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Tan Twan Eng interview: 'Winning would mean much more than something personal for me'

the house of doors

Nor need one be familiar with The Casuarina Tree or any of Maugham’s other works to enjoy The House of Doors, a seamless story of real and fictional characters that doesn’t seem forced. Tan Twan Eng’s novel The House of Doors makes an undeniably compelling tale out of one of the 20th century’s greatest political convulsions, while mixing it with a piece of literary history that is just as complex and beguiling. William Somerset Maugham’s short stories are still popular today, but his initial popularity in literary London relied much on his travels to Asia and the Far East in the Twenties. ‘In my teenage years, when I first read Somerset Maugham’s The Letter, I was intrigued to discover that he had based it on Ethel Proudlock’s trial in Kuala Lumpur in 1911. She was the first white woman to be charged with murder in Malaya. She claimed that the man she had shot dead had tried to rape her in her home.

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the house of doors

And in fact, I had to cut out a lot of the more exciting and colorful sequences of his life, much to my regret, mainly because they were not relevant to the story I was writing. By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. The Booker Prize Foundation benefits financially from purchases you make using 'buy the book' links on our website. Find out how we use this money to support readers and writers of the future.

the house of doors

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The author Tan Twan Eng writes historical fiction set in Malaysia, the country where he was raised. His newest novel, "The House Of Doors," revolves around a famous British author who spent time traveling in the region, the short story writer W. "The House Of Doors" has already made the longlist for this year's Booker Prize, and Tan Twan Eng is here to talk with us about it. Somerset Maugham published “The Casuarina Tree,” a book of six short stories. Maugham was at the height of his success, as a great, and greatly rewarded, writer of immense dexterity and enormous efficiency. As his biographer Selina Hastings writes, “For much of his long life”—he died in 1965, at ninety-one—Maugham was “the most famous writer in the world.” He had the kind of celebrity that now attends actors, musicians, and criminal politicians.

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Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng's House Of Doors scores Booker longlist hat-trick - The Straits Times

Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng's House Of Doors scores Booker longlist hat-trick.

Posted: Sat, 26 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The Proudlock scandal would later be refitted to form the basis for The Letter, an acclaimed short story by W Somerset Maugham, that pitiless chronicler of so much human frailty. It now provides the prompt for Tan Twan Eng’s The House of Doors, an ambitious, elaborate fiction about fictions that beats back to the humid heyday of empire and instals the bestselling author as a flawed player in the drama. “We will be remembered through our stories,” Maugham declares at one point.

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We listen to our families, give them a voice, advocate for them, and empower our families with the tools they need to succeed. Listen to testimonies from our Transitional Housing and Homelessness Prevention families, and learn how your investment can make an impact. In the mid-1960s to 1970s, the Laurel Canyon area was home to some of the greatest musicians of the rock era, including The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, and members of The Mamas & The Papas, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Jim Morrison and his girlfriend, Pamela Courson lived at 8021 Rothdell Trail, the street that inspired The Doors song, "Love Street." Restored after a 2011 fire, the house was most recently sold in June 2015 for $1,625,000. Known around the world as one of LA’s quintessential bands, The Doors formed in 1965 after UCLA alums, singer Jim Morrison and keyboardist Ray Manzarek, met in Venice Beach.

Live in Boston (The Doors album)

The interior features a plein air painting by Shag, along with vintage photos of everyone from Sigourney Weaver to The Go-Go's and Devo in front of Tail o' the Pup. A plaque notes that Jim Morrison laid down the vocals for "LA Woman" in the bathroom. As Willie prepares to face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts – a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction.

I live on the shores of a different sea now, a sea of silent stone and sand. The book tells of a fictionalized account of William Somerset Maugham's travels through the Federated Malay States in the 1920s. While in Penang, Maugham and Gerald Haxton, who is ostensibly his travelling secretary but is actually his lover, stay with Maugham's friend Robert Hamlyn. Robert and his wife Lesley are British expatriots living in the Federated Malay States.

I haven’t been able to sit down for an extended period of time to work on my new novel. The past year I was one of the judges of the International Booker Prize 2023, and that involved reading 135 novels in nine months. This year has been and will be taken up with promoting The House of Doors. Because I was writing about Maugham writing his stories, I felt I had to follow his lead. Eventually I abandoned that idea, and then the writing just opened up.

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Lesley tells Maugham about her relationship with Arthur and about his House of Doors. She also tells him about her friend, Ethel Proudlock, who shot and killed a man she wasn’t married to. While Maugham listens to Lesley’s stories, he worries about a failed investment scheme that has left him all but bankrupt. Several years later, sales of The Casuarina Tree will help him recoup these losses and go on to divorce his wife and live as he pleases. When this book comes out, it’s been several years since Lesley has seen Maugham.

Penang and George Town: Scandals in Paradise - CrimeReads

Penang and George Town: Scandals in Paradise.

Posted: Mon, 21 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Jonas Du, editor-in-chief of a Columbia student magazine, told CNN that the protests on campus are student-fueled regardless of any outsider involvement. Video posted by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shows officers searching a bookshelf-lined office after busting the door's lock with a hammer. CNN is monitoring campus protests and will continue to update this map with any new arrests. Protesters have been arrested on more than 25 campuses across at least 21 states. However, many other schools have experienced protests without arrests.

The album sides were named after Jim Morrison's favorite bars, "Hard Rock Café" (Side A) and "Morrison Hotel" (Side B). The back cover of the album features a photograph of the Hard Rock Café on E. Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, who founded the Hard Rock Cafe chain of theme restaurants, based the name on The Doors album photo. From their birthplace in Venice Beach to iconic LA music venues, read on for the best locations in Los Angeles to experience The Doors.

If colonial Malaysia is a pastiche of middle-class England, his drama is its costumed morality play. Tensions escalated on campus when officers entered Columbia's Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by protesters since the early hours of Tuesday, and dozens were seen being arrested. While Bar Keepers Friend is a powerful cleaner to use around the house, remember to exercise caution when employing it. Wearing gloves is always a good idea although washing your hands thoroughly afterward is fine, too, insofar as you are not exposing your skin to the substance for very long. Also, never combine this cleaning product with ammonia, bleach, or any other products containing these substances, as it can create dangerous, toxic fumes.

Upon being taken into custody, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the significance of a hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons. Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows a campus police officer removing a hijab from a protester’s head during her arrest. Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, sent a letter to demonstrators saying she would agree to hear a divestment proposal if the school’s encampment were disbanded, according to the student-run newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald. The protests are a new test for President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection, with the Gaza war tearing deep rifts in his fragile electoral coalition.

But I do think it's important for your readers to understand you are celebrated. I love rewriting, so- - And that's where the best work is done anyway. (calm music) - Your novels are elegant, they're bold, they're beautifully written. How they change from that process, how the stories are transformed by each person when they pass the stories on to the next person. I try to keep my workspace organised, but inevitably and very quickly the desk would be overrun by stacks of books, papers, and other research materials. There’ll also be a big cup of tea – I drink incessantly when I’m writing.

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