J. G. Farrell
| J. G. Farrell | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | James Gordon Farrell 25 January 1935 Liverpool, United Kingdom |
| Died | 11 August 1979 (aged 44) Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland |
| Resting place | St. James's Church of Ireland, Durrus, County Cork |
| Language | English |
| Ethnicity | Irish |
| Citizenship | British |
| Education | Rossall School |
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford |
| Period | 1963–79 |
| Genre | Novel |
| Subject | Colonialism |
| Notable works | Troubles, The Siege of Krishnapur |
| Notable awards | Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize; Booker Prize (twice) |
James Gordon Farrell (25 January 1935 – 11 August 1979) was a Liverpool-born novelist of Irish descent. He gained prominence for a series of novels known as the Empire Trilogy (Troubles, The Siege of Krishnapur and The Singapore Grip), which deal with the political and human consequences of British colonial rule.
Farrell's career abruptly ended when he drowned in Ireland at the age of 44, swept to his death in a storm. "Had he not sadly died so young,” Salman Rushdie said in 2008, "there is no question that he would today be one of the really major novelists of the English language. The three novels that he did leave are all in their different way extraordinary."
Troubles received the 1971 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and The Siege of Krishnapur received the 1973 Booker Prize. In 2010 Troubles was retrospectively awarded the Lost Man Booker Prize, created to recognise works published in 1970. Troubles and its fellow shortlisted works had not been open for consideration that year due to a change in the eligibility rules.
Farrell, born in Liverpool into a family of Anglo-Irish background, was the second of three brothers. His father, William Farrell, had worked as an accountant in Bengal and in 1929, he married Prudence Josephine Russell, who was a former receptionist and secretary to a doctor. From the age of 12 he attended Rossall School in Lancashire. After World War II, the Farrells moved to Dublin, and from this point on Farrell spent much time in Ireland: this, perhaps combined with the popularity of Troubles, leads many to treat him as an Irish writer. After leaving Rossall, he taught in Dublin and also worked for some time on Distant Early Warning Line in the Canadian Arctic. In 1956, he went to study at Brasenose College, Oxford; while there he contracted polio. This left him partially crippled and disease was prominent in his works. In 1960 he left Oxford with Third-class honours French and Spanish and went to live in France, where he taught at a lycée.
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