21ST

CENTURY
PERIOD
 21ST CENTURY IN LITERATURE

 refers to world literature in prose

produced during the 21st century.
 The range of years in 21st century
literature was written from (roughly)
the year 2001 to the present.
 The 2000s (decade)
saw a steep increase in
the acceptability of
literature of all types,
inspired by the coming-
of-age of millions of
people who enjoyed the
works of writers such as
C. S. Lewis and
J. R. R. Tolkien in their
 The 2000s (decade)
also saw the
popularization of
manga, or Japanese
comics, among
international
audiences, particularly
in English-speaking
nations.
Manga
 are comics created in Japan, or by 
Japanese creators in the 
Japanese language.
 The medium includes works in a
broad range of genres: action-
adventure, romance, sports and
games, historical drama, comedy,
science fiction and fantasy,
mystery, suspense, detective,
horror, sexuality, and
business/commerce, among others.
 Many famous books like Harry
Potter series were converted into
movies.
 Books on wars, guides for exams,
myths, etc. were frequent sellers
in this decade.
 Some books were written in simple
English and works of old writers
were translated into language that
was easier to understand.
 Mythology was converted into
graphic novel form to build interest
among young readers.
C.S. LEWIS
BIOGRAPHY:
 AKA: Clive Staples Lewis
 Born: Clive Staples Lewis
29 November 1898
Belfast, Ireland
 Died: November 22,
1963 (aged 64) in Oxford, England
 Nationality: England
 Occupation: Novelist, scholar,
broadcaster
 Genres; Christian apologetics, 
fantasy,science fiction, 
children's literature
 Notable work(s)
 The Chronicles of Narnia
Mere Christianity
The Allegory of Love
The Screwtape Letters
The Space Trilogy
 C. S. Lewis was a novelist,
poet, academic, medievalist,
literary critic, essayist, 
lay theologian, and 
Christian apologist.
 He is best known both for his
fictional work, especially The
Screwtape Letters, 
The Chronicles of Narnia, and 
The Space Trilogy, and for his
non-fiction Christian
apologetics, such as 
Mere Christianity, Miracles,
 THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

Set in the fictional realm

 of Narnia, a fantasy
world of magic, mythical
beasts, and talking animals,
the series narrates the
adventures of various
children who play central
roles in the unfolding
history of that world.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
 consist of a series of seven fantasy novels for
children by C.S. Lewis.

 Book 1 -  The Lion, the Witch and the

Wardrobe (1950)
 Book 2 -  Prince Caspian(1951)

 Book 3 -  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)

 Book 4 - The Silver Chair (1953)

 Book 5 - The Horse and His Boy (1954)

 Book 6 - The Magician’s Nephew (1955)

 Book 7 - The Last Battle (1956).

 These children's books are not only very popular

with 8-12 year olds, but teens and adults also
enjoy them.
 SUMMARY:
BOOK 1: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe (1950)
It tells the story of four ordinary
children: Peter, Susan, Edmund,
and Lucy Pevensie, who have
been evacuated to the English
countryside from London in 1940
following the outbreak of 
World War II. They discover a
wardrobe in Professor Digory
Kirke's house that leads to the
magical land of Narnia.
The Pevensie children help
Aslan, a talking lion, save
Narnia from the evil 
White Witch, who has reigned
over the land of Narnia for a
century of perpetual winter.
The children become kings
and queens of this new-found
land and establish the Golden
Age of Narnia, leaving a
legacy to be rediscovered in
later books.
 PrinceCaspian: The Return to
Narnia (1951)
The Return to Narnia tells the story of the
Pevensie children's second trip to Narnia.
They are drawn back by the power of
Susan's horn, blown by Prince Caspian to
summon help in his hour of need. Narnia,
as they knew it, is no more, as more than
1,000 years have passed and their castle is
in ruins, while all Narnians have retreated
so far within themselves that only Aslan's
magic can wake them. Caspian has fled
into the woods to escape his uncle, Miraz,
who has usurped the throne. The children
set out once again to save Narnia.
 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Voyage of the ‘Dawn
Treader’ sees Edmund and Lucy
Pevensie, along with their priggish
 cousin,Eustace Scrubb, return to
Narnia. Once there, they join
Caspian's voyage on the ship Dawn
Treader to find the seven lords who
were banished when Miraz took over
the throne. This perilous journey
brings them face to face with many
wonders and dangers as they sail
toward Aslan's country at the edge of
the world.
 The Silver Chair (1953)
  The Silver Chair is the first Narnia book
without any of the Pevensie children.
Instead, Aslan calls Eustace back to Narnia
together with his classmate Jill Pole. There
they are given four signs to aid in the
search for Prince Rilian, Caspian's son, who
disappeared after setting out ten years
earlier to avenge his mother's death. 50
years have passed in Narnia and Caspian,
who was barely an adult in the Voyage of
the Dawn Treader, is now an old man, while
Eustace is still a child.
Eustace and Jill, with the help of 
Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, face danger
and betrayal on their quest to find Rilian.
 The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The story takes place during the
reign of the Pevensies in Narnia, an
era which begins and ends in the last
chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe. A talking horse called Bree
 and a young boy named Shasta, both
of whom are in bondage in the country
ofCalormen, are the protagonists. By
"chance", they meet and plan their
return to Narnia and freedom. Along
the way they meet Aravis and her
talking horse Hwin who are also
fleeing to Narnia.
 The Magician's Nephew (1955)
The prequel The Magician's Nephew brings
the reader back to the origins of Narnia where
we learn how Aslan created the world and
how evil first entered it. Digory Kirke and his
friend Polly Plummer stumble into different
worlds by experimenting with magic rings
made by Digory's uncle. They encounter Jadis
 (The White Witch) in the dying world of
Charn, and witness the creation of Narnia.
Many long-standing questions about the
world are answered as a result. The story was
set in 1900, when Digory was a 12-year-old
boy. He is a middle-aged professor and host
to the Pevensie children by the time of The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 40 years
later.
 The Last Battle (1956)
The Last Battle chronicles
the end of the world of Narnia.
Jill and Eustace return to save
Narnia from Shift, an ape, who
tricks Puzzle, a donkey, into
impersonating the lion Aslan,
precipitating a showdown
between the Calormenes and 
King Tirian.
 QUENTIN TARANTINO
BIOGRAPHY:
 Was born March 27, 1963) is an
American film director,
screenwriter, producer, and
actor.
 His films have been
characterized by
nonlinear storylines, satirical
subject matter, and an
aestheticization of violence
that often results in the
exhibition of neo-noir
characteristics.
 Tarantino has been dubbed a
"director DJ," comparing his
stylistic use of mix-and-match
genre and music infusion to the
use of sampling in DJ exhibits.
 BY QUENTIN
TARANTINO
 There are a total of seven narrative
1. "Prologue—The Diner" (i)
2.Prelude to "Vincent Vega and
Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
3."Vincent Vega and Marsellus
Wallace's Wife"
4. Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a—
flashback, b—present)
5."The Gold Watch“
6. "The Bonnie Situation"
7. "Epilogue—The Diner" (ii)
 PULP FICTION SUMMARY:
 "Prologue-The Diner"
 "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer) are having
breakfast in a diner. They decide to rob it after realizing they could make
money off the customers as well as the business, as they did during
their previous heist. Moments after they initiate the hold-up, the scene
breaks off and the title credits roll.

 Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"

 As Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) drives, Vincent Vega (
John Travolta) talks about his experiences in Europe, from where he has
just returned: the hashish bars in Amsterdam, the FrenchMcDonald's and
its "Royale with Cheese." The pair—both wearing dress suits—are on
their way to retrieve a briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has
transgressed against their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace. Jules tells
Vincent that Marsellus had someone thrown off a fourth-floor balcony for
giving his wife a foot massage. Vincent says Marsellus has asked him to
escort his wife while Marsellus is out of town. They conclude their banter
and "get into character" which soon involves executing Brett in dramatic
fashion after Jules recites a baleful "biblical" pronouncement.
 "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
 The "famous dance scene":[12] Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia
Wallace (Uma Thurman) do the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's.
 In a virtually empty cocktail lounge, aging prizefighter Butch
Coolidge (Bruce Willis) accepts a large sum of money from mobster
Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), agreeing to take a dive in his
upcoming match. Vincent and Jules—now dressed in T-shirts and
shorts—arrive to deliver the briefcase, and Butch and Vincent briefly
cross paths. The next day, Vincent drops by the house of Lance (Eric
Stoltz) and his wife Jody (Rosanna Arquette) to purchase high-grade 
heroin. He shoots up before driving over to meet Mrs. Mia Wallace (
Uma Thurman) and take her out. They head to Jack Rabbit Slim's, a
1950s-themed restaurant staffed by lookalikes of the decade's pop
icons. Mia recounts her experience acting in a failed television pilot,
"Fox Force Five."
 After participating in a twist contest, they return to the Wallace
house with the trophy. While Vincent is in the bathroom, Mia finds his
stash of heroin in his coat pocket. Mistaking it for cocaine, she snorts
it and overdoses. Vincent rushes her to Lance's house for help.
Together, they administer anadrenaline shot to Mia's heart, reviving
her. Before parting ways, Mia and Vincent agree not to tell Marsellus
of the incident.
 Prelude to "The Gold Watch"
 Television time for young Butch (Chandler
Lindauer) is interrupted by the arrival of 
Vietnam veteran Captain Koons (Christopher
Walken). Koons explains that he has brought a
gold watch, passed down through generations
of Coolidge men since World War I. Butch's
father died of dysentery while in a POW camp,
and at his dying request Koons hid the watch
in his rectum for two years in order to deliver
it to Butch. A bell rings, startling the adult
Butch out of this reverie. He is in his boxing
colors—it is time for the fight he has been
paid to throw.
 "The Gold Watch"
 Butch flees the arena, having won the bout. Making
his getaway by cab, he learns from the death-
obsessed driver, Esmarelda Villa Lobos (
Angela Jones), that he killed the opposing fighter.
Butch has double-crossed Marsellus, betting his
payoff on himself at very favorable odds. The next
morning, at the motel where he and his girlfriend,
Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros), are lying low, Butch
discovers that she has forgotten to pack the
irreplaceable watch. He returns to his apartment to
retrieve it, although Marsellus' men are almost
certainly looking for him. Butch finds the watch
quickly, but thinking he is alone, pauses for a snack.
Only then does he notice a machine pistol on the
kitchen counter. Hearing the toilet flush, Butch
readies the gun in time to kill a startled Vincent
Vega exiting the bathroom.
 Butch drives away, but while waiting at a traffic light,
Marsellus walks by and recognizes him. Butch rams
Marsellus with the car, then another automobile collides
with his. After a foot chase the two men land in a
pawnshop. The shopowner, Maynard (Duane Whitaker),
captures them at gunpoint and ties them up in a half-
basement area. Maynard is joined by Zed (Peter Greene);
they take Marsellus to another room to rape him, leaving a
silent masked figure referred to as "the gimp" to watch a
tied-up Butch. Butch breaks loose and knocks out the
gimp. He is about to flee, when he decides to save
Marsellus. As Zed is sodomizing Marsellus on a 
pommel horse, Butch kills Maynard with a katana.
Marsellus retrieves Maynard's shotgun and shoots Zed in
the groin. Marsellus informs Butch that they are even with
respect to the botched fight fix, so long as he never tells
anyone about the rape and departs Los Angeles, that
night, forever. Butch agrees and returns to pick up
Fabienne on Zed's chopper.
 "The Bonnie Situation"
 The story returns to Vincent and Jules at Brett's. After they
execute him, another man (Alexis Arquette) bursts out of the
bathroom and shoots wildly at them, missing every time before
an astonished Jules and Vincent return fire. Jules decides this is a
miracle and a sign from God for him to retire as a hitman. They
drive off with one of Brett's associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr), their
informant. Vincent asks Marvin for his opinion about the
"miracle" and accidentally shoots him in the face.
 Forced to remove their bloodied car from the road, Jules calls
upon the house of his friend Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino). Jimmie's
wife, Bonnie, is due back from work soon, and he is very anxious
that she not encounter the scene. At Jules' request, Marsellus
arranges for the help of Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel). "The
Wolf" takes charge of the situation, ordering Jules and Vincent to
clean the car, hide the body in the trunk, dispose of their own
bloody clothes, and change into T-shirts and shorts provided by
Jimmie. They drive the car to a junkyard, from where Wolfe and
the owner's daughter, Raquel (Julia Sweeney), head off to
breakfast. Jules and Vincent decide to do the same.
 "Epilogue-The Diner"
 As Jules and Vincent eat breakfast in a diner, the discussion
returns to Jules' decision to retire. In a brief cutaway, we see
"Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny" shortly before they initiate the
hold-up from the movie's first scene. While Vincent is in the
bathroom, the hold-up commences. "Pumpkin" demands all
of the patrons' valuables, including Jules' mysterious case.
Jules surprises "Pumpkin" (whom he calls "Ringo"), holding
him at gunpoint. "Honey Bunny" (whose name turns out to
be Yolanda), hysterical, trains her gun on Jules. Vincent
emerges from the restroom with his gun trained on her,
creating a Mexican standoff. Reprising the biblical passage
he'd recited at Brett's place (Ezekiel 25:17), only this time
with sincerity rather than for effect he explains, Jules
expresses his ambivalence about his life of crime. As his first
act of redemption, he allows the two robbers to take the cash
they have stolen and leave, pondering how they were spared
and leaving the briefcase behind for Jules and Vincent to
return to Marsellus, finishing Jules' final job for his boss.
 2001- THE CORRECTIONS
BY JONATHAN FRANZEN
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: Jonathan Earl Franzen
August 17, 1959 (age 54)
Western Springs, Illinois, USA
 Occupation: Novelist, essayist

 Nationality: American

 Period: 1988–present

 Genres: Literary fiction

 Literary movement:
Social realism
 Notable work(s):

The Corrections (2001), Freedom

(2010)
THE CORRECTIONS
BY JONATHAN FRANZEN
 It revolves around the
troubles of an elderly
Midwestern couple and their
three adult children, tracing
their lives from the mid-
twentieth century to "one last
Christmas" together near the
turn of the millennium.
 SUMMARY:
 The Corrections focuses on the Lamberts, a traditional and
somewhat repressed Midwestern family, whose children have
fled to the east coast to start new lives free from the influence
of their parents. The novel moves back and forth in time
throughout the late twentieth century, depicting the personal
growth and mistakes of each family member in detail. The
book climaxes around the time of the technology driven
economic boom of the late nineties as the troubled family's
problems begin to boil to the surface.
 Alfred Lambert is a railroad engineer and the stern patriarch of
the Lambert family, based in the fictional town of St. Jude.
After his children grow up and move to the east coast, Alfred
retires, but soon begins to suffer from Parkinson's disease,
causing his organized and repressed personality to fracture.
Alfred's loyal wife Enid has long suffered from his tyrannical
behavior, but his increasing dementia makes her life still
harder. She is also tortured by the questionable life choices of
her three children and their abandonment of midwestern
Protestant values. As the economic boom of the late nineties
goes into full swing, the family's massive problems become
impossible to ignore.
 Gary, the eldest Lambert son, is a successful
but seemingly depressed and alcoholic banker
in Philadelphia who suspects his life is carefully
controlled by his manipulative wife and
children. Chip, the middle child, is a Marxist
academic whose disastrous affair with a
student loses him a tenure-track job and lands
him in the employ of a Lithuanian crime boss
defrauding American investors. Denise, the
youngest of the family, is a successful chef in
Philadelphia but loses her job after interlocking
romances with both her boss and his wife.
 The separate plot-lines converge on Christmas
morning back in St. Jude, when Enid and her
children are forced to confront Alfred's
accelerating physical and mental decline.
 2002 - ATONEMENT
BY IAN MCEWAN
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: Ian Russell
McEwan
21 June 1948 (age 65)
Aldershot, England
 Occupation: Novelist,
screenwriter
 Nationality: English[2]

 Period: 1975–present

 Genre: Short Stories,

Libretto, Fiction,
Drama, Children
HIS NOTABLE WORKS:
 First Love, Last Rites
1987
 The Child in Time in
1993
 Amsterdam in 1998
 Atonement in 2002
 ATONEMENT SUMMARY:
 "Atonement" is a book written in three major parts:
 Part One tells the story of one day/night in 1935 at the Tallis family estate
north of London, England. It focuses on Briony Tallis, the thirteen-year-old
youngest daughter of three, who aspires to be a writer. She has written a
play to be performed at dinner for the homecoming of her brother, Leon,
and put on by herself and her three cousins who are staying with the Tallises
for the summer because of a divorce between their parents. Before the play
can be properly rehearsed, Briony witnesses a scene between her older
sister Cecilia and the son of the family charwoman Robbie Turner. What is
an innocent act is greatly misunderstood by the young imagination, and this
sets off a series of events with eternal consequences.
 Following the fountain scene, Briony intercepts a letter from Robbie to
Cecilia and reads it. In it, she discovers perverse desires and sets out to
protect her sister from this sex-craved maniac. Before she can do so, she
witnesses the couple making love and mistakes it for assault, further
confirming her assumption that Robbie is out to harm Cecilia.
 Before the night is through, her twin cousins run away from home triggering
the rest of the dinner guests to search for them in the dark night. Briony,
who is searching alone, witnesses a rape taking place of her older cousin
Lola. Not one to miss her opportunity, Briony convinces everyone at the
scene, including authorities, that the assailant was Robbie Turner, and he is
taken to jail.
 Part Two takes place five years later. It follows Robbie Turner as he
retreats through France as a soldier during the war. The reader has
learned he served three years in prison for his crime and is now able
to exonerate himself by serving in the army. Separated from his
battalion, Robbie is marching through the countryside with two other
corporals trying to get to the evacuation town of Dunkirk. During his
march, Robbie experiences the atrocities of war, and has plenty of
time to consider his situation as soldier, criminal, and victim of
Briony's false accusations. The three men make it to Dunkirk which is
in a state of complete chaos. Robbie is severely wounded but is
determined to make it home to Cecilia who is waiting for him.
 Part Three picks up the eighteen-year-old Briony who has signed up
as a nurse in London. Suffering from guilt for her crime as girl, Briony
hopes nursing will act as a penance for her sin. Briony is also still
writing. She submits a story to a London journal which is rejected,
but in the rejection she is encouraged to develop the story further as
it is quite good. When the soldiers return from Dunkirk, Briony
experiences the horrors of war first hand, and is humiliated at her
failure to perform her duty. At the end of Part Three, Briony seeks out
her older sister. Before she does, she attends the wedding of
Paul Marshall (whom she knows to be Lola's rapist) and Lola. Briony
does nothing to stop the marriage.
 When she visits her sister, it is discovered that Robbie is still alive
and living with Cecilia. This makes Briony happy to see. She does
not so much as ask for forgiveness from the two lovers (who refuse
it anyhow) as simply admit her guilt and seek counsel on what she
can do to make it better. Robbie and Cecilia give Briony a list of
instructions to follow that will help clear Robbie's name. Briony
agrees to do each one, and heads back to work in London. The last
we see of Robbie and Cecilia are on the tube station platform.
 The final section of the boo, London, 1999, is a letter from the
author to the reader. It is revealed here that the author is Briony
herself. She explains that she was able to write the war parts of
the book with the aid of letters form the museum of archives and a
pen-pal relationship with one of the corporals with whom Robbie
marched. Briony attends a birthday party/family reunion at her old
home, the original scene of the crime. She also reveals that she is
dying. In a final twist, Briony informs her reader that she has made
up the part about visiting Cecilia and Robbie in London and how
both people died in the war. Her act to let their love last forever in
the pages of her book will be her final atonement to her crime.
2003 - ROMAN TRIPTYCH
(MEDITATION) BY POPE JOHN PAUL II
BIOGRAPHY:
 Birth name: Karol Józef Wojtyła
 Born: 18 May 1920
Wadowice, Republic of Poland
 Died: 2 April 2005 (aged 84)
Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
 Nationality: Polish (with Vatican
citizenship)
 Native name: Polish: Jan Paweł
II
 Church: Roman Catholic Church

 Papacy began: October 1978

 Papacy ended: 2 April 2005

 Successor: Benedict XVI

 John Paul II is considered one of the most
influential leaders of the 20th century.
 He was one of the most travelled world
leaders in history, visiting 129 countries
during his pontificate.
 In1978, became the first non-Italian pope
in more than 400 years.
 He was a vocal advocate for human
rights and used his influence to effect
political change.
 He died in Italy in 2005. It was
announced in July of 2013 that he would
be declared a saint in April of the
following year.
Roman Triptych is the spiritual
testament in poetry of the
man who will surely come to
be known as John Paul the
Great. Fully illustrated in
colour and with an
Introduction by the then
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
2004 - FREE CULTURE
BY LAWRENCE LESSIG
 Lawrence "Larry" Lessig (born June 3, 1961) is an
American academic and political activist.
 He is a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on
copyright, trademark, and radio frequency spectrum,
particularly in technology applications.
 He is director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at
Harvard University and the Professor of Law at
Harvard Law School.
 Previously, he was a professor of law at
Stanford Law School and founder of the
Center for Internet and Society.
 Lessig is a founding board member of Creative Commons
and the founder of Rootstrikers, and is on the board of
MapLight.[2]
 He is on the advisory boards of the Democracy Café,[3]
Sunlight Foundation[4] and Americans Elect.[5] He is a
former board member of the Free Software Foundation,
Software Freedom Law Center and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation.[6]
2005 - HAROLD PINTER
 BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: October 10,1930
Hackney, east London, England
 Died: 24 December 2008 (aged 78)
London, England
 Caused of his Death: liver cancer

 Occupation: Playwright, screenwriter, actor, theatre director, poet

 Nationality: British

 Period: 1947–2008

 Notable award(s)
o Companion of Honour (2002)

 Nobel Prize in Literature (2005)

 Légion d'honneur (2007)

 David Cohen Prize (1995)

 Laurence Olivier Award (1996)

 Spouse(s)
 Vivien Merchant (1956–1980; divorced)

 Lady Antonia Fraser (1980–2008; his death)

 Children
 One son with Merchant,

 six stepchildren with Fraser

 Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (10 October 1930 –
24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-
winning English playwright, screenwriter,
director and actor.
 His best-known plays include
The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming
(1964), and Betrayal (1978), each of which
he adapted for the screen. His screenplay
adaptations of others' works include
The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1970),
The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981),
The Trial (1993), and Sleuth (2007).
 He also directed or acted in radio, stage,
television, and film productions of his own
and others' works.
 Pinter received over 50 awards, prizes, and
other honours, including the
2006 - THE ROAD
BY CORMAC MCCARTHY
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born : Charles McCarthy
July 20, 1933 (age 80)
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
 Occupation: Novelist, playwright

 Nationality: American

 Genres : Southern Gothic, Western, Post-apocalyptic

 Notable work(s):

Suttree (1979), Blood Meridian (1985),

All the Pretty Horses (1992) (Border Trilogy),
No Country for Old Men (2005), The Road (2006)
 Spouse(s): Lee Holleman (1961–1962; divorced)
Annie DeLisle (1967–1981; divorced)
Jennifer Winkley (1997–present)
 Children: Cullen McCarthy, son, b. 1962 (with Lee
Holleman)
John McCarthy, son, b. 1998 (with Jennifer Winkley)
 2008 - 2666: A NOVEL
BY ROBERTO BOLAÑO
BIOGRAPHY:
 Born: Roberto Bolaño
Ávalos
28 April 1953
Santiago, Chile
 Died:

15 July 2003 (aged 50)

Barcelona, Spain
o Caused of his Death:

Liver Disease
 Occupation:

Writer, poet
 Language:

Spanish
 Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (28 April 1953 – 15 July
2003) was a Chilean writer, author of novels,
short-stories, poems, and essays.
 In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize
for his novel Los detectives salvajes (
The Savage Detectives)
 In 2008 he was posthumously awarded the
National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for
his novel 2666, which was described by board
member Marcela Valdes as a "work so rich and
dazzling that it will surely draw readers and
scholars for ages.
 "He has been described by the New York Times
as "the most significant Latin American literary
voice of his generation."
BOLAÑO’S WORK:
2666
 explores 20th-
century
degeneration
through a wide array
of characters,
locations, time
periods, and stories
within stories.
 The title of 2666 is
typical of the book's
mysterious qualities.
2666 SUMMARY:
I. "The Part about the Critics" describes a
group of four European literary critics who
have forged their careers around the elusive
German novelist Benno von Archimboldi.
Their search for Archimboldi ultimately leads
them to the Mexican border town of Santa
Teresa in Sonora.
II. "The Part about Amalfitano"
concentrates on Oscar Amalfitano, a
mentally unstable professor of philosophy at
the University of Santa Teresa, who fears his
daughter will be caught up in the violence of
the city.
III. "The Part about Fate" follows Oscar Fate, an
American journalist for an African-American
interest magazine, who is sent to Santa Teresa to
cover a boxing match (despite knowing very little
about boxing) but becomes interested in the
murders.
IV. "The Part about the Crimes" chronicles the
murders of dozens of women in Santa Teresa from
1993 to 1997. It also depicts the police force in
their mostly fruitless attempts to solve the crimes.
V. "The Part about Archimboldi" reveals that the
mysterious writer is Hans Reiter, born in 1920 in
Prussia. This section explains how a provincial
German soldier on the Eastern Front became an
author in contention for the Nobel Prize.
2009 - THE HUMBLING
BY PHILIP ROTH
BIOGRAPHY:
Born: Philip Milton Roth
March 19, 1933 (age 80)
Newark, New Jersey,
USA
Occupation: Novelist
Nationality American
Period: 1950s–present
Genres: Literary fiction
Spouse(s) Margaret
Martinson Williams
(1959-1963)
Claire Bloom (1990-
1994)
PHILIP ROTH’S WORK:
 The Humbling is a
novel by Philip Roth
published
in the fall of 2009 by
Houghton Mifflin Harc
ourt
.
o It is Roth's 30th book
and concerns "...an
aging stage actor
whose empty life is
altered by a
'counterplot of
unusual erotic
desire.'"
THE HUMBLING SUMMARY:
PART ONE
 Simon Axler is a famed sexagenarian stage
actor who suddenly and inexplicably loses his
gift. His weak attempts at portraying Prospero
and Macbeth on stage at the Kennedy Center in
Washington lead to poor reviews, sending Axler
into a profound depression and cause him to
give up acting and contemplate suicide with a
shotgun he keeps in his attic. His wife, Victoria,
a former ballerina, is unable to deal with Axler's
depression and moves to California, where their
son lives. Axler checks himself into a psychiatric
hospital on the advice of his physician and stays
there for 26 days.
 Inthe hospital, Axler meets another patient, Sybil Van
Buren, who tells him about catching her second
husband sexually abusing her young daughter. She
expresses shame at not immediately reporting her
husband or removing him from the home and admits to
attempting suicide. Sybil asks Axler whether he would
be willing to kill her husband and he tells her he fears
he would "botch the job".

 Months after his stint in the hospital, Axler's agent,

Jerry Oppenheim, visits him at his upstate New York
home to tell him about an offer to play James Tyrone in
Long Day's Journey into Night. Axler refuses, fearing
another failure. In the fan mail Oppenheim brings,
Axler finds a letter from Sybil, thanking him for
listening to her problems in the hospital. She says she
did not recognize him at the time but decided to write
him after catching one of his old movies on TV.
 Part two
 Pegeen Mike Stapleford, the 40-year-old daughter
of two actors he performed with around the time
she was born, pays Axler a visit at his house.
Pegeen has just moved nearby to work as a
professor at a Vermont women's college after
ending a six-year relationship with a woman who
decided to undergo sex reassignment surgery to
become a man. Pegeen's job was secured after
she slept with the school's "smitten" dean, Louise
Renner.
 Simon and Pegeen begin an affair despite
Pegeen's having lived as a lesbian for the previous
17 years. Louise is furious that Pegeen has broken
off their relationship and begins stalking her.
 Months later, Louise calls Pegeen's parents in Lansing,
Michigan, to tell them that their daughter is now sleeping
with Axler. Pegeen is distressed that her parents have
learned about the relationship she wanted kept secret. Her
father, Asa, tells her he disapproves because of the age
difference but Simon suspects he merely envies his
professional success. Asa directs community theater in
Michigan.
Part three
 Axler reads in the local newspaper that Sybil has shot and
killed her estranged husband. He contacts Sybil's sister
and offers to help with her murder defense.
 One night, Pegeen "offers" Axler a 19-year-old college
student of her acquaintance named Lara. Lara becomes a
fantasy of his and a character in Pegeen's sexual role-
playing. Soon after, while Axler and Pegeen are dining out,
he notices Tracy, a young woman getting drunk at the
restaurant bar, and they take her home for a threesome.
 Afterward, Axler asks her why she agreed to go
home with them, and she admits she recognized
him as a famous actor. After this adventure,
Axler feels rejuvenated and decides he wants to
perform in Long Day's Journey after all. He also
decides that he wants to father a child with
Pegeen and visits a fertility specialist without
telling her.
 Two weeks later, Pegeen ends their relationship,
telling Axler she "made a mistake." He accuses
her of leaving him to be with Tracy and believes
Pegeen's parents have turned her against him.
He calls her parents, shouting at them in an
angry tirade. After the call, Axler kills himself
with his shotgun.
LIT 11 ( 8:30 – 9:30 PM )MWF

Submitted by:
GROUP 15
Capisnon, Rushel
Bancale, Laila
Aksan, Amiliza

Submitted to:
Ms. Decasa