tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post4126066905340293574..comments2024-01-24T11:41:28.022+00:00Comments on A Cuban In London: Of Literature and Other Abstract ThoughtsA Cuban In Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16423293358605007539noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-20559756949384436802011-10-12T23:12:39.633+01:002011-10-12T23:12:39.633+01:00I usually prefer books to the movies they inspire,...I usually prefer books to the movies they inspire, but I have liked some movies based on books. Some of my favorite adaptations would be: The Black Stallion, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Remains of the Day. I’m less fond of modern update retellings in book form like the never ending supply of Jane Austen tales.Sarah Laurencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00423008641739156182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-20727801863521272082011-10-09T20:02:39.064+01:002011-10-09T20:02:39.064+01:00Hi ACIL! It's been awhile. I really enjoyed th...Hi ACIL! It's been awhile. I really enjoyed this post and agree with you for the most part. I love this statement <br />"There's plenty of fish for everyone in the sea of fiction if you can use your imagination effectively enough."<br /><br />I actually enjoyed Burton's Alice in Wonderland, but had to see it as an interpretation of a work of art and not a redoing of a work of art. Does that make sense? I do this all the time myself, especially with music. I enjoy listening to music when I write, it helps me capture an emotion that I can funnel. The song may not be about what I am writing, but its my own interpretation of that song that helps funnel my own art. <br /><br />So in Burton's case, he wasn't wanting to present Carol's pure form (and as you say, who can truly share that 'pure form' other than the writer, artist, director themselves?), but rather his experience of Carol's art, and then share it with the audience. <br />Not sure if that makes sense or not, but there you go.Jodi MacArthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13373591664178281529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-45262241828123037492011-10-08T17:51:29.434+01:002011-10-08T17:51:29.434+01:00Many thanks for your kind comments. I quite like y...Many thanks for your kind comments. I quite like your different takes on the same phenomenon.<br /><br />Greetings from London.A Cuban In Londonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16423293358605007539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-60567003891843994562011-10-08T15:05:30.447+01:002011-10-08T15:05:30.447+01:00This is a rather timely post as I've just seen...This is a rather timely post as I've just seen "Clybourne Park," the Puliter Prize winning play that's an update on the classic "Raisin In The Sun," that had a popular run in London and has just opened here in Chicago where the play is set. I didn't expect to like it and I didn't although I think it's more because of perspective than for artistic reasons.Fly Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18191335990973494972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-87752753559152316312011-10-07T01:38:20.555+01:002011-10-07T01:38:20.555+01:00I have been known not to want to revisit a place w...I have been known not to want to revisit a place where I had a magical time because I did not want to diminish in any way my experience of it. And yet I know that thousands of people have been there since and had a wonderful time, even if the place, people, and circumstances were different from mine. I suppose, in literature, if one has had an unusually good experience with a novel, changing it in any way seems a travesty. But there are new audiences with new sensibilities who might find it just as rewarding. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it is just creative laziness. I guess you can take from this that while I understand the impulse to update, the newer product is not likely to be one I embrace without reservations.Judith Mercadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13739476600999112092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-62719753010307595612011-10-06T19:12:04.806+01:002011-10-06T19:12:04.806+01:00yes - I am a fan of the originals - pretty much do...yes - I am a fan of the originals - pretty much down the line...Greetings from the Riviera..Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06255193476024745869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-75817994914126998642011-10-06T15:48:23.775+01:002011-10-06T15:48:23.775+01:00I enjoyed Valerie Martin’s Mary Reilly (the movie ...I enjoyed Valerie Martin’s Mary Reilly (the movie version also), a take-off on Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but I tend to avoid the books that take a different spin on a classic. I've tried a few but lostt interest quickly.<br /><br />I gather you have seen the new version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Is Gary Oldman’s performance up to par?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-21090194987714735022011-10-06T11:00:51.855+01:002011-10-06T11:00:51.855+01:00I heard they are going to re-do Footloose and even...I heard they are going to re-do Footloose and even Dirty Dancing. I just know they'll just ruin the classics.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02399300464457820101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-57405167254003281932011-10-06T03:26:33.470+01:002011-10-06T03:26:33.470+01:00I guess I'm one of the curmudgeons who doesn&#...I guess I'm one of the curmudgeons who doesn't like to see the classics tampered with. Alice in Wonderland is unique, a magical creation that does not need Johnny Deep's mugging or a cute, blond bimbo masquerading as Alice. Some kinds of literature lend themselves to the cinema. I'm thinking of the classic spy or murder dramas as "The Maltese Falcon" or the Thin Man series. Marlow was a natural for a Hollywood adaptation and I am sure that there are others. But some books are so uniquely perfect that anything Hollywood does is a travesty, especially Hollywood these days where an original idea is as rare as a snowball on Mars.Nancy Ewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12116290968007398337noreply@blogger.com