Biography
The author of the exciting adventure novels Main Reed failed to enjoy popular in full life. Only one book from 60 truly loved by the public - "Horseman without a head." The biography of the writer is rich in events, which subsequently reflected on the pages of works. However, despite the ability to colorfully reflect the real events on paper, Main Reed died by a missing, sick and poor man.Childhood and youth
Thomas Main Reed was born on April 4, 1818 in the small Irish village of Ballironi. Brought up in a religious family: Father Thomas Main Rid-senior served in the Presbyterian Church by Pastor, and the mother Anne Ann Reed was a priest's daughter, both Scots.
The name Thomas Main Boy received when baptized, in honor of the great-grandfather. Since his father was also called Thomas Main, the future writer "lost" the first name - for convenience, so as not to be confused. Since childhood, Main Reed knew what poverty is. Parents had to work a lot so as not to starve. The boy also did not keep away the dirty work. Later it helped him to adapt to harsh field conditions and create a successful military career.
Father wanted Mine to go to his footsteps and became a priest. Therefore, in September 1834, the boy entered the Royal Academic Institute of Belfast. There he studied four years, but never found the strength to complete the education. Reed returned to his native village and began to teach at school.
In December 1839, Main sat on a ship in Damfris, and two months later moored in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here, the future writer got a courier to the corn factory, sometimes he traded the chokes on the market. Six months later, he left the city due to the brutal handling of slaves: they, as animals, beat their whips, forbidden to wash. These events were reflected in the Roman "Quarteronka", written in 1856.
From New Orleans, Reed moved to Tennessee, where he worked as a teacher. At the end of 1840, he opened a private school in Nashville.
Literature and Military Career
At the end of 1842, Main moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began a literary career. The young man wrote stories about his travels in America, they were published in "Pittsburgh Morning Chronicle" under the pseudonym poor Scholyar. Also on the pages of the newspaper a series of poems "Scenes from West Indies" appeared.
In early 1843, the writer moved to Philadelphia. He continued to publish in journals ("Godey's Lady's Book", "Graham's Magazine", "Ladies National Magazine"), hiding behind the same pseudonym as in Pittsburgh. It was here, in Philadelphia, Main Reed met mystic Edgar Allan by. The latter called his comrade "the colossal, but most picturesque liar", thereby emphasizing his ability to reliably describe the most incredible events.
In the spring of 1846, when the war began between Mexico and the United States, Reed worked as the New York Herald correspondent and published under the pseudonym of the gymnasium.
On November 23 of the same year, Main entered the ranks of the first volunteer infantry of New York in the rank of lieutenant. For several months, the troops lived on the island of Lobos, and then took part in the siege of the Mexican city of Veracrus. In the newspaper "Spirit of the Times" often appeared essays of the gymnasian about the events taking place. They got the name "Singing Stories".
On September 13, 1847, in the battle for Chapultepec, Main Reed received a difficult wound in the thigh. Arms comrades decided that the writer was killed. Almost a day he spent on the field among the corpses, surviving the raids of the marauders before he was found and delivered to the hospital. For courage, manifested in battle, the man rose to the captain. On May 5, 1848, Reed resigned and returned to New York.
The reference followed the first major literary achievements. In October of the same year, on the stage of the Walnat Street Theater for 5 evenings played the tragedy of "Martyrs of Love", which Main wrote before the war. On June 27, 1849, the light saw the story "Military Life, or an Adventure Officer of Light Infantry" about the life of life on the battlefields. Friend of Reed, Donn Piatt, characterized him as a capricious writer, painfully perceiving criticism:
"The first novel Main Reed wrote in my house in which he spent the winter. He came from the Mexican war, decorated with a heavy wound and covered by glory brave of brave in our little army. When he did not care for his beautiful girls and did not jump on my mare, he wrote a novel whose action takes place in Mexico and in the Mexican border. In the evenings, he reads us the head of this novel (he was a wonderful reader), and if it was not written enough, in his opinion, praised, the angrily went to bed, for several days he did not take again for the feather and drove the mare with his wild jumps. I realized that in order to save my jenny nerdy, you need to praise his work. "The tireless officer Reed wanted to join the Bavarian Revolution, but his plans were prevented by the inflated combat injury and lack of money. Instead, he returned home to Ireland, and in the 1850s he arrived in London, where he published his first significant novel "Volnaya arrows."
The work is largely autobographically. The main character, Captain Haller, participates in the Mexican War. As such, there is no story in the book, mainly it consists of sketches and interesting facts from the life of the soldiers.
For this novel follow the "scalp hunters", "dwelling in the desert", "in search of white bison". The last work is written in the genre of notes of naturalist. Events occur in Louisiana. Suites from France, father and three sons, should find the skin of white bison. It is not possible to buy it anywhere, so the brothers decide to find the animal themselves and kill. They are crowded into the story and fabulous plots: for example, the boys have a bag of beads, in which the mysterious power is laid.
The early works of Main Reed made it popular in narrow circles. So, Theodore Roosevelt, the future 26th president of the United States drew attention to the work of a novice writer. Subsequently, he became a big fan of the novelist.
In the next 10 years, Reed wrote 23 works. Among them, the historical adventure novel "Ocole, the leader of the seminols" can be distinguished (the film "Ocole" came out in the GDR in 1971), the story of "Sea Voltchonok, or a trip to the Thamy's Day", as well as the continuation of "lost in the ocean", the stories cycle On Africa, decorated with bright illustrations, the Roman "White Glove" about England on the eve of the revolution of 1640-1641.
In 1865, a novel, glorifying Main Reed, - "Horseman without a head." For the first time in his life, the writer earned big money. Do not know how to use them economically, he invested in strange projects: the development of the English village of Jerads-Cross, the reconstruction of the Mexican estate. Constructing all the money, in November 1866, Reed became bankrupt. He managed to more or less resolve financial difficulties in January 1867.
In pursuit of the former fame, the writer moved from London to America and founded Onward Magazine magazine. His new works did not impress the audience. Partly due to the nervous disorder, the old thigh injury inflamed. The disease was serious, and he spent half a year in the hospital. In 1870, the novelist returned to London, humiliated by the lack of interest in his work.
Personal life
In 1851, when Main Rida was 33 years old, he met Elizabeth Heid, his daughter of his publisher. Then the girl was only 13 years old, so she did not pay attention to an adult unsuccessful writer. In her diary she wrote:
"Once in the evening, Captain Main Reed was a guest in the Aunt House. Before this memorable evening, I did not even hear his name. "
And the writer fell in love with a girl at a glance. For 2 years, Reed has sought the location of Elizabeth, and in 1853 the couple got married. Spouses did not share common interests, and their marriage seemed to be doomed to failure. The girl did not know how to independently conduct the economy, and there were no funds to the service personnel in the family. Nevertheless, Heid remained faithful to his husband until the last days of his life. They did not have children.
Last years and death
In 1870, after returning to London, Reed was depressed. Sincere experiences aggravated the pain in the thigh. A repeatedly writer returned to creativity, wrote novels, but none of them remembered European and American societies. Ultimately, fell into despondency, Main decided not to fight pain and became disabled. For the last 10 years of life, he could not move without crutches.
Main Reed died on October 22, 1883, at the 66th year of life, in London. His grave is located in the cemetery Kensal Green.
After death, the popularity of the writer in the Native Great Britain and the United States did not increase, but his collections of writings were bought in the USSR. It was in the Soviet Union in 1973 "Horseman without a head" was shielded. True, the Main Reed filmography has been suspended.
Bibliography
- 1849 - "Military Life, Or Adventures of Officer Light Infantry"
- 1850 - "Volnaya arrows"
- 1853 - "In search of white bison"
- 1856 - "Quarteronka"
- 1859 - "Otsole, Chief of Seminols"
- 1859 - "Sea Voltchonok"
- 1864 - "Lost in the Ocean"
- 1864 - "White Glove"
- 1865 - "Horseman without a head"
- 1866 - "Bandolo, or Wedding in the Mountains"
- 1868 - "Wife Girl"
- 1872 - "Fate finger"
- 1877 - "Black Mustanger"
- 1882 - "Lost Mountain"