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Brian Moore (1921-1999)
Who?
Born in Northern Ireland, his 1955 book Judith Hearne (now more widely known as The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne) brought Belfast to international fame and has since become a modern classic. Like much of Moore's prolific work, it depicts brilliantly the most extreme urban human desperation.
Must reads
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955), The Feast of Lupercal (1957), The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1960), An Answer from Limbo (1962), The Emperor of Ice-Cream (1965), I am Mary Dunne (1968), Fergus (1970), The Revolution Script (1971), Catholics (1972), The Great Victorian Collection (1975), The Doctor's Wife (1976), Cold Heaven (1983), Black Robe (1985), Lies of Silence (1990), The Mangan Inheritance (1995), The Temptation of Eileen Hughes (1995), The Statement (1996), The Colour of Blood (1996) and The Magician's Wife (1998).
Darkest hour
Serving with the British Ministry of War Transport from 1943 to 1945 in North Africa, France and Italy.
Greatest triumph
Graham Greene once named Brian Moore as his favourite living novelist.
Essential quotes
'He bathes daily in a running tap of words.' (about a military colonel in The Colour of Blood)
'I did not become great. I had no vocation for greatness. At thirty instead of coughing blood, I bled rectally from haemorrhoids.' (An Answer from Limbo)
'I am still unable to agree to my failure because on the day, when by your fear you gave me a taste of what greatness might bring me, my course was set suddenly, haphazardly, yet with no possible alternative routing, towards a destiny I was not fit to accomplish.' (An Answer from Limbo)
Gossip
He emigrated to Canada and when he returned to Ireland, some people treated him as Canadian rather than Irish.
Films versions
His own acclaimed dramatisation of his novel Catholics, starring Trevor Howard and Cyril Cusack. Also, Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins starred in a 1987 version of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne.
What to say
Moore's central characters are often women whose lives crumble around them and he demonstrated an impressive insight into female psychology. Though he started out setting his novels in Northern Ireland, his versatility was evident when he went on to place stories in London, California, Montreal, New York, Haiti, Paris and Poland.
Don't say
Less is Moore.
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