Fueled by coffee from Silverlake Coffee we roamed the various booths. I met a dog model - a little chihuahua named Guerro - who models for his own calendar. I scored a handknit cap with ear flaps...and EARS up top to aid and abet my obsession for random & cute things. Saw some lovely things.
We finally came across the Narrow Books Booth (a small operation run out of someone's living room). Christopher, the man manning the booth, was reading The Liar by Stephen Fry, a British actor/comedian known for his work as narrator to many a movie and also starred in V for Vendetta, among other things.
The Liar is a work of fiction about a boy attending public school (high school equivalent) in Britain. Christopher tells me that there are 2 storylines so the book is a bit scattered but follows the day to day problems of this boy who happens to be crushing on another boy. The protagonist is clever but not ambitious...and apparently also "pretty". The second storyline is more of a spy story - very old fashioned British style. "Very East vs. West", I am told. We don't get names at all. Characters are identified by the descriptions of their clothing or by Greek mythological code names. As all works with multiple storylines everything comes together somehow in the end.
Christopher then goes on to explain the difference between British and American writing styles (when it comes to spy stories). You get the day-to-day details and "minutia" of spy lifestyle/office work with documents and filing and phone calls whereas American spy stories involve fast paced thises and thats with explosions in between. The non-glamourous vs. the glamourous portrayals. He's a fan of spy novels, mostly British Intel like that of John Le Carre (one of his favourite authors).
Growing up Christopher enjoyed to read more "adult" books by John Updike like Rabbit, Run which involved a married man and adultery. Christopher even said how in the 6th grade he created a diorama of the man running from one house to the other. Brillz! He remembers getting a pretty good grade with it. "My teacher was totally cool with it...he was a smart guy and I'm pretty sure he read the book himself."
Books he recommends to his friends? David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. "The first 150 pages are definitely a chore but once you get passed them you're in for a literary ride! [editor's note: must get my book back...]
(yes, books do make great gifts!)If Christopher were to adapt a book into a movie it would be his own. He's currently working on a novel with 4-5 plots. Currently in editing mode and he may axe one or more of the plots but that is still to be determined.
Before I left he handed me a booklet with a short story he has written called "The Unhappy Future". More on that later...
What book would you want to adapt into a movie?
1 comments:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance would be the first choice, though it might be difficult to get the interior landscapes to come across on screen.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be next. Yes, it's been done before, but I don't think it's been done well.
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