Francis Bret Hart: biography, books, photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

More than a century has passed since the death of famous prose writer Bret Garth. But his works, written in the 60-70s of the XIX century, are still of value to society around the world.

Famous facts from the biography of the American writer

August 25, 1836 in the state of New York in Albany was born Francis Bret Hart - the famous writer of realistic prose and poetry. He was named after his grandfather. Francis' father worked as a Greek teacher at the institute. From an early age, Bret Hart loved to read books. He was fond of the works of such authors as Shakespeare, Dumas, Dickens, which undoubtedly influenced his work.

In 1845, when the boy was only 9 years old, his father died. The family experienced financial difficulties, which led to frequent changes of residence. The prose writer studied at school until the age of 13, and then got a job as a clerk to earn a living on his own and help his family.

His mother remarried, in 1854 Bret Hart moved to live withher to California in San Francisco, where the gold rush boom began. In this city, the writer had to earn extra money as a teacher and a pharmacist, a courier and a newspaperman. He was also a private caregiver, reporter and gold digger.

The beginning of the literary path

Working in San Francisco for The Californian allowed Bret to publish his stories for the first time in 1856. Two years later, he leaves for Uniontown in search of a better life, gets a job as a reporter for the Northern Californian. But the American prose writer did not stay long in this city. He had to return to San Francisco already in 1860, due to a scandalous publication in a magazine about the murder of more than 50 Indians near the Mud River.

After his arrival in California, the writer began to work in the newspaper "Golden Era" as a typesetter, and sometimes he was allowed to write his notes. So, under the articles of the prose writer, the signature began to appear - Bret Hart.

For three years, the writer was engaged in the publication of the most significant magazine in the early 70s of Western America, The Overland Monthly ("Overland Monthly"), after which he earned fame. In 1871 Hart Bret left California forever. He goes on tour in Eastern America and Canada. During the journey, he gives lectures, which are based on the problems of the California state.

Finally, at the age of forty-two, Bret Garth leaves the US and moves to Europe. The writer tried himself as an American consul in Germany and Great Britain - in the citiesKrefeld and Glasgow. On May 5, 1902, at the age of 66, Hart Bret died in London.

First fame

It was "California stories" that brought worldwide fame to the American writer Francis Bret Garth. He devoted his whole life to realistic writings. The prose writer relied on accurate facts, which attracted wide public attention to his work.

While living in San Francisco, Bret Hart, whose books are of incredible value to this day, wrote his best works. In 1870 he published a collection en titled "The Happiness of the Roaring Camp". This book contains such stories: "Mliss", "Exiles of Poker Flat", "Pagan Wang Li". The characters used in the novels were not fictitious and idealized. The writer reflected all the facts from the real life of Americans during the gold rush in California.

Artworks that fail

From the time Bret Garth left California, he began to experience an acute creative block. But, being in a foreign land, the writer did not have access to the necessary materials for his works. One of the best late novels of the prose writer is Gabriel Conroy, written in 1876. This collection includes such stories as "Clarence", "The Steppe Foundling" and "Susie". During this period, Garth released the play "Two from Sandy Bar". Together with Mark Twain, he wrote the essay "A Sin". These works were not successful.

Recent praise of the American writer has turned into vicious criticism. His friend Mark Twain said: "Cheerful and cheerful Bret Harte died in San Francisco!" Since 1878, the author of "California Tales of the Gold Diggers" experienced a mental and financial crisis. He continued to work in Europe, not paying attention to the deterioration of he alth, but he could not achieve early success.

Famous works

Many of Garth's short stories have become textbooks. He is the author of the following books: "Three Tramps of Trinidad", "Finding in the Blazing Star", "Esmeralda of the Rocky Canyon. Stories".

But the first fame and glory to the writer was brought by the story "Happiness of the Roaring Camp", which became popular not only in America, but also far beyond its borders. In his work, Bret Hart described a sentimental story that took place in one of the villages of California among gold diggers. It tells how even riotous villagers and drunkards took care of a baby who was left an orphan.

For a long time because of this story, American society called Bret Garth a foreign country writer, a "bad American". But his works with incredible speed became popular in Europe, they were translated into many languages of the world.