Updike (udgave 2014)

John Updike is one of my favourite authors, and this is a BRILLIANT biography. Begley intertwines Updike's work with his writing- the level of autobiography in his every novel, poem and short story is brought out vividly, as Begley takes us through his life. From a happy childhood in Shillington, Pennsylvania, child of a not particularly successful teacher father ("The Centaur" !) and an ambitious, literary mother who relocates her family to a rural location ("The Centaur" again!); his time in Harvard, marriage, time in UK, working on the New Yorker ("Bech"!), kids, a rampant social life and yet a solid religious conviction ("Couples" !) As divorce, a broken family, remarriage and old age confront Updike, we again see echoes in the "Rabbit" tetralogy . Of course, I've only read a few of his many works and there are a vast amount of other works which Begley introduces us to, and through which I felt I gained a fair insight into the genial and hugely intelligent Updike.

As remarked on by another reviewer, we do feel a lack of vision into Updike's second marriage; his second wife didn't involve herself in this work (unlike his first ) and it shows.
But overall a truly excellent, erudite but uttely readable work. ( )

I am a sucker for literary biographies, and this is a really really good one, on a par with Blake Bailey's Cheever biography. (I am a fan of Updike's work, which helps.) In particular, Updike's relationship with his mother is fascinating. ( )

I am a sucker for literary biographies, and this is a really really good one, on a par with Blake Bailey's Cheever biography. (I am a fan of Updike's work, which helps.) In particular, Updike's relationship with his mother is fascinating. ( )

I am disappointed by UPDIKE by Adam Begley. More than a biography of his life it is a biography of his writing, down to each short story. So it was the structure that bother me. I would like to have known more about his life, though the author does work in his life into each piece of Updike's writing. Too long for too little. ( )

In the past few years, I have read several works of John Updike (1932-2009) and plan to continue to do so. Updike was a Renaissance writer: he wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, art criticism, book reviews, even a autobiography (although the last was not all-encompassing of his life). Nearly all of his prolific works were published, and many were compiled in collections as well. While others surely have written about Updike, Adam Begley provides an extensive biography and closer look at the man and author.

Begley looks at how John Updike's own life and experiences colored his writing. This approach provides insight for a reader of Updike. For instance, during the 60s and 70s, many of Updike's novels and short stories dealt with adultery; so it was not coincidental that during this era Updike and his first wife engaged in several affairs that eventually contributed to the end of their marriage.

Begley provides some literary analysis (but not of the Cliffs Notes form, nor are there spoilers) of much of Updike's work, although some are discussed much more extensively than others. What is discussed is mainly Updike's short stories and novels, rather than his essays and criticisms.

John Updike passed away at the age of 76. The first forty or so years of his life and works during that time take up most of this biography -- probably about 70% of the text. I think there are two reasons for this. Updike was better known and acclaimed during this period; although the quality (and quantity) of his writing did not change or decline significantly in his later years, although he experimented with different forms more later on. The second reason of the imbalance of Updike's represented life is that Begley drew from archival information and interviews with Updike's colleagues, friends and family. Begley also gleaned, and used, much information from interviews with Updike's first wife, Mary. In fact, in the acknowledgements section, the very first person Begley thanks is Mary. For whatever reason, second wife Martha Updike is apparently not a direct source of information for Begley's biography. Maybe she refused to collaborate with Begley, or maybe he did not attempt to work with her. Martha is depicted as having been fiercely protective of Updike's time and privacy during the thirty years that they were together.

In spite of the fact that Begley doesn't seem to treat Martha all too kindly (he refers to people he interviewed saying things such as that John was snatched away by Martha from his friends and children), Begley is mostly fair in his overall writing and does not stoop to tabloid-style reporting. The result, though, is not a dry account of Updike's complex life.

Because of Begley's approach of intertwining Updike himself with his works (which only makes sense as that is what Updike did with his writing), a reader has to have read at least some Updike to appreciate this biography. However, this biography will also provide a better understanding of any un-read works of his in addition to what has already been read.

I enjoyed reading this biography and it will help me be a better reader of Updike. He wrote so much, that there is still much left for me to read.

Quote by Adam Begley, early in the book (p.15):

"The more Updike one reads, and the more one learns about his life, the more glaringly obvious it becomes that he was enthralled by the details of his own experience. Does it make him a lesser artist that he so often relied on self-portraits and transcriptions of actual events and circumstances? Perhaps it would if the portraits were documentary photorealism and the action unedited chronology: the prose equivalent of a live webcam. Though he announced his desire to "imitate reality with increasing closeness," he knew full well that there is no way of translating raw experience into words without altering it. And that was never his intention." ( )