A welcome arrival on YouTube: a recording of the 1984 Booker Prize dinner at which Anita Brookner learned of her win. Brookner's surprise is genuine; it was a strong year. The clip includes Julian Barnes (see last week's post) and Brookner's future biographer Hermione Lee.
The much-loved Backlisted podcast ( here ) returns with a 'lockdown' episode that includes a lot of Anita Brookner talk. Prompted by discussion about Hotel du Lac , never the most representative Brookner, the chat meanders pleasantly on to the potential for compiling an Anita Brookner 'Top Ten'. At a loose end myself, though this week at the chalkface entertaining the children of keyworkers, I considered the question myself. I'm sure there are similar such lists elsewhere on this blog - I forget, and I don't particularly want to consult them anyhow. Of course, Brookner - like Henry James, like Trollope, indeed like many prolific authors - passed through phases. Brookner's novels, I contend, fall into three, neatly divided by the decades she wrote in: the raw, vital 80s; the settled magisterial 90s; the bleak, experimental 2000s. A Brookner novel from the 80s seems very different from any of her final works - just as 'James I', 'James II' ...
Thank you for posting this video. She looks and sounds just as I imagined. Her comment about 55 minutes, with slides, just fits her perfectly!
ReplyDeleteCertainly distinctive!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I had never heard her voice or seen her in motion before. What a wonderful website.
ReplyDeleteI felt quite moved watching that clip. To see and hear this woman for the first time…. Put simply, I loved her work. Each of her books I’ve read several times. She mesmerised me. Every summer waiting for the latest book to appear… A wonderful, wonderful author. My absolute favourite writer. Thank you for sharing that video.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The following may also be of interest: http://brooknerian.blogspot.com/2020/10/video-brookner.html
DeleteThis made me weep… lovely to see her face when she won.
ReplyDeleteA truly authentic modesty.
DeleteThank you, thank you, for posting this.
ReplyDeleteShe was a genius!
ReplyDelete