Christine Brooke-Rose
Christine Brooke-Rose (1923–2012) was a notable Swiss-born novelist and academic, recognized for her innovative contributions to experimental fiction. Born in Geneva and later residing in England and France, she embarked on a diverse educational journey, earning degrees from Somerville College, Oxford, and a Ph.D. from University College, London. Her literary career began with traditional storytelling but evolved after a serious illness, leading her to explore non-linear narratives and complex themes.
Brooke-Rose is perhaps best known for her novels, such as "Xorandor" and "Verbivore," which tackle the implications of nuclear technology and societal change. She also gained acclaim for her earlier works, including "The Dear Deceit," noted for its reverse chronological storytelling. In addition to her fiction, she authored significant literary criticism, including analyses of metaphor in poetry and studies on Ezra Pound. Her accolades include prestigious literary prizes and a doctorate honoris causa, reflecting her impact on literature. Despite her contributions, Brooke-Rose acknowledged the unpredictable nature of literary recognition and the complexities of her legacy in the literary world.
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Christine Brooke-Rose
Writer
- Born: January 16, 1923
- Birthplace: Geneva, Switzerland
- Died: March 21, 2012
Biography
Christine Brooke-Rose was born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1923. She married Jerzy Peterkiewicz, a university lecturer and fellow writer in 1948 and the two divorced in 1975. She attended Somerville College in Oxford, England, graduating with a B.A. in 1949 and an M.A. in 1953. She received her Ph.D. from University College in London in 1954. During World War II, she worked with British intelligence in the Royal Air Force. She was a freelance literary journalist in London from 1956 to 1968 and was a professor of English and American literature from 1975 to 1988 at a university in France.
Brooke-Rose has written many works of experimental fiction, among other writings. She may be best remembered for her novels Xorandor and Verbivore, both of which use science fiction to look at the dangers of nuclear weapons and the rise of technology. Her first two novels, The Languages of Love and The Sycamore Tree, were written before she began experimenting with fiction. Her third novel, The Dear Deceit, published in England in 1960 and in the United States in 1961, is more innovative, telling the story of a man’s life backwards, from death to birth.
Shortly after writing that novel, she suffered from a serious illness, which ultimately changed the direction of her work. From that point on, Brooke-Rose’s fiction, in the words of one critic, “abandoned any semblance of narrational linearity and became innovative and experimental.” For example, Out, published 1964, is set in a future Africa after a nuclear war. Radiation takes away the color of its victims; thus, in this new society, color is a sign of strength and worth. In explanation of her experimentation with language, Brooke-Rose said she thought “people should take pleasure in reading, that it is up to the writer to write in such a way as to direct the attention of the reader to the richness of possibilities of language.. . . People are just not aware of the solidity of their language.”
In addition to her fiction, Brooke-Rose has written several books of literary criticism and analysis. A Grammar of Metaphor is about fifteen English poets, examining the use of metaphor in their work. She also wrote two books on poet Ezra Pound.
Brooke-Rose won the Society of Authors Traveling Prize in 1965 for Out and the James Tait Black Prize for Such in 1966. In 1969, she received the Arts Council Translation Prize for In the Labyrinth, her translation of a work by Alain Robbe-Grillet. She was honored with a Litt.D. from the University of Each Anglia in Norwich, England, in 1988. When an interviewer suggested that her work has been neglected, Brook-Rose responded, “If you look back at people who were a huge success in the past. . . many of them are hardly spoken of now. It’s been quite interesting to see how chancy it all is. I’ve never expected anything. It’s a pure lottery. And I’ve never won a lottery.”