Buried amongst the exceedingly plentiful and tedious ‘best books of the year’ lists is this gem from the San Diego Union Tribune - movies that were better than their books. I’d throw in WP Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe, which became Field Of Dreams. The book is good but the movie captures everything magical about that story and makes it even better.
Star Wars seems as big as ever… or it just the marketing? Today, we’re recommending for Christmas The Star Wars Vault: Thirty Years of Treasure from the Lucasfilm Archives. Hey, 1977 seems like yesterday to some of us.
This book is the official illustrated edition celebrating the 30th anniversary of George Lucas’ ground-breaking movie of an old story told with a new spin. It includes two CDs containing vintage radio ads, original cast interviews, commentary from Lucas, and even Carrie Fisher singing in the Star Wars Holiday Special. There are hundreds of photos and classic artwork too.
My favourite story from the movie is that Alec Guinness opted to take a cut of the profits rather than a salary. Of course, the movie earned him more money than he had earned in his entire career.
Today’s recommendation for Christmas gifts is…. The Sound of Music Companion by Laurence Maslon. Hold on a minute - don’t move on yet. This is something my mum would love. For Brits, watching movies like The Sound of Music and The Great Escape are an essential part of Christmas. They are rerun again and again and again. I’m no fan of The Sound of Music but I must have seen it from start to finish at least 10-12 times. I can remember most of the words to most of the songs - “Doe, a deer, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun, Me, a name I call myself, Far, a long, long way to run.”
My mother went to the cinema to see The Sound of Music on the week it came out. Imagine that? I’ve only ever known the movie to be shown on TV on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.
Any way, this book - I’m sure it’s great if you love Julie, Christopher Plummer and those singing children. There’s 150 photos from the film, lyrics to all the songs (you know them all any way), a guide to the movie locations, and lots, lots more.
Today’s recommendation for a Christmas gift is Helen Mirren’s Snapshots of my Life. Helen Mirren has been around for as long as I can remember and she’s surely one of the best actresses treading the boards. I watched The Queen in the summer and, frankly, it’s a great film and should be watched by anyone from outside the UK who wants to understand the Royal Family. She was stunning in the Prime Suspect series, particularly the first one.
I find it hard to beleive that she’s been acting for more than 40 years now. This illustrated memoir documents her acting but much more as well. Her Russian grandfather, Pyotr Vasielivich Mironov, was sent to London by the Tsar and was left stranded and penniless by the Russian revolution. The book includes evocative pictures of Helen’s Russian ancestry as well as her family life, childhood, teenage and early acting years.
USA Today talks about the forthcoming movies that came from books - Atonement, Kite Runner, No Country for Old Men, and Love In The Time of Cholera. Of course, you Brits already know about Atonement as it’s been out in the UK for a while.
It was bound to happen - another childhood favourite will be adapted for the movies. The Guardian is reporting that Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are set to direct 2 of the 3 proposed movies. I remain skeptical, especially considering the quote that the
“films will be shot in 3-D, using motion capture technology, a technique by which an actor’s movements are recorded and used to create an animated character”
A traditional animated style I wouldn’t have minded… but 3D CGI? Hm.
Ian McEwan remains a media darling. For an author, he receives an incredible amount of media coverage. The BBC website profiled him at the weekend as the release of the Atonement movie approaches.
A new movie set during the time of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire opened this weekend to damning orations from reviewers. The Last Legion is based on the novel of the same title by Valerio Massimo Manfredi.  Manfredi has seen huge success with his Alexander trilogy and has written numerous historical novels including one called Spartan. Perhaps it was thought that The Last Legion would draw on Manfredi’s literary popularity and the success of the movies Alexander and Frank Miller’s, The 300.Â
Saying that, Alexander and The 300 also met with mixed reviews but did make decent amounts of money at the box office. (I personally like The 300 but that might have a lot to do with the shirtless Gerard Butler!) Perhaps The Last Legion will experience the same – I have seen comments of praise blogged by Average Joe Public. Either way, Manfredi’s books seem well worth a read – his Alexander series garnered him the Man of the Year award from the American Biographical Institute in 1999.Â
Read the Reuter’s movie review.Read a review of the book The Last Legion.
The Book Guys recently interviewed Pasco Gasbarro of Fine Books Magazine about his Books into Film feature. As you can see it’s a popular topic.
Time magazine interviews Neil Gaiman. It starts like this….
Like all good fairy tales, this one starts with Claudia Schiffer. Once upon a time a fireplace fell on Schiffer’s foot. She was pregnant at the time. “When a marble fireplace falls on your foot,” Neil Gaiman explains, “and you’re 7½ months pregnant, you stop going places. You sit around, and you read.” Schiffer read Gaiman’s novel Stardust and told her husband that it was the best book she’d ever read. Schiffer’s husband is the director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake). And thus it was that Gaiman finally made his big Hollywood movie.
I’ll just leave this one for your comments…
Hello Reading Copy readers,
My name is Hillary Samson and I am the new manager of Interactive Marketing at AbeBooks. The IM team gathers and posts the content for the site and is also responsible for email marketing. I have been with AbeBooks for close to 5 years, (which is a long time for an ecommerce company) working in the Bookseller Community for a year and then Product Management for 3 years. I have recently returned to AbeBooks after a one-year maternity leave (little Annie just had her birthday) and love working with the folks in Marketing.
Right now in Interactive Marketing we are working on our textbook and summer reading campaigns. We have some fun contests, so check back over the next couple of weeks to get involved.
Life is always interesting at AbeBooks. This morning we are all excited about The Highfield Mole books posted on our site (see Richard’s post below).
My own reading interests were piqued by a Globe & Mail article about the production of a film based on the novel Blindness by Noble Prize winning author Jose Saramago. It is a Canadian production starring some of my favourite actors including Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Sandra Oh. Although I have been aware of this novel for a few years, I have yet to read it. I won’t go see a movie based on a novel until I read the book, so I’ll be picking up one of the 200+ copies on our site and diving in this week.
Happy reading,
Hillary
I truly prefer non-fiction to fiction and one of my favourite non-fiction books is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. It’s a truly breathtaking book that portrays the mistreatment of the American Indians from 1860 to 1890 and recounts many of the key events and figures as the Native Americans battled for survival. The book has been made into a film and will be screened on HBO but the filmmakers simply couldn’t resist messing about with the narrative by introducing their own character to carry the plot - a part-native, part-Ivy League graduate, according to the New York Times. For me, the actual events and the people behind them are fascinating - no fiction is needed. The Battle of Little Big Horn remains one of the greatest tales of the American West.
That previous post was rather downbeat, so, for a laugh, let’s take a look at Daniel Radcliffe - aka Harry Potter in the movies. Looks like he’s ditching the bespectacled boy-wizard image for the stage play he’s going to be appearing in next month.