Books

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Film versus Book – which version works for you?

Do you always prefer the film version of a story or always the original book, or are you flexible? My daughter got up and left the room last night after about 2 minutes of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo because it was partly dubbed and she “never likes films where the lips don’t match the English words”. She also won’t watch a film when she has read and liked the book. She also won’t eat anything that has passed near to a fish, but we’ll talk about that another day.

I disagree – to me sometimes the film is better, sometimes the book is better, sometimes they each have a uniqueness that makes them both good. TGWTDT is a case in point. I absolutely loved the book and the film was much anticipated. It was not as deep as the book, not as complex and at times a little messy but I really enjoyed the film as well. Lord of the Rings was a draw for me as well, both great (Daughter “They missed Orc number 7684 who appeared on page 465 etc etc”). Terry Pratchett – always better in print, Dickens – always in print, John Irving – my favourite author (sorry Mr Dickens) brilliant in print but built for wonderful films – think Garp or Hotel New Hampshire. How about Dan Brown? – film would have won had someone other than Tom Hanks been cast in the lead role?

And anyway, how do you get an 18 year old to have an open mind?

Tell me your examples, your favourites, what works for you or not – use the comments button below.

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Last night in Twisted River

I heard a good quotation recently " I like a good story, as long as it doesn't go on too long", no idea whose  quotation it was. Sadly this is how I feel about John Irving's latest novel Last night in Twisted River. To be upfront I am a John Irving devotee and have followed his  work since I discovered Setting Free the Bears, and Garp when I was at college. I look forward to every new novel that he brings out, buying them as soon as I can get my hands on them, and devouring them.

John Irving is a master at developing characters and is one of the better storytellers it has been my privilege to read. I feel as he's getting older, his books are getting longer. In my humble opinion he would benefit from a good editor who would tell him to keep the page count down slightly which would keep stories more pithy. The length of the novel did not worry me with Until I Find You, which I still find to be a wonderful read, but in the case of Last night in Twisted River, for the first time I could put the book down.

As always the characters are just wonderfully developed, especially Ketchum the maverick woodsman. The story itself is a captivating. There are the usual John Irving references to wrestling, early-age sexual initiation, and hands being chopped off. As always there are moments of sheer comic brilliance – this time with a naked skydiver landing amidst the pig roast. The read is very enjoyable and I of course recommend the book, but rather than this being a full-on flat-out recommendation for once it comes with a slight rider, which is that 100 pages could have been taken out of this book is without there being any discernible effect on the story, the outcome, or the beauty of the writing.

I'm not a literary professor but I've read many many great novelists, and one thing that they all have in common is that every word counts, be they Dickens, Shakespeare, John Fowles or Dostoevsky. I will still await John Irving's next novel with bated breath but sincerely hope that next time around is more concise & I can get back to enjoying one of my favourite novelists.

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Dan Brown – a minor rant

I'm sure Dan Brown is a very nice man (actually I have no idea if he is but I would hope so), but I have probably just read the last book I will read by him – The Lost Symbol. I think the technical description of my opinion of the book is that it is complete pants.

I'm not sniffy about Dan Brown as many of the critics are, and up until now have enjoyed his books. But this one has a thinner than thin plot, padded out even more than usual with (I suspect) heavily researched material designed to impress the slow of thinking. The conversations were appalling – imagine saying hello to Robert Langdon:

"Hello"

"Hello, now let me see, Hello is a word that originally was invented by devil worshipers for a new pudding they invented in Abyssinia in 1283, it was red, invoked hell and contained jello, hence hell-o. They began to take the pudding to food parties at each other's houses and greeted their brethren with Hell-o again?

"???How are you today?"

"Today in 1194 in what later became Washington DC…."

and so on.

'Facts' embellish good stories, but there needs to be a good story.

Rant out