Lanark: A Life in Four Books (Canongate Classics)

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Dobson, Chris (17 November 2019). " 'No stuffy old classic': Alasdair Gray's translation of Dante's Purgatory". The Herald . Retrieved 6 January 2020. Indeed what did I think? As I recall, a great deal. Stimulated not only by the story and its scraps and lists, headings and maxims and authorial notes (triumphant among which were the delightfully silly, hair-splitting list of "plagiarisms" and typographical liberty-taking that existed within the text, not as "post-modern devices" - surely no writer worth their salt writes through anything as tawdry and manipulative as devices ? - but as means through which the author spoke to the reader in a direct and deliciously subversive way), I found myself thinking a great deal indeed. Williams, Craig (8 September 2023). "Alasdair Grey's 'powerful' painting of post-war Glasgow acquired by the city". The Herald. Glasgow. p.3. Settlers and Colonists by Alasdair Gray". Word-power.co.uk. 20 December 2012. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014 . Retrieved 21 May 2014. Macwhirter, Iain (2014). Disunited Kingdom: How Westminster Won A Referendum But Lost Scotland. Glasgow: Cargo Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908885-27-2.

He studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1952 to 1957. As well as his book illustrations, he painted portraits and murals. His artwork has been widely exhibited and is in several important collections. Before Lanark, he had plays performed on radio and TV. According to some, the most serious impediment to explaining the world isn’t the absence of a unified physical theory or the inadequacy of human language. It is the presence of what can only be called a pervasive evil. Evil is an irrationality, an inherent contradiction, which clearly exists - in nature everywhere and especially in people - but which defies explanation. Yet consciousness demands one. How can such an absurd universe produce beings who question its very absurdity? Craig, Cairns (1981), Going Down to Hell is Easy: Alasdair Gray's 'Lanark', in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 6, Autumn 1981, pp. 19 - 21, ISSN 0264-0856 He said, "That was very unsatisfying. Why did the oracle not make clear which of these things happened?" Gray’s publisher Canongate announced the news on Sunday, saying he died early in the morning after being hospitalised for a short illness in his home city of Glasgow. In a statement, Gray’s family thanked his friends and hospital staff, calling him “an extraordinary person; very talented and, even more importantly, very humane”.a b Taylor, Alan (29 December 2019). "Obituary: Alasdair Gray, writer and artist". The Herald . Retrieved 6 January 2020. He paraphrased it from a poem by the Canadian author Dennis Lee. [75] The original lines were: "And best of all is finding a place to be/in the early days of a better civilization". [76] Inspired by Gauguin’s ‘Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?’, Alasdair used the three wedge spaces created by our Auditorium roof beams to both pose and reply to Gauguin’s philosophical questions. He related his definite-outline method to “fear or distrust” of “anything liable to shift or depart”. Much of his best work was executed in the spirit of friendship. As he promoted fellow writers, he enjoyed painting friends and their children. He had a likable tendency to idealise his sitters, making them appear more innocent than they were in life.

Alasdair Gray seriously injured in fall". The Guardian. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017 . Retrieved 6 January 2020. Gray married Inge Sørensen, a nurse from Denmark, in 1961. They had a son, Andrew, in 1963, and separated in 1969. [4] [15] Alasdair Gray: Magnificent Citizen, a video profile by National Galleries Scotland about the artist’s relationship with his native Glasgow

He frequently used the epigram "Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation" in his books; by 1991, the phrase had become a slogan for Scottish opposition to Thatcherism. [35] [nb 6] The text was engraved in the Canongate Wall of the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh when it opened in 2004. [77] It was referred to by SNP politicians during the 2007 Scottish Parliament election campaign, when they became a minority government for the first time. [78] In 2003 Gray began working with gallerist Sorcha Dallas who, over the next 14 years, helped to develop interest in his visual practice, brokering sales to major collections including the Arts Council of England, the Scottish National Galleries and the Tate. His paintings and prints are also held in Glasgow Museums, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Library of Scotland and the Hunterian Museum. [27] [28]