[HN Gopher] David Lodge, British novelist who satirized academic...
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       David Lodge, British novelist who satirized academic life, has died
        
       Author : lermontov
       Score  : 90 points
       Date   : 2025-01-07 19:42 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | toomuchtodo wrote:
       | https://archive.today/cLcWH
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lodge_(author)
        
       | hprotagonist wrote:
       | In this vein of work, I also heartily recommend Kingsley Amis'
       | "Lucky Jim" (1954), which arguably began the "campus novel"
       | genre.
        
         | adamc wrote:
         | Yes! Also Richard Russo's "Straight Man", which might be my
         | favorite of all these novels about campus life.
        
           | hilux wrote:
           | You may also enjoy _Stoner_ by John Williams.
        
             | vixen99 wrote:
             | Wonderful book. I'm not sure that 'enjoy' is quite the term
             | I'd use. For sure some of the tribulations experienced by
             | Stoner would not be news to some sufferers in academia
             | right now.
        
       | adamc wrote:
       | I first encountered his novel "Small World" in graduate school,
       | and immediately became a fan. (It was on the reading list for one
       | of my girlfriend's courses.) Along with other novels like "Lucky
       | Jim" and "Straight Man" (and the other two novels in Lodge's
       | campus trilogy), it was a hilarious look at campus life. He will
       | be missed.
        
       | chinathrow wrote:
       | As a younger me, I dug out his e-mail address for a high school
       | project and sent him a message with questions about Changing
       | Places.
       | 
       | I still have the message I sent him in 2000 but can't find his
       | reply, unfortunately, but I got to send two additional messages
       | with questions. I was thrilled at the time to be able to contact
       | a famous writer and tell my class afterwards about it.
       | 
       | RIP.
        
       | turadg wrote:
       | I enjoyed the name Euphoria State University for his fictional
       | model of UC Berkeley.
       | 
       | To combine this news with the AI zeitgeist, consider reading his
       | 2001 novel, _Thinks..._.
        
         | cafard wrote:
         | Yes, and the nice touch of situating Euphoria State University
         | in the city of Plotinus.
        
       | p4bl0 wrote:
       | His _Campus trilogy_ is and probably will be forever in the list
       | of books that I recommend reading [1]. I really enjoyed reading
       | those a lot during my PhD.
       | 
       | [1] https://pablo.rauzy.name/miscellaneous.html#books
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | "Nice work" was adapted for TV by the BBC in 1989 with Hayden
       | Gwynne and Warren Clark beautifully cast in the leading roles.
        
         | goodlinks wrote:
         | Just watched the series on youtube based on your
         | recommendation. Thanks, i enjoyed it!
        
           | ggm wrote:
           | Glad you liked it. The scene with the Jennifer Rush song is
           | living free in my mind, when Warren Clark's infatuation
           | breaks surface.
           | 
           | The Beeb did a version of "the history man" by Malcolm
           | Bradbury which I think was OK, but a bit less successful.
           | They're somewhat contemporary novels about academia. They
           | also did several of the Tom Sharpe novels but they're
           | generally more boisterous, picaresque stories.
        
       | zabzonk wrote:
       | Don't miss out on "The History Man", by Malcolm Bradbury, another
       | campus novel that is as dark as it is funny.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_Man
        
       | weinzierl wrote:
       | Apart from his fiction, I can recommend his _" The Practice of
       | Writing"_ from 1996. Not so much for practical writing advice,
       | but because it is an entertaining and interesting read. Even
       | decades after reading it I particularly remember the anecdotes
       | about Graham Greene and how he likely was as much a spy as he was
       | a writer.
        
         | hilux wrote:
         | Borrowed. Thank you!
        
       | FiddlerClamp wrote:
       | I still remember laughing my butt off at the elevator (or
       | 'lift'?) scene from Small World at the time.
        
       | bookofjoe wrote:
       | These are wonderful:
       | 
       | Louis Auchincloss, The Rector of Justin (1964)
       | 
       | Donna Tartt, The Secret History (1992)
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-10 23:02 UTC)