Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French existentialist philosopher, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and critic. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1964, but refused it, saying "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution". He was a Marxist and an atheist.
Sartre was born in Paris, France. He studied philosophy at the "École Normale Supérieure", an élite (high quality) education establishment. In 1929, Sartre graduated with a doctorate in philosophy. Sartre served in the French Army from 1929 to 1931.
In 1929 at the École Normale, he met Simone de Beauvoir, who studied at the Sorbonne. She went on to become a noted philosopher, writer, and feminist. The two became inseparable and lifelong companions. In 1938, Sartre wrote the novel called "La Nausée" (Nausea). This story explains the way of thinking of existentialism. Existentialism is a way of thinking about human freedom.
In 1939 Sartre was drafted into the French army. France was at war with Germany, because Germany had invaded France (World War II) Sartre was captured by German troops in 1940, and Sartre spent nine months as a prisoner of war in a camp. Sartre was released from the prison camp (jail) in 1941. He then began working as a teacher again. He made friends with other writers and thinkers such as Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Toussaint and Dominique Desanti, and Jean Kanapa.
In 1943, Sartre wrote a book about philosophy (ways of thinking) called "L'Être et le Néant", which means "Being and Nothingness". In this book, Sartre said that when people tried too hard to conform to the rules of society (or of their country), then people did not really make their own decisions. And he concluded that life is useless disaster.
In 1945, Sartre started a newspaper called "Les Temps Modernes" (Modern Times), which had articles about politics, art and literature. He also began writing a group of novels (stories) called "Les Chemins de la Liberté" (The Roads to Freedom). In 1946 Sartre wrote a book about philosophy (ways of thinking) called "Existentialism is a Humanism", which explains existentialism.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Sartre became involved in politics. Sartre said that France should leave Algeria, a country where France had many soldiers. In the 1960s, Sartre said that the Vietnam War was bad. In 1960, he wrote the "Critique de la raison dialectique" (Critique of Dialectical Reason). In the 1960s, Sartre had many arguments with Louis Althusser, a man who also believed in communism.
Sartre died of oedema of the lung in 1980 in Paris. His body is buried in Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. His funeral was attended by 50,000 people.
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck (; February 27, 1902 - December 20, 1968) was an American writer. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. Some of his most famous works are "Of Mice and Men" (1937) and "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), which won a Pulitzer Prize. In these two books, Steinbeck writes about migrant workers during the Great Depression.
Steinbeck used naturalism in his books. His characters and stories came from real events from the early 20th century. His work shows his wide range of interests, such as politics, history, philosophy and mythology.
Seventeen of his works were made into Hollywood movies. Steinbeck also tried screen writing, which is writing for movies. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing in Alfred Hitchcock's 1945 movie, "Lifeboat".
Steinbeck was born to John Ernst Steinbeck Sr., a first-generation German American. He attended Stanford University until 1925 when he left the university in order to become a writer. His first work, "Cup of Gold", came out four years later, but was not successful. He married Carol Henning the following year.
Steinbeck first gained success with the novel "Tortilla Flat" in 1935. The story was about two men living in Monterey, California during the Great Depression. The book won the California Commonwealth Club's Gold Medal. It was made into a movie seven years later, starring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, and John Garfield.
Steinbeck continued to write on the subject of the Great Depression. Two years later, Steinbeck wrote "Of Mice and Men", considered as one of the best works of American literature in the twentieth century. His story dealt with the lives of two migrant laborers with big dreams in California. It was turned into a Hollywood movie in 1939, starring Lon Chaney Jr. as "Lennie" and Burgess Meredith as "George". That year, Steinbeck followed up with another book, "The Grapes of Wrath". The book is about the Joad family and their travels from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl in search of work. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize and movie adaptation won two Academy Awards, and is ranked #7 on the American Film Institute's list, "100 Years...100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies". There was controversy with the book, though. Many people felt that Steinbeck's liberal opinions misrepresented the truth of Dust Bowl migrations. He had this student that his name was Oscar Perez and they would both do the job together.
Steinbeck continued to write from 1940s to 1960s. He wrote such works as "The Moon is Down", "The Pearl", "Cannery Row", "East of Eden" and "The Winter of Our Discontent". In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in Literature for "his realistic and imaginative writing, combining as it does sympathetic humor and keen social perception."
Two years later, he was awarded the "United States Medal of Freedom" by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968 in New York at the age of 66, of a heart disease.
Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa (March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998) was a Japanese movie director. Kurosawa's movies are liked in Japan. Kurosawa's movies are also liked by people in other countries. He made 30 movies in 50 years. He is thought to be one of the most important movie directors.
In many of his famous movies, including "Rashomon" and "The Seven Samurai", he worked with the actor Toshiro Mifune.
Kurosawa started in the Japanese movie industry in 1936. Before he worked a little bit as a painter. After years of working on many movies as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he became a director in 1943. This was during World War II with the popular action movie "Sanshiro Sugata" (a.k.a. "Judo Saga").
"Rashomon", was first shown in Tokyo in August 1950. On September 10, 1951 it was the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. It then was shown in Europe and North America. Because the movie was so well liked, it made people in the western world want to see more Japanese movies. This helped make other Japanese movie makers become successful. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Kurosawa directed about one movie each year.
In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. After he died, he was named "Asian of the Century" in the "Arts, Literature, and Culture" category by "AsianWeek" magazine and CNN.
Science fiction movie
Science fiction films are movies which tell stories about the future, outer space, robots, or aliens. Science fiction movies often use special effects to show images of alien worlds or other planets far away.
Science fiction movies are related to science fiction books. Some science fiction movies tell stories about strange or different ways of thinking or ways of living. Other science fiction movies tell stories about politics.
Some SF movies can also be another kind of movie, too.
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in the American state of Pennsylvania. It is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania with 80,506 at the July 2008 mark. It is located in Berks County. There were more jobs when it was more populated. Yuengling is available as well.
Swanage