June | 2015 | Guy Portman's Blog

10 Famous Self-Educated Authors

Jun 26 2015

This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. It is dedicated to famous authors who received little or no formal education.

The following 10 authors were largely self-taught:

Jane Austen(December 16th 1775 – July 18th 1817)

Jane Austen lived in an era when women’s education was not viewed as a priority. In addition to her own self-education in the form of voracious reading, she received some tuition from her father and older brothers. By her teenage years Austen was experimenting with different literary forms.

Mark Twain(November 30th 1835 – April 21st 1910)

Mark Twain once famously said, ‘I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.’ The iconic author and humorist was forced to leave school and find a job at the age of 12 following the death of his father. Twain found employment as an apprentice at the Hannibal Courier.

Jack London(January 12th 1876 – November 22nd 1916)

Jack London received little in the way of formal schooling. He started working odd jobs when he was 10. At 13 he was working 12 to 18 hour days at Hickmott’s Cannery. London credited the Victorian novel Signa, which he found and read when he was 9, as sowing the seed for his later literary success.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman(July 3rd 1860 – August 17th 1935)

The father of writer and feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman left when she was a small child, leaving her family destitute. Gilman taught herself to read at the age of 5. Later she frequented public libraries. Gilman also attended a number of schools, in addition to studying via correspondence, but only up to the age of 15.

Maxim Gorky(March 28th 1868 – June 18th 1936)

Iconic Russian author Maxim Gorky was brought up in relative poverty by his grandmother after being orphaned at a young age. At the age of 12 he ran away from home and travelled across the Russian Empire for 5 years, living as a tramp for much of this time.

H.P. Lovecraft(August 20th 1890 – March 15th 1937)

Renowned horror writer H.P. Lovecraft suffered from ill health as a child, resulting in him rarely attending school until the age of 8, and missing a considerable amount of school after that. Lovecraft used the time to read prodigiously, as well as studying astronomy and chemistry.

Edith Wharton(January 24th 1862 – August 11th 1937)

Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer received little formal education. She started writing poetry at a young age and even tried to write a novel when she was only 11. At the age of 15 her translation of the German poem Was die Steine Erzählen earned her $50.

H.G. Wells(September 21st 1866 – August 13th 1946)

Wells left school when he was only 11. This was because his professional cricket playing father had fractured his thigh. The loss of income meant Wells had to take an apprenticeship, which he despised. The experience inspired 2 of his novels, The Wheels of Chance and Kipps.

George Bernard Shaw(July 26th 1856 –November 2nd 1950)

Dublin born playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw attended school irregularly as a child. By the age of 15 he had quit and was working as a junior clerk. He once said, ‘Schools and schoolmasters, as we have them today, are not popular as places of education and teachers, but rather prisons and turnkeys in which children are kept to prevent them disturbing and chaperoning their parent.’

Doris Lessing(October 22nd 1919 – November 17th 2013)

British novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007. She attended an all-girls school in Salisbury (now Harare) until the age of 14. The following year she left home and found work as a nursemaid. During this time she continued her self-education and started writing.

My Top 5 Novellas

Jun 19 2015

This week’s blog post is dedicated to my top 5 novellas. For anyone not familiar with this literary form, a novella is a fictional, prose narrative that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Novellas are generally about 20,000 – 50,000 words.

Here are my 5 favourite novellas in ascending order.

5 – The Legend of the Holy Drinker by Joseph Roth

This is a compact and compassionate novella about an alcoholic tramp. Its author, Joseph Roth, succumbed to a premature alcohol related death shortly after finishing this allegorical tale about seeking redemption.

My Review: The story is about an alcoholic tramp by the name of Andreas, who lives under bridges of the river Seine. Andreas finds himself in luck when he is given two hundred francs by a stranger, … (More)

4 – The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

This is a carefully constructed and evocative novella written in Hemingway’s trademark simple, concise, economy of prose style. It is a memorable story that I would strongly recommend to anyone who hasn’t read it.

My Review: Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Cuba, this is a tale about an old man, a boy and a colossal Marlin. The old man, Santiago, is a veteran fisherman, who is on a run of bad luck having been eighty-four days without catching a fish. (More)

3 – The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Unlike most of Steinbeck’s novels, The Pearl is set in the Gulf of Mexico, not the Salinas Valley. It is a captivating and disturbing parable about the darker side of human nature that illustrates how riches can be illusory.

My Review: Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl, is a story about a destitute Mexican pearl diver by the name of Kino, who leads a simple, predictable existence with his wife Juana and baby son Coyotito. One day … (More)

2 – Junky by William S. Burroughs

Junky is a semi-autobiographical novella that adeptly captures the obsessive nature of addiction. Its detached journalistic approach is in stark contrast to the rambling, stream of consciousness style found in some of Burroughs’s later works.

My Review: Set in 1950s America and Mexico, Junky is a confessional novella about drug addiction. Its protagonist Bill Lee chronicles his drug-centred existence, which entails searching for his daily fix, scoring, and … (More)

1 – One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Whilst the morose subject matter (Gulags) will not appeal to everyone, this reader, an avid Solzhenitsyn fan, is of the opinion that One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the best books ever written.

My Review: Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is a former POW serving a 10 year term in a Gulag on the Kazakh steppe for being a spy. He is innocent. The book chronicles a single day of his existence, beginning with a 5 a.m. reveille. (More)

10 Best-Sellers Initially Rejected

Jun 12 2015

This week’s blog post is dedicated to best-selling books that were initially rejected by publishers. It is a subject that I thought might interest my fellow authors and book lovers. The following 10 books are presented in chronological order.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (1898) – This science fiction classic is about an unnamed protagonist and his younger brother, who are in London when the Earth is invaded by aliens. It was initially snubbed by a number of publishers, including one who wrote in the rejection letter, ‘An endless nightmare. I think the verdict would be ‘Oh don’t read that horrid book.’’

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908) – This classic recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan sent to live with a middle-aged brother and sister on their farm. 5 publishers initially snubbed it, and it was only 2 years after this setback that the author removed it from her hatbox and resubmitted it.

Dubliners by James Joyce (1914) – Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories whose primary theme is epiphany. Joyce began trying to find a publisher for his controversial book in 1905. He submitted Dubliners 18 times to 15 publishers without success. His relentless perseverance finally paid off when Grant Richards published it in 1914.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (1928) – This story about a relationship between a gamekeeper and an upper-class woman was printed privately by its author in Florence after it was rejected by a host of publishers, due to its perceived scandalous subject matter and content. Lady Chatterley’s Lover was not published openly the UK until 1960.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936) – Set during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, Gone with the Wind is about Scarlett O’Hara, the daughter of a plantation owner. This, the only book published by Mitchell during her lifetime was shunned 38 times by publishers before eventually being accepted.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954) – This dystopian novel is about a group of boys stranded on a deserted island, who attempt to govern themselves. Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times before Faber and Faber accepted it. One of the rejection letters condemned the book as, ‘An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.’

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955) – Lolita is a controversial novel about a man’s obsession with a 12-year-old girl. It was rebuffed by numerous publishers because of its contentious subject matter. The book was eventually published in France by Olympia Press. Lolita was fourth on Modern Library’s 1998 list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century.

Carrie by Stephen King (1974) – Stephen King’s first published novel is about a bullied high school girl who utilises her telekinetic powers to get revenge on her tormenters. Numerous publishers rejected the book. One publisher wrote in the rejection letter, ‘We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.’

Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001) – This fantasy adventure novel is about an Indian boy who survives for 227 days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Life of Pi was rejected by 5 London publishers. In 2002 it won the The Man Booker Prize.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (2003) – Dan Brown’s seminal work is a mystery/detective novel that explores an alternative religious history. Prior to its publication by Doubleday it was rejected by another publisher, who pre-empting the sentiments of many of its readers, allegedly stated in the rejection letter, ‘It is so badly written.’

7 Famous Works by Anonymous Authors

Jun 05 2015

Many authors have published anonymously through history, including Jane Austen, whose books were all published anonymously during her lifetime. However, I have only included literary works whose authors are either unknown or we know nothing about.

Here are 7 anonymously published works. They are presented in chronological order.

Beowulf

Set in Scandinavia, Beowulf is an Old English epic poem that was written between the 8th and early 9th century. It is regarded as one of the most important works of Old English literature, and may well be the oldest surviving long poem in Old English. The author of Beowulf was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, who is commonly referred to as the ‘Beowulf poet’.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

This late 14th century Middle English chivalric romance is one of the most famous of the Arthurian stories. Written in stanzas of alliterative verse, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was influenced by Irish, Welsh, English and French traditions. The poem survives as a single manuscript, which also includes 3 narrative poems. To this day the author remains a mystery.

Lazarillo de Tormes

La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades is a Spanish novella, which was published in 3 cities in 1554. The novella’s content was regarded as heretical due to its open criticism of the Catholic Church, and this is most likely the reason that it was published anonymously. Various authors have been attributed to this important work.

The Romance of Lust

The Romance of Lust is a Victorian erotic novel that was published in 4 volumes between 1873-1876. The novel’s protagonist is Charlie Roberts, a man with a voracious sexual appetite. There has been much debate over who the author of this controversial book was. The general consensus is that William Simpson Potter or Edward Sellon, a well-known Victorian author of erotic novels, most likely wrote it.

Novel with Cocaine

Novel with Cocaine is a nihilistic and philosophical novel about adolescence and addiction. Since the time of its publication in book form there has been intense speculation over who wrote it. Many believed that it was Vladimir Nabokov, but he vehemently denied being the author. The real author is thought to be Mark Levi, a Russian émigré, who posted the manuscript to the Parisian journal Numbers in 1934.

Click here to read my review.

Diary of an Oxygen Thief

Diary of an Oxygen Thief is a Dutch novel, published in 2006, professing to be an autobiographical account of an Irish advertising executive living first in London and later in America, where he suffers from culture shock. The book, which was written anonymously, was published in Amsterdam by NLVI. Although Diary of an Oxygen Thief has become extremely popular the identity of its author continues to be a mystery.

O: A Presidential Novel

O: A Presidential Novel is a fictional account about the 2012 U.S. presidential race. Prior to publication, its publisher Simon & Schuster contacted many writers and journalists, requesting that they decline to comment if asked whether they were the anonymous author. The book was purportedly written by someone who ‘has been in the room with Obama’. The individual’s identity remains unknown.