Posts Tagged ‘Fiction’
Bret Easton Ellis talks American Psycho
American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis
We at The Scribbler are very excited to learn that one of inspirations behind this project is going to be making an appearance in London this summer.
Celebrated contemporary writer Bret Easton Ellis is going to be talking about his acclaimed 1991 novel American Psycho as part of the Guardian Review book club.
The discussion with John Mullan is taking place on 14 July at King’s Place, London.
American Psycho is one of the best-loved modern classics of recent times. In 2000 it was made into a major motion picture starring Batman actor Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman.
A 27 year-old Wall Street employee, Bateman is the epitome of 90s decadence. Living in an upscale, chic Manhattan apartment, dining at the most exclusive restaurants and an expert in fashion and expensive consumer products. He is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath.
American Psycho is a brilliant, jet-black comedy wherein Bret Easton Ellis satirises the excesses of yuppy materialism and examines the dark side of the American Dream.
Tickets are £9.50 online and £11.50 from the box office. The event starts at 7.00pm. For more information visit the King’s Place website or call 020 7520 1490 to reserve your seat.
Watch the intro to American Psycho, the motion picture:
Discussion:
Who’s going to be going to the talk? Do you even rate Bret Easton Ellis? If so, why? If not, why not?
Words: Dean Samways
Pullman rewrites the story of Christ
Philip Pullman
The greatest story ever told (as debated here) has been given a new leash of life by His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman.
In a new project, Pullman has written an alternative Bible passage re-imagining the fate of Jesus Christ, who, it is written, was killed by the Romans (or not).
Talking to The Daily Telegraph, a friend of the author said: “He has written what would have happened if Jesus had had a fair trial. He knows it will be controversial, but he has some serious points to make.”
Pullman will read his reworking or Christ’s fate at the Globe Theatre on Thursday 19 November as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Reprieve, an organisation which campaigns for prisoner rights.
The author is not new to controversy with the church. An honorary associate of the National Secular Society, several of Pullman’s books have been criticised by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. His Dark Materials, Pullman’s collection of fantasy novels which contain much discussed religious allegories, have been seen as a direct negation of Christian author, C S Lewis’, The Chronicles of Narnia, which have been criticised by Pullman.
He is also often lambasted for an interview in which he reportedly said: “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”
Despite all this confrontation the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has suggested His Dark Materials be taught as part of the religious education curriculum in schools.
The Reprieve event will be hosted by Jon Snow and will also feature John le Carré and Martha Lane Fox.
Watch a documentary on Philip Pullman below:
Discussion:
Do you think Pullman has gone too far in his atheist quest with this latest project? Do you feel we should question religion more in literature? What was the last faith themed piece of writing you read?
Words: Dean Samways
Ones to read in 2009
Richard Milward author of Ten Storey Love Song, one of Waterstones' New Voices of 2009
In true eagle-eyed Scribbler enthusiasm, we have sought out – with the help of Waterstones – the writers we all need to look out for and read this year.
The high street booksellers, Waterstone’s this week announced its New Voices for 2009, the books from emerging writers that the chain believes will go on to feature in and possibly win the literary awards of the year.
Incredibly half the choices came from independent publishers, including A Kind of Intimacy, a debut by prison librarian Jenn Ashworth which is being compared to Notes on a Scandal, and Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt.
Waterstone’s fiction category manager, Toby Bourne said: “There are a huge number of novels published every year and it is very difficult to say which will strike awards gold and which will not, but we had a fantastic hit rate last year.”
Included in 2008’s selection were Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger which went on to win the Man Booker, Sadie Jones’ The Outcast, which was awarded the Costa First Novel Award, and other novels that made Richard & Judy’s Book Club (bleurgh!) and other awards shortlists.
“Even more so than last year, debut fiction dominates our list, with only the precociously talented Richard Milward two novels into his career,” said Waterstone’s fiction buyer, Janine Cook, who helped choose the list.”
Ten Torey Love Song by Richard Milward, only his second book, is a novel written in a single, 286-page paragraph by the 24-year-old.
Cook went onto to say: “The writers may be new, but they have huge talent and these books deserve to compete with those from more established writers for both the attention of readers and for the big prizes.
“This is an invaluable opportunity for these authors to reach the widest possible audience. The Outcast and The White Tiger have gone on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies between them since inclusion in New Voices 2008, so the rewards can be very high.”
Waterstones’ New Voices will be featured in Waterstones’ stores and online at Waterstones.com from 5 March.
The titles are:
- A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth
- Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt
- An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay
- Black Rock by Amanda Smyth
- Days of Grace by Catherine Hall
- Guernica by Dave Boling
- The Street Philosopher by Matthew Plampin
- Ten Storey Love Song by Richard Milward
- The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan
- The Piano Teacher by Janice Y K Lee
- The Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn
- The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
Watch a Richard Millward talk about his New Voices of 2009 highlighted novel Ten Storey Love Song below:
Discussion:
So then, has anyone read any of these new offerings? Will anyone be looking into any of these books now they have received the titles of New Voices of 2009? It’s gotta be a good thing right?
Words: Dean Samways
Keep coming back to The Scribbler for interviews with the New Voices of 2009 in the coming weeks
Stephen King denounces Stephanie Meyer & other writers
Stephen King, the self-confessed greatest writer in the world
Mediocre horror writer Stephen King has made it clear that he is not a fan of Twilight. In a new interview the writer commented on the teen vamp serialist, Stephanie Meyer, by saying she “can’t write worth a darn”, apparently.
In an interview with USA Weekend while promoting his new book, Stephen King Goes to the Movies, the best-selling novelist said Meyer can’t hold a candle to J.K. Rowling.
King said: “The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”
Curbing his attack slightly King explained while he’s no fan of Meyer’s writing, he does appreciate her storytelling for her target audience.
“People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books.
“A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.”
King is renowned for not mincing his words about fellow authors. He even highlights some in his book, On Writing.
In the same interview, King also called bestseller Dean Koontz “sometimes … just awful” and James Patterson “a terrible writer” who is “very, very successful.”
Have a look at a classic clip from Stephen King’s The Shining below:
Discussion:
So, do you think Meyer’s vampire’s suck or is King being unfair? What novelist to you rate and who is overrated? Comment in the reply box below
Words: Dean Samways
“And the winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award is…”
Winner Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry has won the Costa Book of the Year Award after narrowly losing out in October’s Man Booker prize. The Irish novelist was announced as the winner at a ceremony in London on Thursday 27 January.
The winning book, The Secret Scripture, has been described as a moving account of a woman’s stolen life and her efforts to reclaim the past.
The judges heralded the book as an “exquisitely written love story that takes you on an unforgettable journey – you won’t read a better book this year.”
Barry was the bookmaker’s favourite to take the £25,000 prize beating what many considered to be the most acclaimed shortlist in the prize’s history. Sebastian wasn’t the only winner first time bestselling novelist Sadie Jones and her book The Outcast won the first book award whilst 91 years old Diana Athill became the oldest short listed winner for her historical memoires Somewhere Before The End.
Following the judging, Matthew Parris, chair of the final judges, said: “Sebastian Barry has created one of the great narrative voices in contemporary fiction in The Secret Scripture. It is a book of great brilliance, powerfully and beautifully written.”
The winners in each category are as followed:
- Novel of the Year Award: Sebastian Barry – The Secret Scripture
- First Time Novel of the Year: Sadie Jones – The Outcast
- Historical Book of the Year: Diana Athill – Somewhere Before the End
- Poetry Book of the Year: Adam Foulds – The Broken Word
- Children’s Book of the Year: Michelle Magorian – Just Henry
Each shortlisted winner will take home £5,000 whilst the Sebastian Barry took home £25,000.
Watch Sebastian Barry talk about contemporary Irish voices below:
Discussion:
Has anyone read The Secret Scripture? What is it about Irish writers that makes them stand apart from some of their English counterparts?
Words: Seamus Swords
Booker Prize and Costa Awards judging panels announced
Aravind Adiga with his Man Booker Prize winning novel White Tiger
The organisers behind two of the biggest book awards have announced the judging panels for their 2009 awards. The Man Booker Prize and The Costa Book Awards are some of the most respected in the literary world and anyone asked to judge these awards must see it as a great honour.
The judging panel for The Man Booker prize has been announced with the powers that be opting for a more ‘serious’ line-up. Heading up the critics is Today Program (BBC Radio 4) presenter Jim Naughtie providing some serious journalist clout and is definitely a more suited judge than last year’s choice Michael Portillo.
The remaining seats on the judging panel will be filled by literary editor of The Sunday Telegraph Michael Prodger, the writer Lucasta Miller, who has written a critically acclaimed book on the Bronte’s. Every literature judging panel has to include the token celebrity personality and this year that great honour has fallen to Sue Perkins of Mel and Sue fame. Check out the full panel right here.
The Costa Book Award has announced its judging panel (already touched on by The Scribbler) leaning towards a more broadcasting friendly collective. The judges include world renowned reporter Michael Buerk and comedian/actor Alexander Armstrong. The panel is headed up by columnist and broadcaster Matthew Parris. To see the full line-up and biographies of the judges click here.
Watch last year’s Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga talks about his award winning book White Tiger:
Discussion:
Are the personalities listed here qualified enough to decide which piece of writing should win over another? Who would you like to see on a book award judging panel?
Words: Seamus Swords
Popular figures on books they just couldn’t put down this year
The Guardian website yesterday published a very interesting article about the favourite books of some of Britain’s top public figures and literature critics.
To celebrate the final month of the year the piece talks to journalists, politicians, broadcasters, military types and many more who, collectively, make a very diverse and colourful cross-section of society. The chosen novels also throw up some intriguing results.
We’ve selected the best celebrity top books for your reading pleasure. To see the entire list click here.
Richard Curtis with fellow bookworm Stephen Fry (BBC)
Richard Curtis – Film director
“Now that Kurt Vonnegut has smoked his last cigarette, John le Carré is my favourite living author. A Most Wanted Man (Hodder & Stoughton) is full of classic le Carré delights – the plots that sneak up on you, the wonderful, compromised Englishmen, the richness of the writing, strangely allied to the feeling that he is just recording documentary fact. When I first started reading le Carré, his middle-aged British men reminded me of my schoolmasters and my father’s friends – now they’ve turned into me.”
Alistair Darling – Chancellor of the Exchequer
“The book I’ve enjoyed most this year is Ian McEwan‘s On Chesil Beach (Vintage). It’s a thoroughly evocative novel from one of the best writers of his generation. Reading it was a great escape from the Treasury.”
General Sir Mike Jackson – Soldier
“The British armed forces are much in the news and it is important that we understand what is being asked of our military. Lieutenant General Sir Hew Pike, one of my oldest comrades-in-arms, knows as much about the human dimension of soldiering as anyone I know, and in From the Front Line (Pen and Sword) he has put together a wonderful description of this human dimension as seen through the letters and diaries of the soldiers of his family over four generations.”
Andrew Marr chews the fat with PM Gordon Brown (BBC)
Andrew Marr – Political journalist
“No question – the non-fiction book of the year is Richard Holmes‘s Age of Wonder (HarperCollins), not only beautifully written, but also kicking open a new perspective on the Romantic age, as scientific and artistic thinking began to diverge. But please let me also mention The Legend of Colton H Bryant (Simon & Schuster) by Alexandra Fuller, which is brilliant, moving and almost a new form – factually true fiction. And for fiction, a newcomer, Andrew Nicholl’s The Good Mayor (Black &White), a story of love, dreaming and loss, magical realism from Scotland. You will not be disappointed.”
David Miliband – Foreign Secretary
“Counselor (HarperCollins) by the late Ted Sorensen, Kennedy‘s long-term adviser and speechwriter, is a reminder of the best instinct of American liberalism. Self-deprecating (which is touching), and in awe of everything JFK (which is less so), it shows how small-town America (in this case Lincoln, Nebraska) can produce people more like Michael Palin than Sarah Palin. Equality, hard graft and the frontier combine to produce something special. Barack Obama inherits its optimism.”
Michael Palin – Actor
“The surprise of the year was a modest gem of a book by Raja Shehadeh, called Palestinian Walks (Profile). Ostensibly a celebration of a lifetime spent walking the hills around Ramallah, Shehadeh’s book is also an elegy for a lost land, and an inventory of a natural environment that has been slowly whittled away by an ever-expanding Israeli state. Shehadeh’s love of his homeland and his naturalist’s eye make for a poetic little book that has big things to say.”
Jeremy Paxman with one of his larger books, we hope (BBC)
Jeremy Paxman – Television presenter
“I’d not expected to like Sebastian Barry‘s The Secret Scripture (Faber), of which I imagine the talkSPORT synopsis might be ‘an old woman inside an Irish loony bin tells her life story’. In fact, I found it mesmerising. It is a simultaneous narrative, in which a doctor attempts to discover why an elderly woman was committed to a Sligo asylum, while she confides her life story to a secret memoir, in which she tells, in intimate and moving detail, how the tides of modern Irish history washed against her life. Climate, countryside and a malignant Catholic priest are all brilliantly rendered. Barry’s prose is brisk and vivid and at times terribly moving.”
John Prescott (blog) – Politician
“What Does China Think? (Fourth Estate) by Mark Leonard is an excellent analysis of the current debate under way in China regarding its future development. An especially important read for all of us concerned about finding global solutions to global problems.”
Kirsty Wark – Television presenter
“Kate Summerscale‘s non-fiction whodunnit The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (Bloomsbury) reads like a thriller. She researched a famous murder in 1860, of a three-year-old boy in a country house whose inhabitants were siblings, parents, a governess and servants. But what gave this book such an edge was the author’s meticulous detailing, down to the weather on the day of the murder. Toni Morrison‘s latest novel A Mercy (Chatto) goes back to the 1680s and the chaotic beginnings of slavery. In her vivid story centring on one young slave, Florens, Morrison reveals the tragedy of slavery and how it also involved Native Americans and even whites.”
Vivienne Westwood – Fashion designer
“In The Road (Picador) by Cormac McCarthy – actually published last year – a man and his son are ‘on the road’ in a world where nothing lives except for a few human beings. The two must keep going to find food and to avoid groups of cannibals. This is a story of love so total that it shines like a beacon on our human resources for good. Though harrowing, it’s great literature.”
Toni Morrison also gets a special mention from President-elect Barack Obama as he and John McCain talk about their favourite books in a CBS interview below:
Discussion:
Later on today we will be posting a topic whereby you will be able to discuss your favourite reads of 2008 so be sure to come back for that, but right now let’s have some fun. What famous people would you like to think read what books? For example, the editor would like to think George W. Bush’s favourite book was Where The Wild Things Are (an easy one we know). Post your suggestions below and let’s all have a giggle.
Words: Dean Samways
Lost beat novel ‘not worth the wait’
And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tankes by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs
The US press has been hard at work this weekend dosing the flames of hype that have been rising around one of the literary world’s most anticipated releases ever.
As previously reported on The Scribbler a long delayed novel co-written by beatnik founding-fathers Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs is finally available to buy.
The writing of and originally planned release of And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks was surrounded by scandalous mystery. Over 60 years ago, when Kerouac was 23 and Burroughs 30, the scholars were arrested by the New York Police Department for helping a friend cover up a murder.
After they were released and cleared of the charges the pair decided to collaborate on a novel based upon the case. While Kerouac was pleased with the work American publishers unanimously disagreed.
While some sources cite this as being the reason why the book was so delayed, others state a pact was made between the writers and the real killer, one Lucien Carr that the novel would not be published until Carr passed away in an attempt to protect his name.
Thus the manuscripts were locked away and remained unpublished until this month when Grove Press did the right thing and treated it to some long deserved daylight.
Associated Press writer Bruce DeSilva this weekend damningly wrote: “The characters are aimless, intellectual wannabes who spend most of the book engaging in vacuous conversations while wandering from one seedy apartment and bar to another in pursuit of sex, drugs and whiskey.
“It is impossible to work up much concern for what will happen to any of them.”
DeSilva also added: “The crime, with its bohemian characters and hints of paedophilia, was a lot more interesting in the newspapers of the day than it is in the novel.”
The said crime was one of passion. Carr, the son in a well-to-do family, had become the object of obsession for the victim David Kammerer who met Carr years earlier in St. Louis while working as his Boy Scout leader. Kammerer reportedly followed Carr to New York where the older man met his demise at the end of Carr’s scout knife. The murderer then filled his pockets with stones and sent him to the bottom of the Hudson River.
Carr quickly confessed to Burroughs and Kerouac who in turn did not call the authorities, in fact it is claimed Kerouac helped get rid of the murder weapon. Eventually Carr was brought to justice and was found guilty of second-degree murder but was only given a two-year sentence after his lawyer argued that the crime was committed in self-defence from homosexual, paedophilic predator. Carr served his term and later led a successful career as an editor. He died in 2005.
William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac relaxing
DeSilva believes while the crime caused a sensation in 1944 New York and gave the writers a lot to write about ‘they failed to do much with it.’
Describing the book, DeSilva said: “The story is plodding, the characters uninteresting and the writing listless, with few hints at the innovative styles that would later make these writers icons of the beat generation. Perhaps the book will be of interest to literary scholars, but Grove could have posted it on an obscure internet site and spared the rest of us.”
DeSilva goes onto to protest: “Kerouac and Burroughs changed the names of all the characters, including themselves. Inexplicably, they also changed the murder weapon, turning the delicious detail of the scout knife into a hatchet. As ‘Mike Ryko’ and ‘Will Dennison’, the authors take turns narrating the story in a hard-boiled style, trying to write like Mickey Spillane and making a mess of it.”
Kerouac and Burroughs may have made a mess of the book in one reporters eyes but fans of beat writing and contemporary literature should remain enthusiastic about a release by two of the world’s most renowned authors that has been a closely kept secret for some 60 years. Posthumous releases are always something to look forward to.
Keep it The Scribbler Blog for a review of the novel in the coming weeks.
To buy your own copy of And The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks click here.
There’s a 71 minute documentary on Jack Kerouac below if you have the time and the patience to watch it, we did:
For a William S. Burroughs video cast your eyes below:
Discussion:
Has anyone read the book? What is your opinion of it? Is it on a par with Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, regarded as one of the best pieces of crime writing ever produced?
Words: Dean Samways
Mafia boss grandfather inspiration for first novel
The Grandfather Clause by Phil Genovese
Speaking to Reuters, author Phil Genovese revealed he took little pride in his family’s criminal connections.
Despite his resentment the grandson of mob boss Vito ‘Don Vito’ Genovese has managed to turn his childhood memories and experiences into fiction in his first outing into the publishing world.
His debut, the self-published novel The Grandfather Clause was 10 years in the making, mostly down to the fact that he only wrote the book’s material on Sunday afternoons when he was able to sneak away from family.
The book focuses on a New Jersey boy who eagerly looks forward to his grandfather’s visits but later learns that his elderly relative is the leader of a New York crime family. Further into the book the now adult protagonist finds he had to penetrate his grandfather’s world.
Genovese was actually brought by an accountant mother and father in Jersey and has only sparse memories of his grandfather, the Genovese crime family boss, who passed away in prison at the age of 71 in 1969.
The full interview is included below:
Q: When did you start to write?
A: “I am in my mid-50s and started out thinking some day I may like to write a book but I came out of school not really knowing what I wanted to do and ended up being an executive in a mobile transportation company. In 1996 I bought the first family computer and thought maybe this could enable me to write.”
Q: Is it autobiographical?
A: “Not really. I had built a story in my head over the years commuting in the car about someone like me with an infamous grandfather who led his father’s life rather than his grandfather’s but had an occurrence that caused him for a brief period to go back to his grandfather’s world.”
Q: It took 10 years to finish. Did you enjoy it?
A: “I can’t make a living from it but it brings me some peace and enjoyment. I published the book with an online publisher so I still own the rights to this book. I went the traditional route and secured two agents along the way and got the usual slew of rejection letters and an offer from a big publisher but the advance was very light and not a lot of promotion. They tend to focus on the big-selling authors. It’s a very crowded market with about 200,000 books published a year.”
Q: Does your name help with publicity?
A: “My last name does get me engagements. People think I will tell them some dark secrets about the mafia. But I was just nine years old when my grandfather went to jail.”
Q: Did your father mind you writing the book?
A: “My parents were supportive. I respect the work my father has done in his life and the sacrifices he has made to redistinguish our family name. From a young age he separated himself from his father and opened an accountancy practice and went on to become a member of the town council. All his good and hard work was built on his reputation and not on his father’s.”
Q: How did you view your heritage?
A mugshot of Don Vito Genovese
A: “Growing up we were always cognitive of it and tried to tread a certain line. We never denied our heritage but it is not something we are proud of. Am I taking advantage of it with the book? Perhaps, but only to sell my book and get people to read it. If we count up all the ugly and painful moments in my family’s life they are all related to my grandfather. Schoolyard fights, prejudice in the job market were all directly attributed to his legacy and the stain he left on the Genovese name.”
Q: What do you remember about your grandfather?
A: “We’d go to his house at noon and he was just getting up. They had a night life. I remember him being well dressed, in a tie a lot. You always knew there was something going on with him in the special way people referred to him and the whispering.”
Q: Have you had much reaction to the book?
A: “There has been strange emails from people saying we are related and saying Vito was my father. When I mention this to my father he says: “Who knows?.” In the start I would always give them a response saying I was not aware of anything but not now.”
Q: And you are working on your second book?
A: “It is called The Termination Clause. Some of the characters continue into the second book but I have created a new protagonist. It is like this book in that it has a core plot involving the mafia but there are other things too.”
Q: What is your advise to other aspiring writers?
A: “I would suggest carving out hours of the day to write and recommend you do the same thing for trying to get published or promoting a book. I decided to do online publishing as I wanted to get the book out and move on. Maybe the second book will be picked up and become a bestseller. Dozens of authors self-published their first book.”
If The Grandfather Clause reads anything like The Godfather film begins we’re in for a treat:
Discussion:
What’s your favourite crime novel? Does the literary world need another mobster book? What makes a great crime thriller?
Words: Dean Samways.
Highest earning novelists revealed
J.K. Rowling (PA)
American high society rag Forbes has released what it deems to be the top 10 highest paid authors today.
Released last month there are few surprises as to who tops the list. J.K. Rowling took the number one slot earning an estimated $300 million with her closest rival, detective novelist, James Patterson (Along came a Spider) earning only $50 million.
Writing mainstays Stephen King, Tom Clancy and Danielle Steel make up the rest of the top five, proving their books are as popular than ever (and as predictable and dusty to – Ed). Could this be down to the fact they are half price every Christmas in the WH Smiths sale?
Will Rowling rake in the same amount next year now her Harry Potter series has come to a close? One thing is certain, she has set a president for high earnings in the literary world.
Here is the top 10:
- JK Rowling, $300m
- James Patterson – $50m
- Stephen King – $45m
- Tom Clancy – $35m
- Danielle Steel – $30m
- John Grisham – $25m (tie)
- Dean Koontz – $25m (tie)
- Ken Follett – $20m
- Janet Evanovich – $17m
- Nicholas Sparks – $16m
For all you Harry Potter fans out there, and we know there must be some, we have pinched and pasted all five parts from the amazing documentary about the author by James Runcie below. The filmmaker spent a year following the author as she penned the final installment in the Potter series. Enjoy:
Discussion:
So does JK Rowling justify earning so much from her work? Is Harry Potter really all that good or is it simply media generated hype assisted by the Hollywood machine?
Words: Seamus Swords
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