John Sutherland (author) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Sutherland
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| Born | John Andrew Sutherland 9 October 1938 (age 86) London, England |
| Occupation | Writer, academic |
| Alma mater | University of Leicester University of Edinburgh |
| Genre | literary criticism |
John Andrew Sutherland was born on October 9, 1938. He is a British writer, a newspaper columnist, and a professor. He used to be a special professor of English Literature at University College London.
Contents
About John Sutherland
John Sutherland studied at the University of Leicester and then earned his PhD from the University of Edinburgh. This is where he started teaching at a university. He became an expert in Victorian fiction, which means books written during Queen Victoria's time. He also knows a lot about 20th-century books and how books are published.
His Books and Writings
One of John Sutherland's big projects is the Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction. This book is like a huge encyclopedia about Victorian novels. It has information about many authors, summaries of over 600 novels, and details about publishers and readers. A newer version came out in 2009 with even more information.
He writes regularly for The Guardian newspaper, sharing his thoughts on books and literature. He has also written many other books about literature. One popular series of his books started with Is Heathcliff a Murderer?. These books are collections of essays about famous classic novels from the Victorian period.
Solving Book Mysteries
In his essays, John Sutherland carefully looks at the text of classic books. He points out things that might seem a bit odd or don't quite fit. Sometimes, he shows how an author might have simply forgotten a small detail. Other times, he suggests that these small "slips" might actually mean something deeper is happening in the story that isn't directly said.
For example, he looked at a Sherlock Holmes story called "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". He explained why Sherlock Holmes might have accidentally called a character by the wrong name. This shows how he digs into stories to find hidden meanings or explanations.
Other Projects and Awards
In 2004, John Sutherland wrote a book about another writer named Stephen Spender. He also helped with a fun project in 2005. This project translated summaries of classic literature into text message shorthand!
In the same year, he was the main judge for the Man Booker Prize. This is a very important award for books. In 2007, he wrote a book about his own life called The Boy Who Loved Books. That same year, he also helped create a special version of Robert Louis Stevenson's book The Black Arrow with extra notes.
A History of Novelists
In 2011, he published a very long book called Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives. This book is 800 pages long! It tells the stories of 294 different novelists, both famous and less known, from the last 400 years. He also wrote introductions for many books in the Oxford World's Classics series and for books published by Penguin Classics.
