Fergus (novel)
![]() First edition (US) | |
Author | Brian Moore |
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Genre | Novel |
Publisher | Holt, Rinehart and Winston |
Publication date | 1970 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | |
Preceded by | I Am Mary Dunne (1968) |
Followed by | Catholics (1972) |
Fergus, a novel by Northern Irish-Canadian writer Brian Moore, was published in 1970, in the United States by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. It tells the story of Fergus Fadden, an Irish-born writer living in California, who is haunted by ghosts from his past, including that of his father.[1]
Moore's biographer, Patricia Craig, described it as "wholly original, and singularly diverting".[2] Jo O'Donoghue says that, in Fergus, "Moore carries the theme of family influence to an extreme conclusion".[3] George Woodcock, reviewing the novel for the quarterly journal Canadian Literature, said: "Fergus's nightmare is never less than convincing. The novel that bears his name is a masterpiece of the best kind of fantasy".[4]
Quote
"Until now, he had thought that, like everyone else, he exorcised his past by living it. But he was not like everyone else. His past had risen up this morning, vivid, uncontrollable, shouldering into his present."
(Fergus, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p. 37)
References
- ^ Henry, Liam (April 2001). "Brian Moore: Novelist In Search Of An Irish Identity". The Contemporary Review. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ Craig, Patricia (2002). Brian Moore: A Biography. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-0747560043.
- ^ O'Donoghue, Jo (1991). Brian Moore: A Critical Study. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-7735-0850-3.
- ^ Woodcock, George (Summer 1971). "A Matter of Loyalty". Canadian Literature: a quarterly of criticism and review (49): 81–83.