Did Baz Lurhmann’s Great Gatsby adaptation leave you feeling a little disappointed? Then consider Kate Kelsall’s short list of “utterly compelling cinematic adaptations” to be just what the doctor ordered.
“The Book Was Better.” Or Was It?
Gents in Glasses
Didn’t get a chance to show off your Tolstoy and sexy frames at the last I Like Your Glasses: Literary Speed Dating? Don’t worry because CoverSpy and Housing Works Bookstore Cafe will be hosting another event on October 23 at the store. This time bookworms are restricted to ages 21-39. Tickets are $15 (including a free drink), but to encourage more gents, Millions men can get their tickets for $12 if they use the promotional code “MILLIONS.” Pair with: our essay on attending the first I Like Your Glasses.
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Is Social Publishing the Future?
Loudpoet has an interview with former Soft Skull Press publisher Richard Nash about his new social publishing venture Cursor. ““Social” is taking the book and making it much easier to have a conversation with the book and its writer, and have conversations around the book and its writer.” Is this a way forward for beleaguered publishers? (via The Lone Gunman)
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Welcome Bill
The Millions is adding a new staff writer today. Join us in welcoming Bill Morris. Bill most recently wrote a consideration of China Miéville for the site this week, his fifth piece for us thus far. Bill is the author of the novels Motor City and All Souls’ Day. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New York Times, L.A. Weekly, the (London) Independent, the Washington Post Magazine and the website Aolnews.com. He lives in New York City.
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A Century of Cheever
Allan Gurganus commemorates the 100th anniversary of his teacher and friend John Cheever’s birth. “Cheever, now unfairly known as the gloomy, sodden satyr of suburbia,” Gurganus writes, “was at least rarely gloomy. Fact is he was more fun per minute than is legal in a nation this Republican.”
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Eclipse Archive of Radical Small-Press Writing
Step 1: Read a sentence that says, “Eclipse is a free on-line archive focusing on digital facsimiles of the most radical small-press writing from the last quarter century.” Step 2: Click through and explore the site. Step 3: Look up and realize six hours have passed.
Unfortunately, no mention of Blade Runner.
It’s tempting to make comparisons between a novel and its movie adaptation, but print and film are two disparate media. Each can do what the other cannot. Each has to be taken on its own terms, with its strengths and limitations. More on that here, with examples from Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘The Remains of the Day,’ Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’ and others: http://www.praguerevue.com/#!stirring-words-moving-images-when-novels-become-movies/cug1
Speaking of ‘The Great Gatsby,’ here is Robert Towne, one of Hollywood’s most revered script writers (Chinatown, Shampoo etc) on why he steered clear of screen adaptations of Gatsby: https://twitter.com/ScottFeinberg/status/316836677664534528/photo/1