O Castelo do Homem Sem Alma - Hatter's Castle

A. J. Cronin, Archibald Joseph Cronin

Livraria José Olympio Editora

1966

548 páginas

18h 16m

ISBN-10: 1447244575

Português Brasileiro

O Castelo do Homem sem Alma: A Família Brodie (Hatter's Castle /1931) is the first novel of author Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896-1981).. The story is set in 1879, in the fictional town of Levenford, on the Firth of Clyde. The plot revolves around many characters and has many subplots, all of which relate to the life of the hatter, James Brodie, whose narcissism and cruelty gradually destroy his family and life. The book was made into a successful film in 1942 starring Robert Newton, Deborah Kerr, and James Mason. -- In 1930, after being diagnosed with a chronic duodenal ulcer, Cronin was told he must take six months' complete rest in the country on a milk diet. At Dalchenna Farm by Loch Fyne, he was finally able to indulge his lifelong desire to write a novel, having theretofore "written nothing but prescriptions and scientific papers". From Dalchenna Farm he travelled to Dumbarton to research the background of the novel, using the files of Dumbarton Library, which still has the letter from Cronin requesting advice on this. He composed Hatter's Castle in the span of three months, and the manuscript was quickly accepted by Gollancz, the only publishing house to which it had been submitted (apparently chosen when his wife randomly stuck a pin into a list of publishers). This novel, which was an immediate and sensational success, launched his career as a prolific author, and he never returned to practising medicine.

A. J. Cronin's famous story is a soul-stirring novel of pride and greed, and its terrible retribution.When her father forced her to leave school, and cut off all her contact with the past and future, Mary Brodie's whole life became the narrow compass of her family's cold, comfortless house in a small Scottish town.Her mean and ambitious father tyrannised over his timid, obliging wife, his cowed, overworked younger daughter and his spineless son. Four people were held in Brodie's merciless grip until, like a breath of the outside world Brodie so much despised, came the young Irishman in whom Mary found a forbidden freedom, and who brought to her mother and sister much needed release...In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin's other classic novels, Hatter's Castle is a great book by a much-loved author.

[About the Author]: Born in Cardross, Scotland, A J Cronin studied at the University of Glasgow. In 1916 he served as a surgeon sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteers Reserve, and at the war's end he completed his medical studies and practiced in South Wales. He was later appointed to the Ministry of Mines, studying the medical problems of the mining industry. He later moved to London and built up a successful practice in the West End. In 1931 he published his first book, Hatter's Castle, which was compared with the work of Dickens, Hardy and Balzac, winning him critical acclaim. Other books by AJ Cronin include: The Citadel, Three Loves, The Green Years, Beyond This Place, The Keys of the Kingdom.

Many of Cronin's books were bestsellers which were translated into numerous languages. His strengths included his compelling narrative skill and his powers of acute observation and graphic description. Although noted for its deep social conscience, his work is filled with colourful characters and witty dialogue. Some of his stories draw on his medical career, dramatically mixing realism, romance, and social criticism. Cronin's works examine moral conflicts between the individual and society as his idealistic heroes pursue justice for the common man. One of his earliest novels, The Stars Look Down, chronicles transgressions in a mining community in Northeast England and an ambitious miner's rise to be a Member of Parliament. Cronin's humanism continues to inspire - the film Billy Elliot was partly drawn from The Stars Look Down, and the opening song of Billy Elliot the Musical is entitled thus as a tribute. Through the years, Cronin's body of work has influenced many people to become writers or to enter the medical profession, including Giorgio Armani, who planned to become a doctor before becoming a designer.

A prodigiously fast writer, Cronin liked to average 5,000 words a day, meticulously planning the details of his plots in advance. He was known to be tough in business dealings, although in private life he was a person whose "pawky humour...peppered his conversations," according to one of his editors, Peter Haining.

Cronin also contributed many stories and essays to various international publications. During World War II, he worked for the British Ministry of Information writing articles as well as participating in foreign radio broadcasts and similar engagements.

Resenhas (7)

4 (Muito bom)

Prodigioso, mas um passaporte para o sofrimento

Quando tomei este livro emprestado, retirei um passaporte gratuito para o sofrimento.
Céus!!!!! Como sofri... Tanto, que cheguei a me sentir meio masoquista, mas não conseguia deixar a leitura de lado, muito pelo contrário, fiquei tão envolvida que atropelei os serviços domésticos para contar com um tempinho extra e “correr” para o livro.
Mesmo com a overdose de dramaticidade trata-se de um livro prodigioso, pois,Cronin, nos leva a uma profunda reflexão ao narrar a subjugação da família Brondie ao patriarca: um tirano desalmado - o protagonista do livro.
Só não dei 5 estrelas por conta das lágrimas que derramei.