Simon Leys

Simon Leys , of his true name Pierre Ryckmans , born on September 28th 1935 with Brussels, is a writer, essay writer, critical literary and Belgian Sinologue, of French language and English E.

The main themes of its work milked with the China, the Littérature and the Mer. Its style, at the same time scholar, clear-sighted and sarcastic, confers a literary value on its texts beyond the covered subjects and of its opinions.

Biography

Grandson of a burgomaster of Antwerp, it studies the Droit and the Histoire of art to the catholic Université of Leuwen. In 1955, in the nineteen years age, it takes part in the voyage of a delegation of young Belgians invited during one month in China, during which it affirms to have taken share with a discussion with Zhou Enlai. Starting from 1959, it continues studies of language, literature and Chinese art with Taiwan, Singapore and HongKong. It acquires for this period a major science of the Chinese world in addition to one daily experiment of reality of China at that time. It settles in Australia in 1970. He teaches the Chinese Littérature with Canberra then the Chinese studies at the university of Sydney of 1987 with 1993.

Work

In 1971, on the councils of its editor, it decides to take a pseudonym before publishing the new Clothes of the president Mao , not to be likely to become persona non grata in Popular republic of China. It chooses like name “Leys” in reference to the character of the novel of Victor Segalen Rene Leys, published in 1922; and like first name “Simon” in reference to the original name of the apostle Pierre.

He criticizes as of the first hour the Cultural revolution in popular China. He is known at the beginning only of restricted circles, but is discovered general public during a number of the emission Apostrophes in 1983 devoted to China where Bernard Pivot had also invited Maria-Antonietta Macciocchi, author of the book Of China . After having let the latter speak with lyricism about the new man who appeared in China, Simon Leys - which had lived in China precisely for the period in question - answered by providing several factual data suggesting that it had not checked its sources before writing its book. “It is normal that the imbeciles utter imbecillities as the apple trees produce apples, but me which saw each day since my window the river Jaune carting corpses, I cannot accept this idyllic presentation by Madam of the Cultural revolution. ” According to an interview of Bernard Pivot, it was the only case where following a passage to Apostrophes the forecasts of sale of a book were revised with the fall.

Another sinologist gives since his beginnings a discrete support for Simon Leys: Rene Étiemble.

In the Years 1970, the publication of its lampoons on China attracted the hatred of the middle to him Maoists French of the time, represented in particular by the review Such as it is .

Simon Leys is also:

member of the royal Academy of language and literature Frenchwomen of Belgium since 1990,
prize winner of the Price Renaudot (Test) in 2001 for Protée and other tests ,
Prize winner of the Price Guizot in 2003 for Shipwrecked men of Batavia ,
Member elect of the world Price Cino Del Duca in 2005 for the whole of its work.

In 2002, a comedy entitled The Emperor' S New Clothes is drawn from sound only Romance to date published: the Death of Napoleon . Ian Holm holds the title role of it.

Works

the life and the work of Known Renshan, rebel, painter and insane (UER Eastern Asia University Paris 7,1970)
the new Clothes of the president Mao (Free field 1971, LGF 1989)
Chinese Ombres (UGE 10/18 1976, Laffont 1976)
broken Images (Laffont 1976)
Human rights in Clouded (1979)
Broken Images (1981)
Préface with the Investigation into the death of Flax Biao of Yao Mingle (1983)
the Forest on fire : Tests on the Chinese culture and the policy (Hermann 1983)
Orwell, or the horror of the policy (Hermann 1984)
the Death of Napoleon (Hermann 1986, Plon 2005)
mood, honor, horror: Tests on the Chinese culture and the policy (Laffont 1991)
Tests on China (Laffont collection Books, 1998)
the Angel and the Cachalot (Threshold 1998, Point-Tests 2002): compilation of a series of articles or forewords on the literature, China and the problem of the translation, written between 1990 and 1997. The title refers to a quotation of Gilbert Keith Chesterton: “A man who tries to grant angels with cachalots must have a rather serious vision of the universe. ”
Protée and other tests (Gallimard 2001)
Shipwrecked men of Batavia, follow-up of Prosper (Arléa 2003, Point-Threshold 2005) Price Guizot-Apple-brandy
Sea in the French literature (Plon, 2003)
Ideas of the others, idiosyncratiquement compiled for the recreation of the idle readers (Plon, 2005)

Translations

Shen Fu, six accounts with the inconstant wire of the days (under the name of Pierre Ryckmans, Larcier 1966; Christian Bourgois 1982)
Shitao: Remarks on the Pumpkin-bitter painting of the monk (translation and comment under the name of Pierre Ryckmans, IBHEC Brussels 1970, Hermann 1984)
Kouo Mo-OJ, autobiography - years of enfance" (under the name of Pierre Ryckmans, Gallimard 1970)

Lu Xun the bad grass (under the name of Pierre Ryckmans, UGE 10/18 1975)

Jao Tsong-Yi, monochromic paintings of Dun-Huang (under the name of Pierre Ryckmans, French School of the Far East 1978)
Chen OJ-Hsi, the prefect Yin (Denoël 1980)
Confucius, talks (under the name of Pierre Ryckmans, Gallimard 1987)
Richard Henry Dana, Two years on the forecastle (Laffont 1990, Small library Payot 1995)
Analects off Confucius (Norton 1997)

External bond

Critical of the '' Naufragés of Batavia '' by Philippe Sollers.

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