Robert Howard is a famous twentieth-century American writer . Howard's works are actively read today, because the writer subdued all readers with his unusual stories and short stories. The heroes of Robert Howard's works are known throughout the world, as many of his books have been made into films.
Writer Biography
Robert Howard was born on January 22, 1906 in a Texas village.
The writer's family was never rich. Robert Howard's father was a simple doctor in the village. A mother from an American simple family, but she was very well-read, loved poetry, which she also introduced to the boy from a very young age.
The first nine years of his life, Robert Howard constantly moved with his family from place to place. Having not found their refuge for a long time, the family finally decided to settle in the small village of Cross Plains. Here was written the first book of Robert Irwin Howard, which was more like a short story about the adventures that the boy experienced on the road.
The writer's youth
Robert Howard tried to earn his own pocket money. He worked in the reception of things for cleaning, in the shorthand department at the oil refinery, as a postman.
After leaving school, in parallel with his work, Robert Howard graduated from accounting courses.
The young man had the habit of carrying weapons, because he is a guy who grew up in Texas. Robert even got the nickname "Bob with two pistols." In his spare time, the guy shot at empty iron cans.
Writing
In 1927, Robert finally began to try his hand at writing. Starting to engage in this type of activity, Robert forever remained a writer.
Since 1930, he begins communication with Lovecraft. For many more years, literary figures have been conducting friendly correspondence.
In 1933, Howard began a relationship with a beautiful woman who, in the future, after the death of the writer, would issue memoirs about him. This work will form the basis of the film "The whole huge world", released in 1996.
Life crisis
The life of the writer was not long. All his life, the main woman was his mother. They were in a very close relationship. It was her mother who instilled in Robert a great love of fiction and poetry. She constantly supported her son in his endeavors, constantly read poems to him.
In 1935, Howard's mother survived a very complex operation. The outcome of the medical intervention entailed a coma. Robert, along with his father and his friends, spent all the time in the hospital, expecting that his mother would still wake up. This time was very difficult for the writer: he almost did not sleep, drank too much coffee and became more and more depressed.
One morning a nurse approached the writer and said that there was no longer any hope. Robert reacted very calmly. He got out of the hospital, got into his car and shot himself in the head. Robert's father ran out the door of the hospital with the doctor just a few seconds after the ringing of a shot. However, it was not possible to save the young writer.
Lovecraft was very worried about the death of his friend. Constantly in an apathetic state, nine months after Howard's death, Lovecraft himself committed suicide.
Writer's work
Howard's first publication was his poem, The Sea, published in a city newspaper in 1923. Fame has not yet come to the writer. The first of the prose works that brought Robert recognition was the story “Spear and Fang”, published in 1925. After the repeated publication of Robert Howard’s short stories in various literary magazines, the writer began to be called one of the founders and creators of “heroic fantasy”. In all literary circles, the writer is known as the creator of something new in literature. Nevertheless, there was no criticism of the writer; he had to go unnoticed by literary figures of that time.
Real fame came after writing books about Conan Barbara. Robert Harvard became the author of a book cycle consisting of 21 works. The first part of a series of Robert Howard "Conan" was published in 1932.
All books by Robert Howard can be divided into several main genres. They are presented below.
Fantasy
This genre includes more than fifty works by the writer. Many of them are included in various book cycles. One of the most famous characters in this genre was Solomon Kane.
Works written outside of cycles are also known and readable in modern times. The writer constantly used in his works those characters who are representatives of ancient civilizations.
Mystic
In this genre, you can see that the writer has repeatedly used elements of horror in his works. The most famous cycle in this genre was a series of Howard books, telling readers about the life of John Kirovane, who was fond of the study of occultism.
In addition, we can note the cycle of works, the main character of which was the werewolf De Monture.
In all these works you can see small components that can characterize this section not only as mystical stories and tales, but also as works in the horror genre.
History
The most famous work that can be included in this section is the cycle of books about Solomon Kane. However, in the repertoire of the writer there are a huge number of stories and short stories that are written outside of any cycles or series.
Another interesting hero was a famous American person named Al-Borak. The writer devoted a whole book cycle to this character.
Robert Howard's books about Conan Barbara shocked the whole world. A series of books was recently filmed by an American film company.
Detectives
This may include one of the first novels of the writer "Master of Fate." However, the most famous work of this genre was a series of books about Steve Harrison, to whom the author devoted many tales and short stories.
Boxing Art
About these representatives of the sport Robert wrote several book series and individual works. The brightest characters were Baby Alisson, Steve Costigan and Ace Jessel.
Westerns
The most famous cycle in this direction was a series of books, the central character of which was Breckenridge Elkins, who is a real gentleman and a resident of the Bear River.
In addition to this cycle, in the writer's archive you can find several other cycles in the Western genre. There are also stories, stories that are not included in any of the series.
Other works
In addition to all of the above, Robert is the author of many works in humorous and erotic prose. In addition, Robert Howard is the author of a large number of poems, which, unfortunately, do not enjoy such fame. It is also possible to note all those articles that fell out of the hands of the writer, written in the form of sports reviews and literary parodies.