There is hardly a person who has not seen the acclaimed film "Rambo." This action movie just burst into the world screens. If you look objectively, then at that time it was a significant, one might say, revolutionary step in the cinema. The film raised the issues of rehabilitation of war veterans, their worldview and psychology destroyed by the war. As you know, people who have gone through such tests are very difficult to adapt to ordinary life.
The film is based on David Morrell's First Blood. To openly declare the problems and irreparable destruction that the war can bring at a time when riots are taking place throughout the country associated with the Vietnam War - on the part of the author, this was a bold move.
David Morrell: biography
David was born in Kitchener (Ontario) on April 24, 1943. His father, a military pilot, died immediately after the birth of his son. The mother remarried, and the son became a burden in the new family. David was sent to a shelter. David's childhood, like any child raised in an orphanage, was difficult. But he found an outlet in the books. Then he decided for himself that he would become a writer.
In the mid-60s, David Morrell came to the United States to study philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. If in childhood David did not have enough father or person who could replace him, now now he has two such people. The first is Philip Young, a specialist in American literature, the second is the writer William Tenn. It was they who taught Morrell the basics of writing.
David defended his thesis, and later became a Ph.D. He then taught American literature at the University of Iowa. Combining writing with teaching became increasingly difficult. Almost a seven-day regime was exhausting, it became difficult to work at that pace. And he leaves the university - since 1986, David Morrell is fully committed to literary work.
Unexpressed pain
It was a very difficult time for the whole family. Matthew, the son of David, was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer - Ewing's sarcoma. Huge tumors, permanent hospitals, chemotherapy, and a year later, a tragedy occurs in David's family - fifteen-year-old Matthew dies. At the same time, David Morrell already agreed to the third part of Rambo.
Everything that happens - experiences, pain of loved ones, powerlessness before the disease, of course, could not pass without a trace. The tragic events of his personal life are reflected in the book “Fireflies” and the novel “Extreme Measures”.
Wanting to change the situation, David and his family moved to the state of New Mexico, the city of Santa Fe, where they still live.
The birth of an idea
There was a war in Vietnam at that time . But our hero had no idea about this until he met among the students people who had been there. In 1968, the main television news in Canada was stories of the Vietnam War. And in American cities, hundreds of riots erupted.
As David says, he began to think that the image of war and unrest are not much different. Then the idea came to write about the return of a Vietnam veteran who brings war to the United States.
"Father Rambo"
The novel introduced to readers Rambo, who soon became one of the most iconic characters, along with Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Tarzan. Rambo is daily mentioned in conversation and the media. The word was added to the Oxford Dictionary. Astrophysicists with this word denote a group of dead stars. The word Rambo has become an integral part of world culture.
As David Morrell says, when he signs copies of a book, he often autographs “Father Rambo.” Indeed, it is as if the son whom he raised, and he went in a direction unexpected for the author. It was a resounding success. But to predict the fate of a character or book is impossible. David often finds himself thinking that he is trying to remember how he created Rambo.
Book debut
David's novel "First Blood" was released in 1972. In it, the author talks about all those things that happened in the late 60s, in particular about the riots and student demonstrations. The hero of the book returned from fighting in Vietnam with severe post-traumatic stress and brought the war to the land of America. Subsequently, the psychologism characteristic of this novel, dynamics and rigidity will become the hallmarks of many novels of the writer.
The debut of novels often goes unnoticed. But David says he was lucky, as many magazines and newspapers gave enthusiastic book reviews. Soon, the film studio acquired the rights to film adaptation. The novel was translated into 26 languages, the text from it was used by teachers of schools and colleges. So, Stephen King taught creative writing at the University of Maine, and this was one of two texts that Stephen used in lectures. Even after four decades, the novel continues to be published.
Enduring success
All Morell's books — action films and thrillers, “Gothic” novels and detective stories — were successful. In his first works, David did not even touch on the topic of espionage. The heroes of his works are a journalist saving a family (“Test”), a soldier of the 1916 war between the USA and Mexico (“The Last Wake”), a policeman who defends his city from something terrible (“Totem”). But in 1984, the light saw the spy thriller from David Morrell - "Brotherhood of the Rose", which brought the author great success. And then “League of Night and Fog” and “Brotherhood of Stone” appear. In addition, David Morrell, author of The First Blood, returns to scripting about Rambo at the request of the producers.
Literary activity
In recent decades, David Morrell has increasingly turned to science fiction in his work. Books that have gained immense popularity among readers include the novels The Fifth Profession, Double Image, Gothic Rio Grande and several short stories. By the way, two of them were awarded the Brack Stoker Prize. David was presented with the same prize for the novel “Scouts”.
Among David's works there is the original Christmas story The Hundred-Year Christmas, and graphic novels. David is also the author of articles, reviews, tests and reviews in numerous publications. Books have been translated into 30 languages ​​and have been distributed around the world in 18 million copies.
Latest news
One of the latest novels written by David Morrell is The Inspector of the Dead. The book is no less exciting than the well-known novel about Rambo. True, the scene here is somewhat different - Victorian England. David Morrell creates his work, exploring the time when the work of a detective was just beginning to be a special profession. But the most important thing in the novel is, of course, the identity of the detective. This is the author of sensational articles, a master of investigating crimes, unraveling complex puzzles by Thomas de Quincy.
In a series of books about detective Thomas de Quincy, the author perfectly describes this elderly, slightly absent-minded person. Not every writer will be able to so gracefully reveal the character of a person, the character traits necessary for detective investigations, as David Morrell (Inspector of the Dead) did in his novel.
Reviews of this book are still few in number, but it is already clear that the novel captures in the same way as the first book of the cycle. Readers in their reviews write that not only the detective story's exciting plot is good. But the historical side of the work is perfectly shown - a description of Victorian England, interesting little-known facts and references, different aspects of life and social phenomena of England of that era.
Awards and prizes
And finally, we list the awards and prizes received by the popular author:
- 1984 - Fantasy Award for The Hundred-Year Christmas (1983) Story.
- 1986 - Fantasy Award - The Dead Copy copy (1985).
- 1988 - Stocker Prize for the novel "Orange for Pain, Blue for Madness" (1988).
- 1991 - Stocker Prize for the story "Beautiful Unshorn Hair of Graves" (1991).
- 1992 - Stocker Prize for the novel Columbarius (1992).
- 1992 - Stocker Prize for the novel Nothing Will Hurt You (1992).
- 2005 - Stocker Prize - Roman "Scouts" (2006).
- 2010 - Black Feather is a journalistic work by Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads (2010).
As you can see, the works of a talented writer do not remain invaluable. And we hope that this will encourage those who have not read them to pick up a book and plunge into the amazing world of David Morrell.