I moved house last week. Anybody who has been through that particular brand of hell will be all too aware of the stress and short tempers that the situation provokes. But there is an upside to deconstructing your life, packing it into boxes and transporting it elsewhere. You discover things you had previously forgotten. Things that had once meant a great deal to you, and subsequently vanished from your mind. I found a number of items which I had not thought about for years: academic reports from my first year at grammar school, photographs from a childhood holiday with my dad that I barely remembered, aftershave I've never worn, a Nirvana t-shirt that was once the height of cool, a small mountain of condoms from a very optimistic youth...
And books. Heaps and heaps of paperbacks that I had long thought condemned to charity shops throughout Shropshire. Below are five of my old favourites that have been put on the "To Be Re-Read" list.
Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
I've blogged about Brite a fair few times before, so it's not exactly accurate to say that I'd forgotten about her work. The packing process last week was greatly slowed, however, when I came across her debut novel; I was unable to resist the urge to flick through the pages, read a passage or two. I can only hope that when I come to revisit Missing Mile in North Carolina, Brite's tale of vampires, rock stars and bromance (an awful term unknown at the time of publication, thank goodness) reads as well today as it did when I was fifteen.
A Density Of Souls by Christopher Rice
With this slice of American Gothic, Christopher Rice stepped out of his famous mother's shadow and earned a place in my heart in his own right. A Density Of Souls is a coming-of-age story complete with burgeoning teen sexuality, dark family secrets, natural disasters and even acts of terrorism. I first read it shortly after my father died, when I was feeling particularly alone. The central character Stephen resonated with me for that reason and many others. I've read Souls a handful of times since then, and will probably continue to do so. It perfectly encapsulates the raw, flawed wisdom that comes with being not-quite an adult.
The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan
A youthful and optimistic alternative to McEwan's more adult fare, The Daydreamer is a series of stories about a boy who possesses either an incredible power, or an equally impressive imagination. He switches bodies first with a cat, then with a baby, gaining incredible insights into their worlds. Later, he visits his future self and learns about love. In the hands of any other writer, The Daydreamer could have been awful. Luckily, with McEwan, we know we're in safe hands.
Tales Of The City by Armistead Maupin
I had a few problems with Tales Of The City when I first read it in 2005. Mainly, I felt that there wasn't a whole lot of plot and some of the characters were thinly drawn stereotypes. However, I also felt that Maupin made up for these flaws with his iconic creation, Anna Madrigal. Matriarchal, mischievous, secretive and seductive, everybody should have a landlady like her.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Need I say more?
Showing posts with label Poppy Z. Brite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poppy Z. Brite. Show all posts
Monday, 25 July 2011
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Genre Novels That Would Make Excellent Television
It has proven an incredible stroke of good fortune for the fantasy genre that some of the most successful recent TV shows have been adaptations of books that might not otherwise reach mainstream attention. I am thinking specifically of True Blood, inspired by Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries, and Game Of Thrones, based on A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin. It is undoubtedly no coincidence that the success of these two dramas derives from their home at HBO, known for high production values, in-depth storytelling that does not insult the viewer, and huge marketing campaigns which ensure a wide audience.
This got me thinking: there is a wealth of fantasy and horror literature out there to be mined for miniseries success. Below are a few novels that I think make excellent candidates for adaptation.
This got me thinking: there is a wealth of fantasy and horror literature out there to be mined for miniseries success. Below are a few novels that I think make excellent candidates for adaptation.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Considered by many of Gaiman's fans to be the most ambitious of his novels, American Gods is a modern epic. There has been talk on and off for years of a film version, but I think the cast of memorable characters and apocalyptic story arc would be better suited to the 12-hour series format of HBO, allowing ample time to explore the bizarre world that ex-con Shadow finds himself becoming a part of. The great thing about this particular corner of Gaiman's universe is that there is room for expansion: the collection Fragile Things includes a Shadow novella, and the novel Anansi Boys features one of the supporting characters from American Gods, so producers would not run out of source material for a while.
The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly
Considering the number of fairy tale-inspired pilots that came out this season (Grimm, Once Upon A Time, 17th Precinct), I'm surprised this book hasn't already been adapted. The story of a teenage boy who accidentally enters a world comprised of myth and legend and is immediately threatened by the sinister Crooked Man, there is enough folkloric whimsy and genuine menace in the source material to make ideal family viewing - imagine the quirky charm of Doctor Who with the combined humour and violence of Buffy.
Nights At The Circus by Angela Carter
While that other infamous circus-centric HBO show Carnivale was an ultimately shortlived lesson in avoiding overly complex mythology, the recent film Water For Elephants has proved that there is still mileage in the backdrop of the travelling fair. Carter's magical realism would make for some impressive visuals, in particular her winged heroine Sophie. The novel is separated into sections based on the circus's location (London, Paris etc.), so an episodic format would fit the narrative fairly well.
Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
A show about vampires in the American South? Yes, it sounds uncomfortably similar to True Blood. But Brite's edgy, sexy novel was around long before Charlaine Harris dreamed up the by-comparison wholesome Sookie Stackhouse series. Lost Souls centres on a band fronted by best friends Steve and Ghost, and the vampires who come to town to see them play. If the bluesy, bloodsucking content is too similar to True Blood, then there are other options from Brite's oeuvre: Drawing Blood, in which a troubled comic book artist returns to a small town where the past is a living thing, or Exquisite Corpse, a twisted saga about two serial killers who fall in love (think Dexter, only ten times darker).
The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
The hugely popular Interview With The Vampire movie, starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, brought a massive readership to Anne Rice's novels. The second fim adaptation, The Queen Of The Damned, tried to incorporate too many of the saga's various backstories and ended up being a bit of a mess (although it wasn't without its high points). Anne Rice has since stated that her style of storytelling might be better suited to television. A longer, more leisurely format would certainly compliment the lengthy character histories and far-reaching events covered in the novels. If all ten books were to be adapted, from the now-classic Interview to the more recent and much more convoluted Blood Canticle, not to mention the offshoot "New Vampire" books, there'd be at least a dozen potential seasons of slick, sumptuous television. Personally, I'd be fascinated to see how showrunners would portray the Egyptian origin story, which the second film completely skipped.~
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Top 5... Love Stories
I've given you mysteries. I've given you fantasy. Next up on my canon of countdowns is that most curious of literary creatures: the love story.
In real life, I like romance as much as the next man. But I hate to read about it. It rings false, it jars on the page, and it is often so sickly sweet that it makes my teeth hurt. And let's be honest; a book whose entire plot revolves around two people being in love is kind of boring, right? (Twilight, I'm looking at you.) But in the hands of a capable author, two people can share something profound and emotionally rewarding that contributes to the potency of the story without it being the be-all and end-all.
Here are my five.
5. Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite (1993)
Possibly the most reader-friendly of her earlier horror novels before switching to food-lit, Drawing Blood is rich with Brite's trademark prose, a swampy, Southern lethargy, and characters that are so bizarre and yet so real that they seem to jump off the page and grab you by the throat.
On the run from the law is Zachary Bosch, a hacker with a lust for life and lots of other things. Returning to his childhood home is Trevor McGee, the sole survivor of a family bloodbath years before. Both men are damaged goods, but when they cross paths in a haunted house in North Carolina, they soon discover they may be able to help heal each other.
Drawing Blood boasts an enjoyable cast of supporting characters and a sinister backdrop of paranormal intrigue against which the young men's relationship is able to grow. Fairly violent in parts and sexually graphic in others, Drawing Blood is the perfect romance for horror fan - and her vampire novel Lost Souls is a refreshing antidote to the namby-pamby bloodsucker fare of today.
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (1958)
Let me be clear about one thing: I'm talking about the novella, not the Hepburn-starring film adaptation. While the movie is one of those rare occasions where I actually enjoyed and appreciated the tacking-on of a conventional Hollywood ending, which brings emotional satisfaction to an audience who have spent two hours watching George Peppard and Audrey Heburn dance around each other, the book is a different animal entirely. Holly Golightly is, as is often repeated by critics and fans alike, "top banana in the shock department". In other words, she's no ordinary girl. And as such, Truman Capote would never allow for her to settle down with her upstairs neighbour, no matter how much they loved each other. She's too much of a free spirit, you see. Also, he's poor and cash is king in Holly's world. But that doesn't stop Miss Golightly from sharing a deep connection with the nameless narrator over the course of one year in New York, before she vanishes off into the sunset on her next adventure.
3. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (1598-ish)
Yes, I know it's not technically a book, it's a play. But I am including it for the simple reason that Beatrice and Benedick's witty, acidic banter is hugely enjoyable, and their realisation in the final act that they love each other is so matter-of-fact, so very in keeping with the characters: "I love nothing in the world so much as you; is not that strange?" Not to mention that the pair whose mutual antipathy masks a mutual attraction are essentially the blueprint for Lizzie Bennet and Mr Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, that most famous of romances (which is not on the list for the simple reason that I prefer its companion novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
2. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (2008)
This is one of my favourite books for a number of reasons, and I've mentioned it already on more than one occasion on this blog. The Gargoyle is, in many ways, the perfect love story for me. Neither of its two central characters are perfect. In fact, they are both hard to like at times. The narrator is a former playboy, pornstar and addict whose life is turned upside down by a car accident that leaves him permanently disfigured. Marianne Engel is an intensely religious artist who begins to visit him in his hospital room, telling him stories to pass the time, much like Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights. Her tales include that of an Italian blacksmith, an English farmer's wife, a Japanese glassblower and a Viking artisan, all of whom suffer and ultimately die for love. Interspersed with these stories is the history of how Marianne first met the burn victim, hundreds of years before in another life.
The Gargoyle is part fantasy, part historical thriller, part sheer fever dream. But at its core, without ever once being sentimental or overly emotional, is a love story.
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)
One day in the summer of 1935, young Briony Tallis becomes witness to an adult encounter between her older sister Cecilia and family friend Robbie - an encounter that she doesn't quite understand. When she tells her version of events, which mutates into an outright lie, Cecilia and Robbie are separated - first by his imprisonment, then by World War Two. Briony spends her entire life regretting the incident, and sets out to make amends to the couple who have since been reunited after the war.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
The tragic twist in this tale is, Robbie and Cecilia are never reunited. The scenes in Atonement where Briony visits them in their London flat, desperate to make things right, turn out to be a fabrication, yet another figment of her wild imagination. In truth, Robbie died in the war and Cecilia was killed during the Blitz, leaving Briony with the awful knowledge that she single-handedly destroyed any chance they had at happiness together. Only a handful of pages in this 371 page novel are devoted to actual scenes between the two of them; an exchange near a fountain, a tryst in a library, and a meeting in a cafe following Robbie's release from prison. But every single word is charged with feeling, even if neither of them dares to acknowledge it. Atonement's film adaptation remains loyal to the book, and this doomed love is played out perfectly by James McAvoy and Keira Knightly (it is a stroke of marvellous casting that Knightly closely matches Ian McEwan's physical description of Cecilia).
Other books about love, lust and relationships that nearly made the grade: Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, One Day by David Nicholls, Lisey's Story by Stephen King, The Night Watch by Sarah Waters.
Check out the first two instalments of my Top 5 series:
Top 5 Mysteries
Top 5 Fantasy Novels
In real life, I like romance as much as the next man. But I hate to read about it. It rings false, it jars on the page, and it is often so sickly sweet that it makes my teeth hurt. And let's be honest; a book whose entire plot revolves around two people being in love is kind of boring, right? (Twilight, I'm looking at you.) But in the hands of a capable author, two people can share something profound and emotionally rewarding that contributes to the potency of the story without it being the be-all and end-all.
Here are my five.
5. Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite (1993)
Possibly the most reader-friendly of her earlier horror novels before switching to food-lit, Drawing Blood is rich with Brite's trademark prose, a swampy, Southern lethargy, and characters that are so bizarre and yet so real that they seem to jump off the page and grab you by the throat.
On the run from the law is Zachary Bosch, a hacker with a lust for life and lots of other things. Returning to his childhood home is Trevor McGee, the sole survivor of a family bloodbath years before. Both men are damaged goods, but when they cross paths in a haunted house in North Carolina, they soon discover they may be able to help heal each other.
Drawing Blood boasts an enjoyable cast of supporting characters and a sinister backdrop of paranormal intrigue against which the young men's relationship is able to grow. Fairly violent in parts and sexually graphic in others, Drawing Blood is the perfect romance for horror fan - and her vampire novel Lost Souls is a refreshing antidote to the namby-pamby bloodsucker fare of today.
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (1958)
Let me be clear about one thing: I'm talking about the novella, not the Hepburn-starring film adaptation. While the movie is one of those rare occasions where I actually enjoyed and appreciated the tacking-on of a conventional Hollywood ending, which brings emotional satisfaction to an audience who have spent two hours watching George Peppard and Audrey Heburn dance around each other, the book is a different animal entirely. Holly Golightly is, as is often repeated by critics and fans alike, "top banana in the shock department". In other words, she's no ordinary girl. And as such, Truman Capote would never allow for her to settle down with her upstairs neighbour, no matter how much they loved each other. She's too much of a free spirit, you see. Also, he's poor and cash is king in Holly's world. But that doesn't stop Miss Golightly from sharing a deep connection with the nameless narrator over the course of one year in New York, before she vanishes off into the sunset on her next adventure.
3. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (1598-ish)
Yes, I know it's not technically a book, it's a play. But I am including it for the simple reason that Beatrice and Benedick's witty, acidic banter is hugely enjoyable, and their realisation in the final act that they love each other is so matter-of-fact, so very in keeping with the characters: "I love nothing in the world so much as you; is not that strange?" Not to mention that the pair whose mutual antipathy masks a mutual attraction are essentially the blueprint for Lizzie Bennet and Mr Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, that most famous of romances (which is not on the list for the simple reason that I prefer its companion novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
2. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (2008)
This is one of my favourite books for a number of reasons, and I've mentioned it already on more than one occasion on this blog. The Gargoyle is, in many ways, the perfect love story for me. Neither of its two central characters are perfect. In fact, they are both hard to like at times. The narrator is a former playboy, pornstar and addict whose life is turned upside down by a car accident that leaves him permanently disfigured. Marianne Engel is an intensely religious artist who begins to visit him in his hospital room, telling him stories to pass the time, much like Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights. Her tales include that of an Italian blacksmith, an English farmer's wife, a Japanese glassblower and a Viking artisan, all of whom suffer and ultimately die for love. Interspersed with these stories is the history of how Marianne first met the burn victim, hundreds of years before in another life.
The Gargoyle is part fantasy, part historical thriller, part sheer fever dream. But at its core, without ever once being sentimental or overly emotional, is a love story.
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)
One day in the summer of 1935, young Briony Tallis becomes witness to an adult encounter between her older sister Cecilia and family friend Robbie - an encounter that she doesn't quite understand. When she tells her version of events, which mutates into an outright lie, Cecilia and Robbie are separated - first by his imprisonment, then by World War Two. Briony spends her entire life regretting the incident, and sets out to make amends to the couple who have since been reunited after the war.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
The tragic twist in this tale is, Robbie and Cecilia are never reunited. The scenes in Atonement where Briony visits them in their London flat, desperate to make things right, turn out to be a fabrication, yet another figment of her wild imagination. In truth, Robbie died in the war and Cecilia was killed during the Blitz, leaving Briony with the awful knowledge that she single-handedly destroyed any chance they had at happiness together. Only a handful of pages in this 371 page novel are devoted to actual scenes between the two of them; an exchange near a fountain, a tryst in a library, and a meeting in a cafe following Robbie's release from prison. But every single word is charged with feeling, even if neither of them dares to acknowledge it. Atonement's film adaptation remains loyal to the book, and this doomed love is played out perfectly by James McAvoy and Keira Knightly (it is a stroke of marvellous casting that Knightly closely matches Ian McEwan's physical description of Cecilia).
Other books about love, lust and relationships that nearly made the grade: Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, One Day by David Nicholls, Lisey's Story by Stephen King, The Night Watch by Sarah Waters.
Check out the first two instalments of my Top 5 series:
Top 5 Mysteries
Top 5 Fantasy Novels
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