Julien Green Biography and List of Works

French-American novelist and playwright, whose works are connected to the tradition of (Roman Catholic) psychological realism, and also show the influence the American regional style known as Southern gothic. Green's central subjects were religion, moral and sexuality. The stories were usually set in French provincial towns and depicted the lives of neurotic, obsessive characters.

Green was born on September 6, 1900 in Paris to American parents of Scottish-Irish background. The only native French speaker in his English-speaking family, he created his own private world, in which he brought for his mother's horror sex, and his own passionate nature. After his mother's death in 1914, Green fallowed his father into the Catholic Church. At the age of 17 he volunteered for the army in the World War I. From 1918 to 1922 he studied in Paris and at the University of Virginia.

In 1922 Green moved back to France, and joined the literary scene. His first novel, Mont-Cinère (1926, Avarice House), depicted an American family caught between boredom and greed. It gained a critical success both in France and in the United States. It was followed by Adrienne Mésurat (1927, The Closed Garden), which was awarded the Femina Bookman Prize. Léviathan (1929, The Dark Journey) received the Harper Prize and reflected his obsessive sense of sin, and his fascination with fear, sadism, and death. Autobiographical L'autre sommeil (1930) depicted the homosexual awakening of the protagonist, and combined the experiences Green had in both the United States and France. With Le Visionnaire (1934, The Dreamer) and Minuit (1936, Midnight), Green entered into a world of dreamlike battle between good and evil, passion and reason. In 1939 he converted to Roman Catholicism for the second time. First time was 1915 after which he became a Buddhist.

Between the years 1940 and 1945, he lived in the U.S. and then settled permanently in Paris. In 1970 the Académie Française awarded Green its grand prize for literature. Next year he was the first person of American parentage to be elected to the Académie Française.

Green's later works include Moïra (1951) and Chaque homme dans sa nuit (1960, Each in His Own Darkness), both considered among his best and focusing on eroticism, mysticism, punishment and death. In the 1960s he published three autobiographical works, Partir avant le jour (1963, The Green Paradise), Mille chemins ouverts (1964, The War at Sixteen), and Terre lointaine (1966, Love in America).

Although Green was bilingual, he wrote mainly in French. His only major work written in English was Memories of Happy Days (1942). He also published plays, essays, a children's book La Nuit des fantômes (1976) and short stories. His play Sud (1953, South) was the basis of a 1973 opera, composed by Kenton Coe. It takes place the weekend before the start of the U.S. Civil War and features a triangle of a transcendentalist girl, the Yankee lieutenant she loves, and the Confederate officer he loves. Green's Journal 1926-1972 (9 vols.) revealed the author's spiritual torment and growth. Green died in Paris on August 13, 1998.

For further reading: Julien Green par luimême by R. de Saint-Jean (1967); Julien Green: Gallic-American Novelist by MG. Rose (1971); Julien Green by G.S. Burne (1972); The Exorcism of Sex and Death in Julien Green's Novels by N. Kostis (1973); Sexualité, religion et art chez Julien Green by J. -P.J. Piriou (1976); The Metamorphoses of the Self in the Works of Julien Green by J.M. Dunaway (1978); Une grande amitié by J. -P-J. Piriou (1979)J Julien Green: Religion and Sensuality by Anthony Newbury (1986); Julien Green: The Great Themes by Kathryn Wildgren (1993); Clivage et integration du moi chez Julien Green by Flavia Vernescu (1994); Julien Green: A Critical Study by Michael O'Dwyer (1997) - Autobiography in English: The Green Paradise: 1900-1916 (1992); The War at Sixteen: Autobiography: 1916-1919 (1993); Love in America: Autobiography: 1919-1922 (1994); Restless Youth: Autobiography: 1922-29 (1996) - Southern gothic: representatives among others Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers

Pamphlet contre les catholoques de France, (1924)
Mount Cinère, (1926)
Le voyageur sur la terre, (1927)