Author | Robert McLiam Wilson |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Publisher | Andre Deutsch (UK) Arcade (US) |
Publication date | 1989 (UK) 1998 (US) |
Media type | |
Pages | 288 |
ISBN | 0-233-98392-9 |
Ripley Bogle is the debut novel of Northern Irish author Robert McLiam Wilson, published in 1989 in the UK although not until 1998 in the US.[1] Written when he was 26, it is arguably his most acclaimed,[2] winning the Rooney Prize and the Hughes Prize in 1989, and a Betty Trask Award and the Irish Book Awards the following year.[3] Many elements of the novel are autobiographical; the author himself was born in Belfast, attended Cambridge University, dropped out and became homeless.[4] It is regarded as a significant novel, producing "both a re-evaluation of Northern Irish literary identity, and an alternative perspective on the Troubles."[5]
The novel is set over four days in London, where homeless 22-year-old Ripley Bogle aimlessly wanders the streets and, with angry satire, reflects on his life, directly addressing the reader. There are frequent flashbacks to growing up on the Turf Lodge estate in West Belfast during The Troubles, his move to Cambridge University and his subsequent decline into homelessness.[6]
It was adapted for the stage in 1997 at Theatre503 when it was directed by Richard Hurst[10] and again in 2005 when adapted by actor Sean O Tarpaigh (at Camden People's Theatre).[11][12]