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Which American writers, film makers etc, have given the most insightful accounts of British life, and vice versa? And which have missed it completely?
I'm referring to everything from tiny linguistic points, like the English duke who tells his servant to "Fix me a scotch" to the most profound, society-wide ideas. These can be positive or negative views - the whole point of criticism is understanding.
For example, I think Ludlum's England is pure Disneyland, all aristocrats and fogs and loyal monarchy-loving "cor strike a light" Cockneys.
Alison Lurie in Foreign Affairs seemed to be onto something, though.
James Hadley Chases's books turn into farce every time the "Americans" talk - he just hasn't got the rhythm of American speech. In fact, most British emulators of the hardboiled crime school think that just putting in loads of violence will do it - wrong!

2006-10-25 21:10:28 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities Books & Authors

3 answers

Paul Theroux ( Father of Louis ) Lived in Gb for many years ( might still do, not 100% ) He wrote "The Kingdom By The Sea" a great journey around Britain!!!
Well worth a look!

2006-10-26 03:23:52 · answer #1 · answered by r c 1 · 0 0

T S Eliot is a prime example of one who crossed the pond to become a formative influence in English literature, eventually winning the Nobel prize for literature. He devoted himself entirely to writing about his adoptive country. One of the most daring innovators of twentieth-century poetry and never compromising either with the public or indeed with language itself, he followed his belief that poetry should aim at a representation of the complexities of modern civilization in language and that such representation necessarily leads to difficult poetry. Despite this difficulty his influence on modern poetic diction has been immense. Eliot's poetry from Prufrock (1917) to the Four Quartets (1943) reflects the development of a Christian writer: the early work, especially The Waste Land (1922), is essentially negative, the expression of that horror from which the search for a higher world arises. In Ash Wednesday (1930) and the Four Quartets this higher world becomes more visible; nonetheless Eliot has always taken care not to become a «religious poet». and often belittled the power of poetry as a religious force. However, his dramas Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and The Family Reunion (1939) are more openly Christian apologies. In his essays, especially the later ones, Eliot advocated a traditionalism in religion, society, and literature that seems at odds with his pioneer activity as a poet. But although the Eliot of Notes towards the Definition of Culture (1948) is an older man than the poet of The Waste Land, it should not be forgotten that for Eliot tradition is a living organism comprising past and present in constant mutual interaction. Eliot's plays Murder in the Cathedral (1935), The Family Reunion (1939), The Cocktail Party (1949), The Confidential Clerk (1954), and TheElderStatesman(1959) were published in one volume in 1962; Collected Poems 1909-62 appeared in 1963.

2006-10-27 12:19:04 · answer #2 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 0 0

Hitchcock to America & Henry James to England are the finer examples I could think of.

2006-10-26 05:43:34 · answer #3 · answered by waitingforsnow 2 · 0 0

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