JOHN UPDIKE
(March 18, 1932 -- January 27, 2009)
Berks County's pre-eminent literary son died today after having battled lung cancer for some time. John Hoyer Updike was a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, most noted for his Rabbit series. Born in Shillington, the leading light of contemporary American letters was raised in Plowville from the age of 11, and went on to graduate from Harvard University. A voluminous author, Updike penned not only novels but also volumes of poetry and short stories, many of which have been published in the renowned publication, The New Yorker.
Nor has the world heard the last of Updike's unparalleled voice on the written page. His final poetry collection, entitled Endpoint (astonishingly ironic, all things considered...), will be published in September. Two discrete short story collections will be produced in the summer: My Father's Tears and Other Stories will be released in June, and The Maple Stories will be available in August.
Updike's Endpoint includes this hauntingly visionary poem which reveals the author's consideration of his own mortality:
"Requiem"
It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
'Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise - depths unplumbable!'
Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
'I thought he died a while ago.'
For life's a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.
Were I to die, no one would say,
'Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise - depths unplumbable!'
Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
'I thought he died a while ago.'
For life's a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.
A bibliography of Updike's major works follows:
The Rabbit Novels
(1960) Rabbit, Run
(1971) Rabbit Redux
(1981) Rabbit Is Rich
(1990) Rabbit At Rest
(2001) Rabbit Remembered
(1971) Rabbit Redux
(1981) Rabbit Is Rich
(1990) Rabbit At Rest
(2001) Rabbit Remembered
The Buchanan Books
Novels
(1959) The Poorhouse Fair
(1963) The Centaur
(1965) Of the Farm
(1968) Couples
(1975) A Month of Sundays
(1977) Marry Me
(1978) The Coup
(1986) Roger's Version
(1988) S.
(1994) Brazil
(1996) In the Beauty of the Lilies
(1997) Toward the End of Time
(2000) Gertrude and Claudius
(2002) Seek My Face
(2004) Villages
(2006) Terrorist
(1963) The Centaur
(1965) Of the Farm
(1968) Couples
(1975) A Month of Sundays
(1977) Marry Me
(1978) The Coup
(1986) Roger's Version
(1988) S.
(1994) Brazil
(1996) In the Beauty of the Lilies
(1997) Toward the End of Time
(2000) Gertrude and Claudius
(2002) Seek My Face
(2004) Villages
(2006) Terrorist
Short Story Collections
(1959) The Same Door
(1961) A & P
(1962) Pigeon Feathers
(1964) Olinger Stories (a selection)
(1966) The Music School
(1972) Museums And Women
(1979) Problems
(1979) Too Far To Go (related short stories about a single family)
(1987) Trust Me
(1994) The Afterlife
(2000) The Best American Short Stories of the Century (editor)
(2001) Licks of Love
(2003) The Early Stories: 1953-1975
(2009) My Father's Tears and Other Stories
(1961) A & P
(1962) Pigeon Feathers
(1964) Olinger Stories (a selection)
(1966) The Music School
(1972) Museums And Women
(1979) Problems
(1979) Too Far To Go (related short stories about a single family)
(1987) Trust Me
(1994) The Afterlife
(2000) The Best American Short Stories of the Century (editor)
(2001) Licks of Love
(2003) The Early Stories: 1953-1975
(2009) My Father's Tears and Other Stories
Poetry
(1957) Ex-Basketball Player
(1958) The Carpentered Hen
(1963) Telephone Poles
(1969) Midpoint
(1969) Dance of the Solids
(1977) Tossing and Turning
(1985) Facing Nature
(1993) Collected Poems 1953-1993
(2001) Americana: and Other Poems
Assorted Non-Fiction, Essays, and Criticism
(1965) Assorted Prose
(1975) Picked-Up Pieces
(1983) Hugging The Shore
(1989) Self-Consciousness: Memoirs
(1989) Just Looking
(1991) Odd Jobs
(1996) Golf Dreams: Writings on Golf
(1999) More Matter
(2005) Still Looking: Essays on American Art
(2007) Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism
(1975) Picked-Up Pieces
(1983) Hugging The Shore
(1989) Self-Consciousness: Memoirs
(1989) Just Looking
(1991) Odd Jobs
(1996) Golf Dreams: Writings on Golf
(1999) More Matter
(2005) Still Looking: Essays on American Art
(2007) Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism
2 comments:
Nice job, Nathan: eloquent as always.
:) Leslie
I was going over the 1930 Census records for Oak Terrace, West Reading as a favor for my godfather. He and my father had mirror-image bedrooms in the twin homes along the street. A neighbor on the other side of Oak Terrace used to have a lady named Mrs. Updike of Shillington come calling. She'd bring her son, and my godfather, father, and the kid would go down to the quarry at the end of the street and build forts while the ladies had their visit. You can guess the punchline.
It's amazing to me that I, a lifelong Updike fan, was as few handshakes away from him as I turned out to be. Plus, I got some good, though 79-year-old, gossip about Oak Terrace and its residents.
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