MICHEL TOURNIER
French author (1924)
Biography:
Michel Tournier was born in Paris in 1924. He studied at Saint-Eremberg and Saint-German in Laye. He got a degree in Sorbonne. In 1946 he went to Germany, being one of the first Frech citizens able to do so, and began teaching at Tubingem University.
He worked for a French radiosation as producer and director, and later he tried his luck in journalism. Then it is when Tournier began his literary carreer.
From 1958 to 1968, he is in charge of a printing house and writes Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique (1967), such a successful book that he was awarded with Grand Prix de l'Académie. He is the author of newspaper articles, essays and a countless number of books for children and young readers. Vendredi ou la Vie sauvage (1977), Pierrot ou les Secrets de la nuit (1979), Les Rois Mages (1983) and Contes du médianoche (1989) are some of his most celebrated stories.
Michel Tournier, author of illustrated works:
Friday, translated by Norman Denny. Doubleday & Co: Garden City, 1969.
Vendredi ou la vie sauvage, Flammarion, 1971 et Gallimard, 1977. After a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe finds himself stranded in a desert island. But Friday (Indien Vendredi) appears and becomes his servant. There's an accident and the balance achieved in the island is lost. They have to begin anew and it's then that Crusoe learns to respect him.
Vendredi ou la vie sauvage, illustrated by Crozart, Chardon Bleu, 1983.
Gemini, translated from the French "Les Meteores" by Anne Carter. Doubleday & Co: Garden City, 1981
Giles and Jeanne, translated from the French by Alan Sheridan. Grove Weidenfeld: New York, (1990).
The Golden Drplet (La Goutte d'Or), translated from the French by Barbara Wright. Doubleday & Co: Garden City, 1987.
Amandine et les 2 jardins, illustrated by Joëlle Boucher, G.P. éditions, 1978.
La Fugue du Petit Poucet, illustrated by Alain Gauthier, éd. G.P., 1979.
Pierrot ou les secrets de la nuit, illustrated by Danièle Bour, Gallimard, 1980.
Barbedor, illustrated by Georges Lemoine, Gallimard, 1980.
Que ma joie demeure, illustrated by Jean Claverie, Gallimard, 1982.
L’Aire du muguet, Gallimard, 1982.
Sept Contes (Pierrot ou les secrets de la nuit, Amandine ou les deux jardins, La Fugue du petit Poucet, La Fin de Robinson Crusoé, Barbedor, La Mère Noël, Que ma joie demeure), Gallimard, 1984.
Les Rois mages, Gallimard, 1985
Angus, Signe de Piste, 1988
Les Contes de Médianoche, illustrated by Bruno Mallart, Gallimard jeunesse, 1989.
La couleuvrine, illustrated by Claude Lapointe, Gallimard, 1994.
Le Miroir à deux faces (La Fugue du petit Poucet, Ikonut ou l’infini et les Eskimos, Amandine ou les deux jardins), illustrated by Alain Gauthier, Seuil jeunesse, 1994.
Critical Analysis on Michel Tournier:
A Bouloumé, Michel Tournier, le Roman mythologique, Corti, 1988. M-Th.
Denizeau, "Vendredi, le Héros détrouné", in Littérature, n°92, Decembre 1983.
Ch. Anderson, Michel Tournier's Children. Myth, Intertext, Initiation, Peter Lang, 1998.