Margaret Drabble
Margaret Drabble
#### A Distinguished Novelist and Critic
Margaret Drabble is a renowned English novelist, biographer, and critic, celebrated for her insightful writings on literature, culture, and society.
Full Name and Common Aliases
Margaret Drabble's full name is Margaret Christina Drabble. She is often referred to by her initials, M.D., in academic circles.
Birth and Death Dates
Born on June 5, 1939, Margaret Drabble is still an active writer, with no recorded date of death.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Margaret Drabble is a British novelist and critic. Her literary career spans over five decades, encompassing numerous publications in various genres.
Early Life and Background
Margaret Drabble was born in Sheffield, England, to John Fothergill Drabble, an engineer, and Clare (née Lovell), a historian. She was the second of six children in a family that valued education and literature. Her early life was marked by a love for reading, encouraged by her parents, who fostered a home environment rich in books and intellectual pursuits.
Major Accomplishments
Margaret Drabble's literary career is characterized by numerous accomplishments:
Awards: She has received several prestigious awards, including the Guardian Fiction Prize (1970) and the Booker Prize nomination for _The Needle's Eye_ (1972).
Prolific Output: With over 20 novels to her credit, Drabble has demonstrated her versatility as a writer. Her works often explore themes of family, social class, and personal relationships.
Critical Acclaim: Critics have praised Drabble for her nuanced portrayals of characters and her ability to capture the complexities of human experience.Notable Works or Actions
Some of Margaret Drabble's notable works include:
_The Millstone_ (1965): Her debut novel, which explores the life of a young woman struggling with marriage and motherhood.
_The Realms of Gold_ (1975): A collection of essays that examines the relationships between literature, history, and culture.
_The Sea Lady_ (2006): A novel that explores themes of love, family, and identity.
Impact and Legacy
Margaret Drabble's impact on literature is multifaceted:
Influence on Women Writers: Her novels have inspired generations of women writers to explore the complexities of female experience.
Contribution to English Literature: Drabble's works have enriched the literary landscape, offering nuanced portrayals of characters and themes that continue to resonate with readers today.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Margaret Drabble is widely quoted and remembered for her:
Insightful Observations on Human Nature: Her novels offer profound insights into the human condition, making her a treasured voice in literary circles.
Literary Acumen: As a critic and biographer, Drabble has demonstrated her expertise in evaluating literature and its cultural significance.
Quotes by Margaret Drabble
I actually remember feeling delight, at two o’clock in the morning, when the baby woke for his feed, because I so longed to have another look at him.
Doing a jigsaw was not an intelligence test, or a personality assesment programme; it was a pursuit that lay somewhere between creation and imitation and discovery and reverie.
Maybe the human species has evolved too far, maybe we all move around too much, too pointlessly, and consciousness will implode upon itself.
Mid-life crises, in Fran’s ageing view, are a luxury compared with what she has seen of end-of-life crises.
One wouldn’t want to be responsible for the end, but one might like to be there and know it was all over, the whole bang stupid pointless unnecessarily painful experiment.
Learning was so dangerous: for how could one tell in advance, while still ignorant, whether a thing could ever be unlearned or forgotten, or if, once known and named, it would invalidate by its significance the whole of one’s former life, all of those years wiped out, convicted at one blow, retrospectively darkened by one sudden light?
I let him go, without a word about any other meeting, though he was the one thing I wanted to keep: I wanted him in my bed all night, asleep on my pillow, and I might have had him, but I said nothing.
What really annoys me are the ones who write to say, I am doing your book for my final examinations and could you please tell me what the meaning of it is. I find it just so staggering – that you’re supposed to explain the meaning of your book to some total stranger! If I knew what the meanings of my books were, I wouldn’t have bothered to write them.
And there isn’t any way that one can get rid of the guilt of having a nice body by saying that one can serve society with it, because that would end up with oneself as what? There simply doesn’t seem to be any moral place for flesh.