The funny thing about contemporary (and even some classical) literature is that it tends to be best know in the country of origin. I read a note online yesterday from an avid reader in Great Britain who confessed to never having read William Faulkner but was blown away by the intensity of Faulkner’s prose in one of his short works. Well, turn about is fair play:  until a few weeks back I had never heard of Edward St. Aubyn but after reading his novel Never Mind I am intending to read all of his novels, especially The Patrick Melrose series.

Perhaps you haven’t been acquainted with St. Aubyn. One of the best biographical pieces I found on the internet was from the write-up of a German literary conference. This is just the first paragraph:

Edward St Aubyn was born in Cornwall in 1960 and grew up in England and the South of France. His family is of noble descent and he had a privileged, but troubled, upbringing. He attended the prestigious Westminster School and went on to study English at the University of Oxford. In 1992 he published the first two books of his trilogy, which follows the life of Patrick Melrose, his literary alter-ego. The unforgiving portrayal of the social class to which he belongs and the openly autobiographical background of the books were so controversial that the literary value and quality of the works were not immediately recognised. After his sixth novel was nominated for the Booker Prize and he was awarded the French Prix Fémina for a Foreign Novel following a French translation, many of his works were also translated into German, Italian and Spanish.

Continue reading “Patrick Melrose” →