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Literary Pioneer, Filmmaker Robbe-Grillet Dead at 85

Posted Feb 18, 08 3:19 PM CST in Arts & Living,  World 

(Newser) – French novelist and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet died today at 85, AFP reports. A pioneer of the “new novel” literary style, he was best known in the US as the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Last Year at Marienbad (1961). "The Academie Francaise today loses one of its most illustrious members," Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

Robbe-Grillet published a series of essays outlining the “new novel,” or nouveau roman, theory in 1963, but elements of the style were present in his first published work, The Erasers, in 1953. The style substitutes traditional narration with methodical, often repetitive descriptions of physical objects in an attempt to realistically imitate conscious thought. Many of his works, including The Erasers, were bestsellers.

Sources AFP, Canadian Press

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Picture taken on March, 8, 2004 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, shows Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer who pioneered the so-called 'new novel' genre in the 1950s, who died on February 18, 2008, at the age of...   (Getty Images)
Portrait taken 08 March 2004 of French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet. Robbe-Grillet was elected by his pears 25 March 2004 member of the Academie Francaise, replacing Maurice Rheims. AFP PHOTO DANIEL JANIN   (Getty Images)
Picture taken on March 08, 2004, shows Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer who pioneered the so-called 'new novel' genre in the 1950s, who died on February 18, 2008, at the age of 85, the Academie Francaise...   (Getty Images)
Picture taken on March 8, 2004, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, outside Paris, shows Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer who pioneered the so-called 'new novel' genre in the 1950s, who died on February 18, 2008,...   (Getty Images)
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