For those who would rather spend $20 at the movies than go to the trouble of reading a book for free
PORTUGAL’S PICKS
By Leo Portugal
In 2002, at age 25, Jonathan Safran Foer released his debut novel. It was Everything is Illuminated, and it is brilliant.
The two main characters are equal parts charming and quirky. There’s the eponymously named Jonathan Safran Foer, a Jewish man journeying to Ukraine to find the woman he believes saved his grandfather during the Holocaust, and Alexander “Alex” Perchov, Jonathan’s translator. Jonathan is an awkward man struggling to write his first novel and searching for answers. He confides in his translator, Alex. The Ukrainian Alex speaks beautifully broken English which he learned in two years at university. “This was a very majestic thing I did,” Alex explains, “because my instructor was having shit between his brains.”
Three years after the book’s publication, it was adapted to film and directed by Liev Schreiber, best known for his role as Hugh Jackman’s brother, Sabretooth (2009). Cast into the role of Jonathan was Elijah Wood, best known as Frodo Baggins (2001-2003) and as a child business man in Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” music video (1988). Alex was cast perfectly as Eugene Hutz, front man of the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello.
Foer’s book is a beautiful, sprawling piece of work that tells the story of the novel within the novel that Jonathan is writing. The film shines a light on the Ukrainian adventure, exclusively. The novel and the film do plenty to differentiate themselves from each other and from other products in their respective media. In both its forms, Everything is Illuminated is thoroughly dazzling and radiant. Let its glow wash over you.
Most would argue that a successfully adapted novel such as this is a rare thing these days. We can only hope for the best for adaptations yet to be released.
H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century. His novel, At the Mountains of Madness, tells the tale of a scientific expedition to the Antarctic that uncovers Lovecraft’s signature horrors.
Just as monsters of unknown terror laid dormant in the Antarctic for millennia before they were awakened by man, over 80 years after the publication of the novel, At the Mountains of Madness will be coming to life as a film. Guillermo del Toro has come to reawaken this creature, announcing that he will be working on the film adaptation. It is currently in pre-production, but if del Toro’s work with Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies is any indication, H.P. Lovecraft’s novel is in good hands. Del Toro’s visually imaginative style is a perfect fit.
Ron Pearlman is expected to join del Toro in the project, and will probably be cast into the role of a wussy scientist that is really afraid of scary monsters. Just kidding. Pearlman will surely be an ass-kicker extraordinaire, as per usual.
At the Mountains of Madness is a short novel, at just over a hundred pages, and is worth a read if you find Lovecraft’s style to your liking. Filming should begin sometime next year.
IN THE INTEREST OF SELF-EDIFICATION: THE CORRECTIONS
By Corey Leis
The film industry is notorious for harvesting ideas from the fields of literature. I have to accept that every one of my favorite books has been or will be turned into a film, usually a mediocre job that dwarfs and distorts the qualities of the story that attracted me to it in the first place. As I was chewing on different ideas for this article, I picked up one of my favorite books and, not knowing if it is/will be a film, I did some IMDB-based sleuth work. Sure enough—it’s in development.
The book I’m referring to is Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections. Contemporary fiction par excellence. The novel centers around the Lamberts, a family beyond its golden age quickly careening into the brambles of psychoses. Chip, Denise, and Gary are well into their thirties and forties, trying to manage their own shambolic lives, while back home Enid and Alfred are attempting to maintain their sanity as they deal with Alfred’s ever-developing Parkinson’s disease.
Hoping to keep things together, Enid is bent on bringing the family home for one last Christmas. The novel is an expeditionary peregrination into each character’s sticky life and how he or she reacts and deals with the looming possibility of being together again, if for only a few days.
Franzen is an incredibly smart writer whose nuanced work is unique and enjoyable to read. He’s right up there with David Foster Wallace (not surprising since the two were chums when DFW was still with us, may he rest in peace). Something that impressed me about The Corrections, a third-person narrative, is Franzen’s ability to subtlely capture the voices of his characters in the narrative itself. This adds to the humor of the novel.
And damn, does it have a good sense of humor. As I was re-reading selections of the book while at work last week—yes, readin’ on the job—I couldn’t help laughing out loud on several pages.
Regarding the film adaptation of the novel, Frazen has expressed his indifference toward it. I wasn’t able to glean much information about it other than it’s supposed to be released some time next year. However, this is a book that someone’ll want to read before seeing any sort of film adaptation of it.
Though the novel isn’t exactly of Dostoevskian proportions, it is a meaty read. Not difficult, just meaty. It’s substantive and it has more to offer than the medium of film can support. Procure a copy of this novel and read it!
