The Liar (novel)
LC Class | PR6056 .R88 |
The Liar (published 1991) is the first novel of British writer and actor
Plot
The book opens as the protagonist, Adrian Healey, and his mentor, Professor
The narrative then shifts to Adrian's time at
Adrian is later expelled from school for writing an article discussing the tradition of hidden behaviours that could be considered homosexual at public schools; consequently, he takes his
Eventually, Adrian takes on the role of schoolmaster and has his first sexual encounter with a woman, a fellow member of staff at the school. The school years finish with Adrian's cricket team defeating the team of Hugo Cartwright, to whom Adrian no longer feels attracted. Just as Adrian and his team are about to leave the school at which Hugo is a master he admits to Hugo that he was awake during the incident before Trotter's funeral.
Adrian attends the fictional St. Matthew's College,
After graduation, Adrian attends a farcical meeting where he and other attendees discuss the arrest of Trefusis, who was arrested on charges of cottaging, sabotaging the footage of an onlooking BBC film crew. It is later revealed that he was actually undertaking a document exchange preceded by two kisses on the cheek as is custom in several European countries, such as Hungary.
Adrian joins Trefusis in a forced
A showdown results with Adrian's uncle David (Sir David Pearce of MI5) and Trefusis, during which it is revealed that Pearce's aide was a double agent working for Trefusis. It is also revealed that the murders that Adrian witnessed were staged to scare Trefusis into giving Mendax to MI5, and that Mendax was fictional.
Subsequently, Adrian overhears a conversation between Trefusis and Pearce where it is revealed that the espionage adventure was just a game to counter boredom, meaning that several parts of the story were untrue. Adrian remembers a letter written to him by de Woolf saying that while young girls grew up, young boys did not, making their education irrelevant and just a game.
The book concludes with Adrian, now a Cambridge fellow, recruiting a new spy for a new game.
Autobiographical elements
The novel is semi-autobiographical and many scenes echo experiences later recounted in Fry's memoir,
Conceits
The espionage portions of the book are written in italics, which stop at Adrian's graduation. The book features a third-person
- Adrian is "Telemachus", the name of the son of Odysseus in the Odyssey
- Professor Donald Trefusis is "Odysseus"
- Istvan Moltaj is "Patrochlus" (sic, in Greek Πάτροκλος, not Πάτροχλος)
- Szabó is "Helen", the catalyst of the Trojan War (pronounced /ˈʒɑːboʊ/ rather than [ˈsɒboː] on the audiobook)
- His nephews are "Castor" and "Pollux"
- Salzburg is the "walls of Illium"
The author is renowned for his interest in the English language (see Fry's Planet Word). In a post on his blog,[2] Fry talks about the evolving language, including his interest in "verbing" nouns (nouns used as verbs). He also reproaches grammar pedants. In the book there are several experiments with the English language, mostly used in the dialogue. These range from several nouns used as verbs (e.g. "You everything me" or "you sir me"), Americanisms (e.g. "burglarised" or "gotten") to polysyndeton (e.g. "Tom and Adrian and Pigs Trotter"[n 2]). In the book, at school, Adrian actively tries new vocabulary.[n 3] As a spy he is told off by Trefusis for saying "it is them" instead of "it is they" (before Trefusis acknowledges that it is obnoxious pedantry to care) and complains to Trefusis about the habit of another (less erudite) character of overusing the suffix "-ise" like an American.[n 4]
Reception
The book is noted[
Legacy
The bar on level 3 of the University of Dundee Student Union building is named after the book, as Fry was Rector of the university from 1992 to 1998.
References to pages of the book
References
- ^ Kakutani, Michiko. "BOOKS OF THE TIMES – A Rebellious Young Weed, and How He Grew", The New York Times, 11 June 1999. Retrieved on 25 May 2013.
- ^ Fry, Stephen. "Don’t Mind Your Language...", stephenfry.com, 4 November 2008. Retrieved on 25 May 2013.