wrote a year-long column called "The Guillotine." In addition to the films made from his own works, Adair worked on the screenplays for a number of Raúl Ruiz films. Although he rarely spoke of his sexual orientation in public, not wishing to be labelled, he acknowledge in an interview that there were many gay themes in his work. He died from a brain hemorrhage in 2011.
(source: Wikipedia) - Nationality
- Scotland
UK - Birthplace
- Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, UK
- Places of residence
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
Paris, Île-de-France, France - Place of death
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
- Map Location
- UK
Members
Reviews
Three quarters of this book is thrilling. After an appalling accident, that has left him sightless, famous author Sir Paul is ready to create again. But how to do it? Not realising that machines such as dictaphones are available, Sir Paul advertises for an amanuensis to do the actual writing for him. Sir Paul lives alone, with occasional help from a housekeeper, so the position is a residential. Enter John Ryder, a young day trader who admires Sir Paul's work and who gets the job.
As I say, show more for the first three quarters, the novel is a page turner. The different physical experiences of the blind and the adjustments needed to be able to work with and help them, are beautifully evoked. When I was a child I used to spend some holidays looking after my grandmother who was functionally blind and who explained to me what blindness, or near blindness in her case, is like. You do need to use the clock method to describe whats on a plate. You do need to use the squeeze method when walking with a blind person to quide them to the left or the right. The development of the two men's relationship from strangers to intimates is extremely well done. Sir Paul is ascerbic and waspish, John something of a blank canvas. As we read from Sir Paul's perspective its hard to define him. The things Sir Paul can't see, we can't see either.
And then small mysterious things start to happen. A tie is out of place. An obstacle is on the stairs. The housekeeper gradually disappears from view and John takes over Sir Paul's care.
I won't go any further than this, because for me the last quarter of the book is a disappointment. Needlessly cruel, sadly predictable but yet still highly unlikely. You also have to accept a couple of jangling irritants. Firstly, why not get a dictaphone and dictate your book? Secondly, would a blind person really accept a total stranger to live in their house? My grandmother did have people come to help her - but they were people she knew, or more often, the children of people she knew. Thirdly, would you really do no background checks at all? So there are some issues
But also, I did finish it in two sittings show less
As I say, show more for the first three quarters, the novel is a page turner. The different physical experiences of the blind and the adjustments needed to be able to work with and help them, are beautifully evoked. When I was a child I used to spend some holidays looking after my grandmother who was functionally blind and who explained to me what blindness, or near blindness in her case, is like. You do need to use the clock method to describe whats on a plate. You do need to use the squeeze method when walking with a blind person to quide them to the left or the right. The development of the two men's relationship from strangers to intimates is extremely well done. Sir Paul is ascerbic and waspish, John something of a blank canvas. As we read from Sir Paul's perspective its hard to define him. The things Sir Paul can't see, we can't see either.
And then small mysterious things start to happen. A tie is out of place. An obstacle is on the stairs. The housekeeper gradually disappears from view and John takes over Sir Paul's care.
I won't go any further than this, because for me the last quarter of the book is a disappointment. Needlessly cruel, sadly predictable but yet still highly unlikely. You also have to accept a couple of jangling irritants. Firstly, why not get a dictaphone and dictate your book? Secondly, would a blind person really accept a total stranger to live in their house? My grandmother did have people come to help her - but they were people she knew, or more often, the children of people she knew. Thirdly, would you really do no background checks at all? So there are some issues
But also, I did finish it in two sittings show less
This is the second book in the Evadne Mount series by Gilbert Adair, which started with The Act of Roger Murgatroyd. As can be guessed by the titles, these are parodies of Agatha Christie (et al) novels. They are easy to read, lots of chuckle moments, but are also quite clever, like the best parodies; in addition, they are obviously fond of the original crime genre, so are also also a homage to these classic novels from the British Golden Era of crime.
Our amateur sleuth, Ms Mount, is show more actually a Christie-esque writer herself, with a long running play in the West End called "The Tourist Trap". She serendipitously runs into Chief-Inspector Trubshawe, retired, formerly of Scotland Yard, ten years after they both helped solve the murder in The Act of Roger Murgatroyd, and their friendship starts off properly, as both are rather lonely. And luckily a good juicy murder falls into their collective laps.
In this case, the murder revolves around actors and movies. We have Alastair Farjeon, an obvious stand-in for Alfred Hitchcock, with his complex and clever thrillers. Sadly Farjeon has recently died in a manor house fire, along with his most recent paramour, the pretty chorus girl Patsy Sloots. (Love the English names.) But the show must go on, and his latest movie, "If Ever They Find Me Dead" is continuing to be filmed with a new director. But filming is not going as smoothly as it should.
This was a delightful parody of all things Christie-ian and Hitchcockian. Worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Christie/Hitchcock. show less
Our amateur sleuth, Ms Mount, is show more actually a Christie-esque writer herself, with a long running play in the West End called "The Tourist Trap". She serendipitously runs into Chief-Inspector Trubshawe, retired, formerly of Scotland Yard, ten years after they both helped solve the murder in The Act of Roger Murgatroyd, and their friendship starts off properly, as both are rather lonely. And luckily a good juicy murder falls into their collective laps.
In this case, the murder revolves around actors and movies. We have Alastair Farjeon, an obvious stand-in for Alfred Hitchcock, with his complex and clever thrillers. Sadly Farjeon has recently died in a manor house fire, along with his most recent paramour, the pretty chorus girl Patsy Sloots. (Love the English names.) But the show must go on, and his latest movie, "If Ever They Find Me Dead" is continuing to be filmed with a new director. But filming is not going as smoothly as it should.
This was a delightful parody of all things Christie-ian and Hitchcockian. Worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Christie/Hitchcock. show less
A wonderful pastiche of the Agatha Christie snowed in country house mysteries. At the start of the book Roger Gentry has already been murdered and his body discovered in a locked attic room. Snow is falling heavily and Chief Inspector Trubshaw (retired) of Scotland Yard is summoned from his retirement cottage close by. One of the guests is Evadne Mount, detective story writer, who is determined to solve the mystery. This is a wonderfully fun book which gently pokes fun at a classic genre, show more and its good mystery as well. show less
For those of you who know your Agatha Christie, or the Golden Age of British crime, the title of this book will speak volumes. It is, as you would expect, a spoof of the great era of crime writing, and, in part, a homage to Christie's exceptional The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. This book involves a British manor house, an amateur sleuth, the usual range of British upper class (and not-so-upper class) characters, and a locked room mystery.
It is rather amusing stuff, with a great meta-analysis show more feel as our amateur sleuth, Evadne Mount, is a writer of mystery novels herself, with some gentle fun being had at the expense of the genre. Lots of "oh, but when I wrote cheesy murder mystery title..." comments, and a general disdain of locked room mysteries, which Miss Mount would never write, oh no. Particular mention also has to be made of the map at the front of the book: completely useless and unnecessary, and then one of the characters gets to complain about completely useless and unnecessary maps at the front of murder mystery novels.
And the crime itself was rather good, I didn't guess whodunnit at all. I'd read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd a few years ago, and it was good having it sort-of-fresh in the back of my mind, but not essential to enjoyment of this book, I would think.
I won't rush out for the next Evadne Mount book, but will happily pick it up when I see it at the library. (And how does one pronounce "Evadne"??) show less
It is rather amusing stuff, with a great meta-analysis show more feel as our amateur sleuth, Evadne Mount, is a writer of mystery novels herself, with some gentle fun being had at the expense of the genre. Lots of "oh, but when I wrote cheesy murder mystery title..." comments, and a general disdain of locked room mysteries, which Miss Mount would never write, oh no. Particular mention also has to be made of the map at the front of the book: completely useless and unnecessary, and then one of the characters gets to complain about completely useless and unnecessary maps at the front of murder mystery novels.
And the crime itself was rather good, I didn't guess whodunnit at all. I'd read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd a few years ago, and it was good having it sort-of-fresh in the back of my mind, but not essential to enjoyment of this book, I would think.
I won't rush out for the next Evadne Mount book, but will happily pick it up when I see it at the library. (And how does one pronounce "Evadne"??) show less
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