伊恩·蓝钦

伊恩·兰金爵士，OBE，DL（英语：Sir Ian Rankin，1960年4月28日—），苏格兰犯罪小说作家，曾就读爱丁堡大学。他最著名的小说是《雷博思探长》系列。他也会写一些文学批评。他的《重新做人》获得了2004年爱伦·坡奖最佳小说奖。

获得奖项

《黑与蓝》获1997年英国犯罪小说作家协会金匕首奖。

《重新做人》获得2004年爱伦坡奖最佳小说奖。

2005、2006连续两年获英国国家书奖年度犯罪惊悚小说奖。

Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.

Born in Fife, Rankin was the first of his family to attend university, and he worked in a number of different jobs before becoming a writer. Rankin's crime novels form a major contribution to the tartan noir genre, and have won numerous domestic and international awards. His Rebus books have sold over 35 million copies; the first entry, Knots and Crosses (1987) was named the eighth-best Scottish novel of all time in a 2016 poll.

Early life

Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a school canteen. He was educated at Beath High School, Cowdenbeath. Neither of his parents were great readers, but Rankin enjoyed comics such as the Beano, the Dandy, Superman and Batman, later progressing to books borrowed from the library.

Rankin was the first of his family to go to university. His parents were horrified when he chose to study literature, as they had expected him to study for a trade. Encouraged by his English teacher, he persisted and graduated in 1982 from the University of Edinburgh. There he also worked on a doctorate on Muriel Spark but did not complete it.

He has taught at the university and retains an involvement with the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He lived in Tottenham, London, for four years and then rural France for six while he developed his career as a novelist.

Before becoming a full-time novelist, he worked as a grape picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist, college secretary and punk musician in a band called the Dancing Pigs.

Career

Rankin did not set out to be a crime writer. He thought his first novels, Knots and Crosses and Hide and Seek, were mainstream books, more in keeping with the Scottish traditions of Robert Louis Stevenson and even Muriel Spark. He was disconcerted by their classification as genre fiction. The Scottish novelist Allan Massie, who tutored Rankin while Massie was writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh, reassured him by saying, "Do you think John Buchan ever worried about whether he was writing literature or not?"

Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels are set mainly in Edinburgh. They are considered major contributions to the tartan noir genre. Thirteen of the novels—plus one short story—were adapted as a television series on ITV, starring John Hannah as Rebus in series 1 and 2 (4 episodes) and Ken Stott in that role in series 3–5 (10 episodes). Rankin has stated that the name of John Rebus was chosen partly in homage to fictional detective John Shaft, and because "rebus" is a kind of puzzle.

Rankin has spoken in interview of how the death of his mother led to his writing his Rebus novels. He says:...you are looking at the human condition, you're trying to answer some very big questions about how the way the world is and the way human beings are so it is possible that my mum dying got me thinking in those terms.In 2009, Rankin donated the short story "Fieldwork" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Rankin's story was published in the Earth collection.

In 2009 Rankin stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that he would start work on a five- or six-issue run on the comic book Hellblazer, although he may turn the story into a stand-alone graphic novel instead. The Vertigo Comics panel at WonderCon 2009 confirmed that the story would be published as a graphic novel, Dark Entries, the second release from the company's Vertigo Crime imprint.

In 2013, Rankin co-wrote the play Dark Road with Mark Thomson, the artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre. The play, which marked Rankin's play-writing debut, premiered at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in September 2013.

In 2005, Rankin became the tenth best-selling writer in Britain, accounting for 10% of all crime fiction sold. His Rebus books have sold over 35 million copies.