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John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) is regarded as one of the most important Irish writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. Known for the intrinsic and precise dissection of Irish life found in works such as ''The Barracks'', ''The Dark'' and ''Amongst Women'', ''The Observer'' hailed him as "the greatest living Irish novelist" before his death in 2006. ==Biography== Born in the townland of Knockanroe about half a mile from Ballinamore, County Leitrim, John McGahern was the eldest child of seven. His mother brought up the family on a small farm which she ran with outside help as she was also the local primary school teacher. His father lived some 20 miles away in the police barracks at Cootehall in County Roscommon. He was the Garda sergeant of the village. When John was around nine or ten his mother became ill with cancer and died. The family then moved to Cootehall to live with their father. John completed his primary schooling there, and won a scholarship to the Presentation Brothers secondary school in Carrick-on-Shannon. He travelled there daily and again won the county scholarship in his Leaving Certificate enabling him to continue his education to third level.〔 He was offered a place in teacher-training at St Patrick's College of Education in Drumcondra. Upon graduation he began his career as a primary schoolteacher at Scoil Eoin Báiste (Belgrove) primary school in Clontarf where, for a period, he taught the eminent academic Declan Kiberd before turning to writing full-time. He was first published by the London literary and arts review, ''X magazine'',〔"The End or the Beginning of Love", ''X'', Vol. II, No. I (March 1961). An extract from McGahern's first novel, ''The End or the Beginning of Love'' . The novel was never published. After his visit to London McGahern decided to re-work the novel into two novels: ''The Barracks'' (1963) and ''The Dark'' (1965). See ''Young John McGahern: Becoming a Novelist'', Denis Sampson (OUP, 2012); "The extract in ''X'' attracted interest from a number of publishers. Fabers, among other publishers, wrote to me. T. S. Eliot was working at the firm then.” – McGahern in an interview organized by Linda Collinge and Emmanuel Vernadakis for the JSSE 20th, anniversary celebration, 24 May 2003 ()〕 which published an extract from his first – abandoned – novel, ''The End or Beginning of Love''. McGahern's novel ''The Dark'' was banned in Ireland for its alleged pornographic content and implied sexual abuse by the protagonist's father. In the controversy over this he was dismissed from his teaching post. He subsequently moved to England where he worked in a variety of jobs (including on building sites) before returning to Ireland to live and work on a small farm near Fenagh in County Leitrim, located halfway between Ballinamore and Mohill. He died from cancer in the Mater Hospital in Dublin on 30 March 2006, aged 71. He is buried in St Patrick's Church Aughawillan alongside his mother. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John McGahern」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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