Alarms and Epitaphs: The Art of Eric Ambler - Rilegato

Wolfe, Peter

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0879726024 ISBN 13: 9780879726027

Casa editrice: Popular Pr of Bowling Green State, 1993

Riassunto

Eric Ambler's novelistic career falls into two halves. In the first half belong the works he published between 1935-40. These include the highly acclaimed Epitaph for a Spy (1938) and The Mask of Dimitrios (1939), both of which were made into successful films in 1944. The intrigue books of this period unfold in interwar Europe, a bitten-up, anxious place reeling between the extremes of fascism and Soviet communism. To reflect changes in the postwar world, Ambler set his later books in third-world countries where first-world financing collides with unstable, often revolutionary, politics - all within the shadow of large multinational corporations. These powerful firms with connections in high places take the same liberties as big governments have always done in works like Dr. Frigo (1974), the only Ambler book set in Latin America, and the best-selling The Care of Time (1981). Besides pointing out the contrasts between Ambler's late and early work, Peter Wolfe's subtle, insightful Alarms and Epitaphs also develops the continuities. Most notable among these is a fear and hatred of male authority rivaling that of Kafka; no self-starter, the archetypal Ambler hero drifts into danger and finds himself, despite his resolutions, doing the bidding of strong, decisive men who care little about him. A unique feature of Wolfe's study is a chapter on the five novels, beginning with Skytip (1951), published under the name of Eliot Reed. These collaborations with the Australian detective-story writer Charles Rodda capture both the spirit and style Graham Greene admired in Ambler when he called him "our best 'thriller' writer."

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Popular Pr of Bowling Green State
• Data di pubblicazione: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0879726024
• ISBN 13: 9780879726027
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 230