David Lodge (author) facts for kids

David John Lodge (born January 28, 1935 – died January 1, 2025) was a well-known English writer and critic. He was a literature professor at the University of Birmingham until 1987. Many of his novels make fun of life at universities. His most famous books about university life are called the "Campus Trilogy." These include Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975), Small World: An Academic Romance (1984), and Nice Work (1988). The last two books were even nominated for the important Booker Prize.

Another common topic in his books is Roman Catholicism, which he started writing about in his first novel, The Picturegoers (1960). David Lodge also wrote scripts for television and three plays for the stage. After he stopped teaching, he kept writing about literature. His book The Art of Fiction (1992) explains different writing techniques using examples from famous authors.

About David Lodge

David Lodge was born in Brockley, a part of south-east London. His family lived in a house on Millmark Grove until 1959. His father was a violinist who played music for silent films in cinemas. Lodge's first novel, The Picturegoers (1960), is based on his early life in "Brickley" (which is like Brockley) and his childhood home. He wrote about this home again in later novels like Therapy (1995) and Deaf Sentence (2008). During World War II, David and his mother had to move away to Surrey and Cornwall for safety. He went to a Catholic school called St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath.

University Life

In 1952, Lodge started studying at University College London. He earned a top degree in 1955. There, he met his future wife, Mary Frances Jacob, when they were both 18. After university, Lodge spent two years in the army, which inspired his novel Ginger You're Barmy. He then went back to London University and earned a Master's degree in 1959.

Family and Early Writing

In 1959, David Lodge and Mary Jacob got married. They were both 24. They had their first child in 1960 and a second in 1963. Their second son, Christopher, was born in 1966 with Down Syndrome.

From 1959 to 1960, Lodge taught English in London. In 1960, he became a lecturer at the University of Birmingham. There, he met another writer named Malcolm Bradbury, who became his close friend. Bradbury's funny writing style greatly influenced Lodge's own work. In 1963, Lodge worked with Bradbury on a funny play called Between These Four Walls. During one performance, the audience heard news that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Lodge said, "Some members of the audience had caught the words and tittered uneasily, taking it as a joke in poor taste. In the interval everybody discovered the awful truth, and the second half of the show fell very flat."

In 1964, Lodge and his family moved to the United States for a scholarship. They lived in Providence, Rhode Island, where David studied American literature. This time without teaching helped him finish his third novel, The British Museum Is Falling Down. In 1965, the family traveled across the country and settled in San Francisco. In 1966, Lodge published his first book of literary criticism, Language of Fiction. He earned his PhD in English from Birmingham University in 1967.

Later Career and Retirement

From 1967 to 1987, Lodge continued teaching at the University of Birmingham. He became a Professor of English Literature in 1976. During this time, he wrote many more novels and essays. In 1987, he retired from teaching to become a full-time writer. He said it was the right time to leave because university life had become less exciting. He kept the title of Honorary Professor and continued to live in Birmingham.

In 1997, the French Ministry of Culture honored him with the title Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres. In 1998, he was awarded the CBE for his contributions to literature. David Lodge passed away on January 1, 2025, at the age of 89.

His Books

Overview of His Stories

David Lodge's first novels show what England was like after World War II. He also wrote about the war in Out of the Shelter (1970). Ginger You're Barmy (1962) is based on his time in the military in the 1950s.

Many of Lodge's novels make fun of the academic world. His "Campus Trilogy" – Changing Places, Small World, and Nice Work – are set at a made-up English university called "Rummidge." This university is based on Birmingham. These novels share characters, like English literature lecturer Philip Swallow and American Professor Morris Zapp. Swallow and Zapp first meet in Changing Places when they swap jobs and even wives! Lodge said this story came from his own experiences teaching in Birmingham and Berkeley.

Other made-up universities appear in his books too. For example, Small World features a fictional University College Limerick. Thinks... is set at a fictional University of Gloucester.

Lodge's novels also explore other topics. Nice Work is about the business world. Therapy is about television. Deaf Sentence talks about deafness and Alzheimer's disease. Lodge himself had hearing problems, and he said, "I hate my deafness; it's a comic infirmity as opposed to blindness which is a tragic infirmity." He explained that each of his novels connects to a part of his own life, but they are not always directly about him.

Two of Lodge's recent novels are about the lives of other authors: Author, Author (2004) is about Henry James, and A Man of Parts (2011) is about H. G. Wells. In 2015, he published Quite a Good Time to Be Born, which is his autobiography covering his life from 1935 to 1975.

Writing Style and Influences

David Lodge was influenced by English Catholic novelists, like Graham Greene. He is often compared to his friend Malcolm Bradbury, who also wrote "campus novels." Lodge said that Bradbury's funny writing helped him develop his own style.

Lodge often refers to other books in his novels. For example, The British Museum Is Falling Down is influenced by Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and Ulysses by James Joyce. All the action in Lodge's novel happens in one day. The book also has parts that make fun of famous writers.

Small World often refers to Arthurian legend. The plot, character names, and even what the characters say are linked to the stories of King Arthur. Lodge said he saw a connection between his story and the Holy Grail quest, where knights travel the world, having adventures and meeting by chance. He felt this was like modern professors who travel the world for conferences, seeking fame and sometimes romance.

How He Tells Stories

In The Art of Fiction (1992), Lodge looked at different ways writers tell stories. He used many of these techniques in his own novels. For example, in Paradise News (1991), the story is mostly told by a narrator, but it also includes diaries, letters, and emails. In Therapy (1995), most of the novel is told through the main character's diary. It is later revealed that the main character wrote all the other texts in the book as part of a therapy exercise.

Television Work

Two of Lodge's novels were made into TV shows: Small World (1988) and Nice Work (1989). Lodge himself adapted Nice Work for television, and it was filmed at the University of Birmingham. He also adapted his play The Writing Game for TV in 1995. In 1994, Lodge adapted Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit for a BBC TV series.

Plays for the Stage

Lodge wrote three plays: The Writing Game, Home Truths (which he later turned into a short novel), and Secret Thoughts (based on his novel Thinks...).

In his autobiography, Lodge mentioned that The Old Rep theatre was one of his favorites. He called it "a gem" and said it was a great place for his first professional play.

The Writing Game is about the staff, teachers, and students at a writing course. The play includes characters reading from their own works. It opened in Birmingham in 1990 and was later shown on Channel 4 television in 1996.

Home Truths was performed in Birmingham in 1998. The story is mainly about a writer named Adrian Ludlow, who is interviewed by a journalist known for her sarcastic writing. Lodge later rewrote this play as a short novel.

Lodge adapted his novel Thinks ... into a play called Secret Thoughts. This play, with only two characters, opened in 2011. It was called "an intriguing, intensely witty, brainy play" and won the Best New Play award at the Manchester Theatre Awards.

Awards and Honors

• Won the Hawthornden Prize and the Yorkshire Post Fiction Prize for Changing Places.
• Became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1976.
• Won Whitbread Book of the Year (1980) for How Far Can You Go?.
• Nominated for the Booker Prize (1984) for Small World.
• Nominated for the Booker Prize (1988) for Nice Work.
• Won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award (1988) for Nice Work.
• Won a regional award and was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize (1996) for Therapy.
• Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1998 for his contributions to literature.
• The TV show based on Nice Work won the Royal Television Society's Award for best Drama serial in 1989.
• His play Secret Thoughts won the Best New Play award at the Manchester Theatre Awards.

See also

In Spanish: David Lodge para niños