Biography of Saul Bellow

Bitter irony

10 June 1915 5 April 2005 Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec on 10 June 1915 (it should be noted, however, that according to some sources, as the Encyclopedia Americana of 1971, would be born on 10 July of the same year). Important American author, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1976, is one of the most unique and exciting voices of all those overseas literature owes a lot to their Jewish roots. Was the creator of great characters, "I--narrating" unforgettable to date that have marked the history of post-war literature, as Augie March, Moses e. Herzog (author of tireless Epistles "grants", protagonist of the novel that takes its name), Arthur Sammler, and Charlie Citrine. This is a gallery of characters neurotics, extremely modern, able to embody the American way of life but without compromising their literary credibility, indeed, always finding a way to raise the doubt in the reader, not without a critical grain. Saul Bellow is one of many children of immigrants: his parents are Russian who came to Canada in 1913. A Jewish family of origin, its coming all the way from St. Petersburg, composed by Abraham Belo (will change then the surname to Bellow) and Lescha Gordin (Liza), plus the three brothers all born in Russia and the largest of the small Solomon. This, in fact, the name of the future American writer, who spends his childhood to Eight Aveneu, number 130, namely in what will be a fraction of Montreal. Until the age of nine, the young Saul lives in close contact with other immigrants and children of immigrants, in a multiethnic neighborhood full of Russians like him and, above all, Poles, Ukrainians, Greeks and Italians. In 1924, however, is a fact that will condition the future author's lifetime, as well as the family itself. His father, a peddler of textiles, is beaten savagely, according to many because of his second alcohol smuggler craft, at a time when this was strictly forbidden. Said of Bellow, the father had begun to make that illegal activity especially for him, to raise money to cure him from a bad pneumonia a few years earlier. In any event, the event brings the family to move to the States, exactly in Chicago. Although Saul Bellow is not considered an autobiographical writer, his Canadian birth will still be revived and expanded in what is his first novel, published in 1944 and entitled "the man poised." In 1933, when he still seventeen, his mother died, because of a lung carcinoma: a severe shock for him and for the whole family, that will have an impact even in his writing. Entered the University of Chicago, but soon moved to Northwestern University, where he studied anthropology and sociology, graduating in 1937. They spend several years and Bellow writes "the man poised", as mentioned, which is warmly welcomed by critics (among the most enthusiastic, even the great Edmund Wilson). Thanks to his first editorial work gets a scholarship allowing him to stay two years in Europe, where it can dedicate himself full time to literature. In the meantime, he married the first of his five wives, Anita Goshkin, which soon will give him a son. In ' 41 becomes American citizen in every respect and the year before, part of Mexico solely to meet Leon Trotsky: alas the day comes after his assassination and will always be disappointed since the incident. Back at home then, toggle the activity as a writer than as a teacher in various American institutions, while working on important projects, like an encyclopedia of English authors and more (fonda and dismantles magazines, writes short stories, is being done in the world of academic criticism and not). In 1947 his second novel: "the victim", set in a New York paranoid, but follows the well-known book "the adventures of Augie March", dated 1953 and, finally, set in Chicago, his city of choice. However, Saul Bellow affirmed further in time that he began to write Augie March during his stay in Paris, more: "not a single word was written in Chicago"-this actually taking his statement at face value. It is, on balance, a real masterpiece, an ode to the city life to say the least, although the particular setting that surrounds the protagonist, son of a blind mother, brother a retard and prey of the most wacky, as well as obsessed with women's bodies. After "The reckoning", 1956, comes the novel which ensures international success: "The rain King", dated 1959. The story of Eugene Henderson, rich and with a great family that decides to escape to Africa to give a real meaning to his life, goes around the world. However, it was not until 1964 that comes one of his masterpieces: "Herzog". The story is that of Moses Herzog who, reached a dead end in his life, spends his days writing letters to many different characters, from his ex-wife, passing by Nietzsche and Heidegger, until you get none other than God. Around this time he also wrote for the theatre, alternating very negative critical responses to some good reviews. However, it is always the narrative to drive his work and arrive "farewell to the Yellow House" (1968), "Mr. Sammler's planet" (1970), and the excellent "Humboldt's gift" (1975). In the latter-with whom he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction-the protagonist is a wealthy writer Charlie Citrine who, at some point in his life, he realizes to be bluffing, abandoned by his wife and mistress. Narrated in the first person, the novel belongs to the cycle of the losers of Bellow-like Herzog and Sammler-but is, at the end, a vein comedienne who frees him from tragedy. In 1976 publishes travel memories "To Jerusalem and Back" (meaning "Jerusalem roundtrip") and, to his surprise, retires in Stockholm the Nobel Prize for literature. This, the official justification of the award: "For the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work". Meanwhile, Saul Bellow collects wives and is set to pay expensive food for them, as well as for her own lovers. He holds a great friendship with the writer John Cheever, who died in 1982, much to his chagrin. It is also linked to Philip Roth, another great American literature, of Jewish origin, just as the developer born in Quebec. He also wrote many important stories and lectures at leading universities in the world. His later production though, it is reported only for the following works: "December" (1982), "professor Strings That with your foot in your mouth" (1984), "most die of a broken heart" (1987), "the disappearance" (1989), "Bacon" (1989). In the latter year, therefore, marry for the fifth time, with Janis Freedman, a former student and Assistant. With her, he also has a daughter, in 1999, Rosie Bellow. In 1987, is the introduction to the book at issue but The Closing of the American Mind "bestselling", friend and Professor Allan Bloom, from which to draw inspiration for the controversial, and appreciated, the novel focused right on his life as a closeted "Ravelstein." Is the latest work of Saul Bellow who, on 5 April 2005, at the age of eighty-nine years, in Brookline, Massachusetts, is death. Is buried at Morningside Cemetery in Brattleboro.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.