The Book Tower
debut novel coming soon

All my life I had the feelin that trouble was close at hand. Not that I was about to get into it. Just that it was always there.

All The Pretty Horses is the first part of Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. After recently reading The Road and No Country For Old Men I found it a much quieter piece and harder to get in to; there’s no fantastic hook to seize you (a post apocalyptic world or a dangerous psychopath) – All The Pretty Horses takes time with character and setting but is no less satisfying a read.

McCarthy is the master of the simple story told well. All The Pretty Horses is ostensibly a great western story, set sometime in the middle of the 20th Century and follows John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, two young men who decide to leave their native Texas for Mexico. They are soon joined by a third, the strangely enigmatic Jimmy Blevins and the three travel together by horse across the landscape. As the above quote suggests, trouble is at hand, and the three find themselves in mortal danger thanks to the reckless behaviour of Blevins … trouble that will leave one of them dead and the others experiencing a darker side of life …

What is apparent from the very beginning of this novel is McCarthy’s distinctive style of writing. He’s methodical and deliberate, describing in great detail his characters seemingly trivial movements; two young men ordering their breakfast in a diner, the setting up of a camp at nightfall or morning ablutions. Some of this detail at first appears unnecessary, but what McCarthy does is establish tremendous atmosphere and his descriptions of everyday tedium act as building blocks for the bigger picture. Imagine a huge canvas with a painting of an enormous landscape; McCarthy paints every blade of grass for you, every leaf, every figure on the horizon. Before you know it, you are immersed in the story and characters.

All The Pretty Horses is a compelling and at times disturbing read. I won’t give away spoilers, but the passage where one of the characters meets his untimely end is simply brilliant writing: concise and moving, and I found the prison scenes some of the most gripping literature I’ve read in years. What does let the novel down, and No Country For Old Men effected me in the same way, was that McCarthy reaches such heights of intensity and tension that it is impossible to sustain them. I found that I’d stopped holding my breath way before the end, and the novel gradually ground to a slow and thoughtful halt.

Nevertheless, Cormac McCarthy continues to prove to me that he is a master of suspenseful plot and naturalistic dialogue. His novels are always resonant, leaving me to think about them long after I’ve finished the last page. I can’t wait to move onto the rest of The Border Trilogy. Watch this space…

Comments [5]

Inspired by Booking Through Thursday. What’s the best translation of a book to a film? Or the worst?

Recently we were watching Brad Pitt in Troy. Apparently it’s loosely based on The Iliad, and I found it a very enjoyable film and much underrated – although I won’t claim to really know the ins and outs of Homer’s epic until I’ve actually read it.

Similarly, although I’ve watched all of the Lord of the Rings films, I’ll claim no knowledge of Tolkein’s trilogy until I’ve finally got round to reading the books. And I wanted to pass on Notes on a Scandal because I’ve read the book already, although – strapped into my seat on a flight recently – I had no choice but to endure this tedious film.

But what makes a good literary adaptation, and can something successfully jump from the page to the screen? Here follows a selection of what I think are good screen versions of classics – and yes – I’ve only chosen ones where I’ve read the book as well.

The Remains of the Day (1993)

I liked Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel so much I always thought it would never make a good film, but the Merchant-Ivory adaptation succeeds in enriching the book. Mostly for Anthony Hopkins, and although I’m not really a fan of the actor I think his interpretation of Stevens is masterful, subtle and moving.

Trivia: an earlier version of the film starring John Cleese had been planned and abandoned. Somewhere out there in an alternative universe is either a classic or an appallingly bad movie.

Oliver! (1968)

This might be controversial, but I think that Carol Reed’s screen adaptation of Lionel Bart’s musical version of Dickens’ novel is far superior to the much lauded David Lean film of Oliver Twist. When I was at college, one of the tutors gave an excellent lecture about the film, saying that although it took liberties with the book, it was essentially Dickensian. His point was that it captures the spirit and effortless charm of Dickens much more so than Lean’s rather worthy and dull film, and I agree.

Far From the Madding Crowd (1967)

I like John Schlesinger’s film, although it does now have a tendency to bark “look, it’s 1967!” at you. Darlings of the era Julie Christie and Terence Stamp are cast in the leads, and Stamp plays Sergeant Troy like he’s been paying too much attention to Sergeant Pepper. But it’s a very likeable film, and both Peter Finch and Alan Bates are excellent as Bathsheba’s other suitors. Compare and contrast with Polanski’s 1980 version of Tess, a film I’ve always found rather cold.

Our Mutual Friend (1998)

More Dickens. This is the BBC TV adaptation from a few years ago, which starred David Morrissey as the murderous schoolteacher Bradley Headstone. Rather good indeed. Unfortunately Mr Morrissey is now best known for the rather comical Basic Instinct 2.

The Trial (1962)

Orson Welles’ almost forgotten black and white film of Kafka’s classic, starring a very well cast Anthony Perkins as Joseph K.

The Time Machine (1960)

My introduction to H.G. Wells and science fiction. George Pal’s film adds a couple of charming touches to the original, such as the shop dummy opposite the time traveller’s house that appears to change its own costumes as the time machine races on. Rod Taylor is effective in the role, and even though the Morlocks don’t stand up to the test of time it’s still worth seeing.

1984 (1954)

This is the television adaptation of Orwell’s novel, scripted by Nigel Kneale and starring Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence. It’s far superior to the better known John Hurt film.

Brighton Rock (1947)

Richard Attenborough stars as Pinkie Brown. I came to Graham Greene’s novel late, after seeing this film a few times. A great period piece.

And the worst? Fortunately they fade from memory, although I do get bored with the countless film and TV Jane Austen adaptations which all merge into one endless round of bonnets, Bath and banquets.

Comments [6]

It’s been a fair while since I’ve taken up a reading challenge. Perhaps this is because I am so hopeless at completing them. This was until I saw the Saturday Review Challenge at Semicolon, although I’m still not sure about my chances of finishing this…

If you don’t know about it, Semicolon’s Saturday Review of Books is an excellent weekly bloggy booky review fest. You are invited to post a link to a review you’ve written in the last week; it’s a great way to discover other blogs (as I’m lazy like this) and obviously a few new readers might come your way. It’s also interesting to find out what other people are writing about.

I noticed that The Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty has already taken up the challenge, and is reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Interesting, because along with The Tenderness of Wolves and The Book Thief (even The Thirteenth Tale, but that seems so long ago now) I think this is turning out to be one of the most discussed novels of the year so far. Purely my opinion of course; my review of The Tenderness of Wolves has caused some fantastic debate (27 comments and counting) and my review of The Road has received some generous praise from other bloggers, for which I’m very grateful.

The purpose of the challenge is to pick six novels already reviewed on the Saturday Review of Books in the last year, and to read and review them by December 31st. There’s a full list supplied by Sherry at Semicolon to make the task of choosing an easy one. My choices:

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (a reread)
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (okay, it’s his other book that’s on the list but I’m a cheat)
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

So what are the chances of completing this one? Apart from the Jean Rhys, I own all of these titles and I’ve been meaning to reread Salinger for ages, and the Marquez and Austen I’ve been picking up and putting down edgily for some time. So it can’t be that hard, can it?

Comments [3]

I’m still here! I’ve just been unable to fit in the time for this website lately. I’m currently in the process of changing jobs, which I always tend to find very stressful with my mind in overdrive which in turn squeezes any creativity out of me.

I have also been unable to get very far with any of the three books I am currently reading. Joyce’s Ulysses (not a light read even in the calmest of environments), In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu and A Curious Earth by Gerard Woodward. Hopefully I can finish the Woodward soon and post something about it. Bear with me…

Comment

I admit it. I’m having some trouble with Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America. I hate it when this happens; a novel starts off highly enjoyable before you begin to sink into boredom. Is it my fault, his fault, the fault of circumstance? The novel is 390 pages long. I am currently on page 200, just over halfway. When I can recall these statistics so readily I know I am in trouble.

The Plot Against America has a what if scenario. What if Charles Lindbergh, most famous to us for flying from New York to Paris in 1927, had later become US President? What if, as a possible Nazi sympathiser, he had prevented the US involvement in World War II? The novel follows young Philip (born in 1933) and the rest of the Roth family during the early 1940s. They include his father, fighting an apparent lone battle against anti-semitism, his socially ambitious aunt and his cousin, crossing the border into Canada to fight with the Allies and losing a leg in battle for his efforts.

There are some interesting omens delivered of a world under Hitler’s rule (as a keen stamp collector, Philip dreams of familiar US stamps bearing the swastika), and although Roth is a skilled writer of prose his novel has so far taken me nowhere. Possibly because his what if has so many far reaching implications that he can’t possibly do it justice. I’m tempted to stop reading now and this saddens me. My high hopes for the book have been dashed because, rather than lapping it up, I’m eager to read something else. So I’m almost at the point where I’m going to cut my losses and move on.

Comments [3]