Fiction
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Sunday, November 4th, 2007I just became aware that a film adaptation of Love in the Time of Cholera is coming to theaters this month. I bought the book a while back but have yet to read it. Now with the movie coming out soon, I plan to start it very soon so I can have the book finished before I see the movie… assuming I enjoy the book.
Water For Elephants
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Today I finished Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, a book I happened to find by chance at the airport last month.
Water For Elephants, set in the early days of the Great Depression, is the story of 23 year-old Jacob Jankowski. Jacob, on the verge of graduating Cornell University to become a veterinarian, is orphaned, skips out on taking his final exam, jumps a train and ends joining the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
The details of Depression-era circus life were so carefully researched by the author for this book, that they are as intriguing as the story itself. The conditions of circus life… The tensions between performers and workers… These added so much depth and realism to the story, making it a pleasure to read.
Jacob’s time in the circus is intertwined with Jacob remembering the story as an old man in his nineties. This back and forth between the 23 year-old Jacob and the 90 (or 93) year-old Jacob effectively gives us two stories to follow: first, the young Jacob’s struggle to ingratiate himself in the circus as their veterinarian, and his love for Marlena, a star performer in the circus and wife of August, the head animal trainer; and second, old Jacob’s coping with old age and his awaiting his family’s arrival at the nursing home he lives in on the day the residents are going to circus that has come to town. However, 23 year-old Jacob’s story is an overwhelming majority of the pages and is the primary story being told. How the two stories come together at the end, and where it takes the old Jacob was fantastic.
I’ve never been to a circus, so I am not sure what exactly drew me to the purchase the book. I’d never read Sara Gruen before, and I am disappointed I didn’t discover this book sooner, as this book easily is one my favorite novels read this year, if not the favorite. I expect to read more of Sara Gruen’s work in the near future.
Fever Pitch
Thursday, October 25th, 2007I am currently reading Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. That’s correct, as big a fan of Nick Hornby as I am, this is my first time reading Hornby’s football (soccer for us Americans) memoir. I have absolutely no knowledge of British football, and despite my interest in Hornby’s writing, I wasn’t sure if Fever Pitch would be as interesting to me as Hornby’s fiction. However, at the suggestion of a fellow Hornby fan at the reading and signing last week, I decided to pick up a copy last week while I had a two hour delay at the airport.
I finished about half of it on my trip, and have been finishing it on my morning and even commutes this week. I’m nearly finished now, and I wished I’d read this sooner, but also believe that reading it for the first time now gives me an interesting perspective.
At the reading and signing last week, Hornby said that the main characters in his novels have become less and less like him since Fever Pitch. Even though Fever Pitch is a memoir, I can see pieces of the characters that would appear in his later novels in the pages.
Hornby’s obsession with Arsenal reminds me of Captain Ahab’s obsession with killing the white whale in Moby Dick, or Victor Frankenstein’s agony over his creation of the monster in Frankenstein. It’s painful and exhilarating and keeps you interested in the journey.
Brookline Booksmith Hosts Nick Hornby
Thursday, October 18th, 2007Tonight I attended a Nick Hornby reading and book signing, hosted by Brookline Booksmith. Nick Hornby is currently on tour promoting his latest novel, Slam (which I have reviewed here). I got in a bit early, and ended up second in line to get in … which was good because I got to grab a seat in the front row, and there was supposed to be as many as 300 people there.
I’d never been to an author reading before… Before he began reading, he held up some gel and head wipes from Bald Guyz, joking with the audience, saying if anyone ever doubted the need for the war on terror, that products like that demonstrate the kind of freedom we have. It got a good laugh.
It was an interesting experience to see Nick Hornby read from the novel. It may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but as the author, Hornby knows the voice of his characters and it was great to see him give life to the voice of Sam, the main character in Slam.
The Q&A session was interesting. A few people in the audience stole my thunder by asking questions similar to ones I wanted to ask. Questions ranged from what Hornby thought about the potential buyout of Arsenal, what books he’s been reading (one book he mentioned was The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta), why did he choose to write about a kid obsessed with skateboarding, has he heard from Tony Hawk (he has, he spoke to him before he wrote the novel, to get his blessing for making him a central part of the story), how it was writing from the perspective of a teenager, and what kind of advice he had for aspiring writers. In response to the latter he said, kind of jokingly to get an agent, but also said, more seriously that whether or not you can write full time and quit your day job or write while keeping your job, that you’re still a writer. Another explanation he gave which I liked was when he said that in bookstore, the only thing that is the same about the authors of all the books is that they are writers. Other than that, he said “Good luck.”
Meeting Nick Hornby was great. We talked about the High Fidelity musical. He expressed his disappointment about it not doing so well. I got to ask him his thoughts on the forthcoming movie version of A Long Way Down. I told him it was my favorite of his novels so that made me equally excited and worried about the film adaptation. He eased my concerns when he told me the script was good, which was good to hear. I didn’t know the script had been finished yet - I was under the impression it was still in the process of being written. So, knowing the that script has met his approval, I really hope production of the movie starts soon.
It was great chatting with Nick Hornby for a few minutes. I’ve read and enjoyed his work for quite a while now and there’s so much I could probably talk to him about … and it was like talking with a regular person.
It was a great event, and I was thrilled to meet Nick Hornby and get a book signed (I had him sign my copy of A Long Way Down). I hope to go to more Nick Hornby readings in the future.
UPDATE: More from another blogger who was at the reading/signing. And some video from The Phoenix of Nick Hornby jinxing the Red Sox.
Review: Slam, by Nick Hornby
Saturday, October 13th, 2007
Ever since I read A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, I’ve been a big fan. I had only previously read High Fidelity (which I must admit I only read after having seen the movie) but have since read all of his novels. After catching up and reading all his novels, I was then in need of new material. Hornby’s soon-to-be-released new novel, Slam, did not come soon enough.
Some months ago, I received an advanced copy of Slam. With its U.S. release only days away now, I want to offer my thoughts on the book for Hornby fans who have anxiously been waiting for his latest novel, and for readers everywhere (and of all ages) who have yet to experience Nick Hornby’s fiction.
Slam is intended for young adults, but adult Hornby fans can rest assured that Slam will still be as enjoyable to them as Hornby’s prior novels.
The novel is about Sam, a teenage skater (as in skateboarding) who seeks advice on life from Tony Hawk’s autobiography and talks to a poster of Hawk on his wall. Early in the story Sam meets Alicia, the two begin dating and shortly thereafter have sex and conceive a child. The story, written from Sam’s point of view, is about Sam’s dealing with the fact he is soon to become a teenage father.
I wasn’t sure at first what I thought about Hornby writing for young adults from the perspective of a teenager. His initial success came from books with male protoganists, but also has written a novel with a female narrator in How To Be Good, as well as book with four different narrators, two male and two female, in A Long Way Down, quite successfully. As a fan of Nick Hornby, I believe it will be easy for other Hornby fans to welcome his first attempt at the teenage fiction genre. His fans will appreciate his unique style and dialogue, which compensates for the clearly teenaged target audience the novel was written for.
Hornby fans know very well of the depth of his characters’ introspections in novels. Whether the subject is music, divorce, suicide, etc., Hornby gives an extraordinary and authentic voice for his characters. But, how does Hornby handle writing the voice of a 15-year-old kid struggle to come to terms with the fact he is going to be a father?
Hornby’s unique style works quite well with the narration of his main character, Sam. As How To Be Good proved his style was not gender specific, Slam proves that his style is also not age specific.
One of my favorite moments of Sam’s introspections comes when he contemplates running away from the problem of his now ex-girlfriend Alicia, by leaving for Hastings:
I knew I was being a coward, but sometimes you have to be a coward, don’t you? There’s no point in being brave if you’re just going to be destroyed. Say you walked round the corner and there are fifty al-Qaida there. Not even fifty. Five. Not even five. One, with like a machine gun, would be enough. You might not feel good about running for your life, but what are your choices? Well, I had walked around the corner, and there was an al-Qaida with machine gun, except he was just a baby, and he didn’t have a machine gun. But in my world a baby, even without a machine gun, is like a terrorist with a machine gun, if you think about it… (p. 109)
Hornby convincingly writes from the perspective of a teenager overwhelmed with the burden of consequences of his actions and tackles the issue of teenage pregnancy with bluntness and honesty.
Revolutionary Road
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007Back in June, I set upon starting Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates. It actually took me a while to get started, and it eventually became my morning reading on the train during my commute to work. I finished it this weekend while flying to Santa Barbara, California.
The novel tells the story of Frank and April Wheeler, Connecticut suburbanites in the 1950s who both want more out of life than what they got. Frank has a mundane, pointless job and feels like a failure. April wants to restart their life and move them and their two young kids to Paris, France, where she would support the family so he can focus his time and energy trying to fulfill his life’s dreams. Things don’t work out as either of them hoped.
I really enjoyed the novel — perhaps not as much as a the character J.J. in Nick Hornby’s novel A Long Way Down did, but enjoyed it all the same. He certainly was right in saying the ending “is a real downer.”
Kurt Vonnegut is quoted on the back, saying calling the novel. “The Great Gatsby of [his] time,” and I can see the connection.
Filming for the movie Revolutionary Road finished last month, and the movie is set for a 2008 release. I look forward to seeing that and comparing it with the novel.
On my return flight(s) from Santa Barbara, California, I started Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. I’m already about half-way through it, and will post a short review when I finish.
Big Fish: The Novel vs. The Film
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007I have always believed that when novels are adapted for film, the film version would always be the inferior version. I have recently finished Big Fish by Daniel Wallace and found myself not liking it nearly as much as I like the movie.
Some things do carry over from the novel to the book, but they are largely different. In the novel, Edward Bloom, the main character who’s life is retold in his wild tales and stories, has a good relationship with his son William, who narrates the book. In the movie, the Ed and William were estranged as a result of William being fed up with his father’s constant storytelling. William comes home after three years of not speaking to his father when his father’s death is imminent, and hopes to learn “the truth” about his father before he dies, and the movie goes through the romanticized life of Edward Bloom, regularly returning to the present as William struggles to get anything resembling the truth from his dying father.
The movie has a good rhythm to it. The stories of Edward’s life flow together in the movie, but feel a bit disjointed in the book. And, while in the novel, William does have similar frustrations with his father’s tale-telling, the decision of the screenwriter to change the nature of the father-son relationship strengthened the purpose of the overall story as William’s attempt to learn the truth about his father ultimately leads him to appreciate stories that have become who his father is.
Since the movie ranks as one of my favorites, I was hoping/expecting the novel would be counted as one of my favorite novels. While I still enjoyed the book, it didn’t quite achieve what I had hoped.
Hornby’s Update On Film Adaptation of ‘A Long Way Down’
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007A Long Way Down is easily my favorite Nick Hornby novel, and perhaps my all time favorite. Because of this, I am equally excited and worried about the upcoming film adaptation of the book, currently in development. It is encouraging that D.V. Devincentis (who adapted High Fidelity) is writing the script for the movie version of A Long Way Down.
Nick Hornby has given us an update on the movie project on his blog, and explains some of the issue with adapting the novel to a movie script — issues that were actually the same that made me worried about the film version.
I have been told several times that ‘A Long Way Down’ would make a good film. It’s true that in the opening chapters there are four people standing on a roof, and that could be made to look pretty cool on screen. But after that, there are plenty of problems for DV to solve. There are four points of view in the novel, four different voices; you can’t film that. About big chunk of the book is back-story, the characters explaining how they arrived at their current predicament; you can’t film that, either, not without resorting to an excessive, clunky use of flashback. Most of the action takes place in rooms – one climactic scene takes place in a Starbucks basement. (Note to budding novelists: if you really want to make some money out of Hollywood, set all climactic scenes up a mountain, or at the bottom of the sea, or even on the ground floor of Starbucks, somewhere with windows.)
You can read the whole thing here.
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