My Work-Related Reading List

Earlier this month, I got to interview David Nicholls about how he adapted his own novel, the international bestseller One Day, into a screenplay for a movie starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Burgess, which opens in American theaters today. There are some significant changes in the film’s version of the story—some early scenes that took place in Rome in the novel, for example, were moved to Paris because the production was already going to Paris, and why add the cost of going to yet another country when you don’t have to? Some of the other changes, though, have a more distinctive narrative import; I won’t give away too many details in this post, because I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but Nicholls and I had a really interesting conversation about how the film might have actually improved upon the fifth act to a certain degree, reworking some scenes and streamlining some character relationships.

Despite all the changes, though, the film does preserve the emotional core of the story, which follows two friends from their college graduation through the 1990s and 2000s as their relationship matures, occasionally fumbles, then deepens—but only ever checking in on them on July 15. As A.O. Scott notes in today’s New York Times, the film isn’t perfect, but there’s a lot to like in it, including some very strong performances. (I was delighted to see Matt Berry from The IT Crowd in a single, hilarious scene midway through the picture.)

What else have I been reading lately? For the USA Character Approved blog, I talked about Penn Jillette’s God, No!, a collection of essays where he talks about why he’s an atheist and a libertarian, tells a few showbiz stories, and shares some truly raunchy anecdotes from his past, from the time he had sex while scuba diving to a bizarre accident involving a certain body part and a switched-on hair dryer. So it’s not Why I Am Not a Christian, but it will definitely get you thinking, and if you’re a fan of Penn & Teller (which I am), it’s certainly an afternoon’s entertainment.

Over at Shelf Awareness, I’m back on the science fiction beat, reviewing Drew Magary’s debut novel, The Postmortal, a look at what happens to society when we discover a drug that will stop the body’s aging process. The story is very dark, and very satirical; I described it as “[hitting] the sweet spot between Margaret Atwood and Kurt Vonnegut.” If you like SF at all, you should definitely give this one a try.

Oh, and as long as I had David Nicholls in front of the video camera, I made sure to ask him about the book he was reading for the “Whatcha Reading?” series at inReads.com. He’s reading Great Expectations, which he’s currently adapting into a screenplay for a new production, directed by Mike Newell, which is scheduled to shart shooting this fall. But Nicholls has loved the book for a long time…

19 August 2011 | read this |