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Creator
A Nobel Prize-winning biologist attempts to re-create his late wife by implanting her clone into a 19-year-old nymphomaniac. And that's only part of the story.
Dr. Harry Wolper, an aging Noble Prize-winning biologist, is attempting to create life-specifically, to re-create his adored late wife by implanting her clone in a loving but reluctant 19-year-old nymphomaniac, and do it before his conventional son can have him committed to an asylum.
Creator is a love story, a comedy, a zany account of science running amok, and a moving and tragic account of our biological and imaginative limitations and the struggle we wage against them.
Creator was turned into a feature film starring Peter O'Toole and Mariel Hemingway.
490 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
12 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Leven
8 books22 followersBorn in South Bend, Indiana and raised in Rye, New York, Jeremy Leven was educated at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland (Philosophy and other liberal arts), Harvard University (Education and Child Psychology), the University of Connecticut (Neuroscience) and Yale Medical School where he was a fellow in the Yale University Department of Psychiatry's Child Study Center. He has also been a member of the faculty of Harvard, a Professor of Psychopharmacology, Director of a Mental Health Center, and Director of Drug Treatment and Methadone Programs for Western Massachusetts.
Leven has written two critically-acclaimed novels, published in 17 languages: Creator (Coward McCann) and Satan's Psychotherapy (Knopf), as well as the screenplays for The Notebook, Creator, The Legend of Bagger Vance, My Sister's Keeper, Real Steel, and Wers Glaubt Wird Selig, among others. He also directed and wrote Don Juan DeMarco, and Girl On A Bicycle.
Leven divides his time between homes in Connecticut and Manhattan. His wife of 41 years, the acclaimed psychotherapist Roberta Danza, died in 2017. They have five grown children and four grandchildren.
Leven has written two critically-acclaimed novels, published in 17 languages: Creator (Coward McCann) and Satan's Psychotherapy (Knopf), as well as the screenplays for The Notebook, Creator, The Legend of Bagger Vance, My Sister's Keeper, Real Steel, and Wers Glaubt Wird Selig, among others. He also directed and wrote Don Juan DeMarco, and Girl On A Bicycle.
Leven divides his time between homes in Connecticut and Manhattan. His wife of 41 years, the acclaimed psychotherapist Roberta Danza, died in 2017. They have five grown children and four grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 15, 2019
Back in 1985, I saw the film version of CREATOR starring the inimitable Peter O’Toole, and I enjoyed it very much. It inspired me to buy the book (from 1980) ... a first edition hardback that was in a $1.00 remnant bin. Since I already knew the story and the $11.95 hardback had been consigned to the $1.00 bin, CREATOR moved to my bookshelves to be read “some day.”
Segue from 1985 to 2019 ...
Well, as much as I enjoyed the movie, Hollywood hadn’t even begun to explore the depths of CREATOR. Instead, they were satisfied with streamlining the surface tale and discarding the important stuff. What is especially funny about that is that the writer almost predicts that at one point in the book:
“It’s magnificent. (He’s) going to look through the mound of papers, and he’s going to throw out everything but the *** book, which, by itself, is just crap. For all his *** life he’s wanted you to give him the answers, and now he’s going to throw the answers in the crapper and send the crap to the publisher.” [Edits are to remove Spoilers and profanity.]
On the surface, CREATOR is about Dr. Harry Wolper, a research biologist who lost the great love of his life 33-years earlier. However, he has a plan. Although unethical, he is certain that he can clone his wife and restore her to him ... although he’ll be in his 90’s by the time she reaches the age of 26. To his mind, the biggest difficulty will be in keeping his son from having him committed to a mental institution.
CREATOR is so much more than that. It wrestles with morality and philosophy. It engages thoughts of what the life force truly is, and why it is tied to death. It plunged headlong into a struggle for Reason with God. Most of all, it probes into the blissful, messy, fearful, glorious and hateful aspects of human relationships through an astonishing assortment of characters.
Best of all, it has a better ending than the movie.
The book is written in a diary format. Interspersed throughout are chapters of a book Wolper is writing to deconstruct philosophical arguments through the fictional life of his protagonist. Yet, anyone who has written a fictional book, play or screenplay and had to contend with characters who want their own Voice will appreciate the Battle of Wills that takes place along the way.
Some scenes in it are explicit, although not in a titillating or pornographic way. Many beliefs that the Reader holds dear will be challenged. And emotions can run high, from laugh out loud playfulness to tears of empathy. Both happened to me.
In the final analysis, the Reader will need to decide what it means ... personally ... to be given life. Are we expected to stride forward with a Mission, or are we intended to deal with events as they occur? It isn’t essential to ponder these things, yet it will greatly enhance enjoyment of a unique book that is deceptively cloaked as romantic science fiction entertainment.
Has it spoiled my enjoyment of the movie? Not a bit. Indeed, the movie formed an aspect that I was never able to remove from my head. Despite the writer’s physical description of him, Harry Wolper consistently looked like Peter O’Toole in my mind and spoke with his voice. That often had me smiling during unusual moments.
Segue from 1985 to 2019 ...
Well, as much as I enjoyed the movie, Hollywood hadn’t even begun to explore the depths of CREATOR. Instead, they were satisfied with streamlining the surface tale and discarding the important stuff. What is especially funny about that is that the writer almost predicts that at one point in the book:
“It’s magnificent. (He’s) going to look through the mound of papers, and he’s going to throw out everything but the *** book, which, by itself, is just crap. For all his *** life he’s wanted you to give him the answers, and now he’s going to throw the answers in the crapper and send the crap to the publisher.” [Edits are to remove Spoilers and profanity.]
On the surface, CREATOR is about Dr. Harry Wolper, a research biologist who lost the great love of his life 33-years earlier. However, he has a plan. Although unethical, he is certain that he can clone his wife and restore her to him ... although he’ll be in his 90’s by the time she reaches the age of 26. To his mind, the biggest difficulty will be in keeping his son from having him committed to a mental institution.
CREATOR is so much more than that. It wrestles with morality and philosophy. It engages thoughts of what the life force truly is, and why it is tied to death. It plunged headlong into a struggle for Reason with God. Most of all, it probes into the blissful, messy, fearful, glorious and hateful aspects of human relationships through an astonishing assortment of characters.
Best of all, it has a better ending than the movie.
The book is written in a diary format. Interspersed throughout are chapters of a book Wolper is writing to deconstruct philosophical arguments through the fictional life of his protagonist. Yet, anyone who has written a fictional book, play or screenplay and had to contend with characters who want their own Voice will appreciate the Battle of Wills that takes place along the way.
Some scenes in it are explicit, although not in a titillating or pornographic way. Many beliefs that the Reader holds dear will be challenged. And emotions can run high, from laugh out loud playfulness to tears of empathy. Both happened to me.
In the final analysis, the Reader will need to decide what it means ... personally ... to be given life. Are we expected to stride forward with a Mission, or are we intended to deal with events as they occur? It isn’t essential to ponder these things, yet it will greatly enhance enjoyment of a unique book that is deceptively cloaked as romantic science fiction entertainment.
Has it spoiled my enjoyment of the movie? Not a bit. Indeed, the movie formed an aspect that I was never able to remove from my head. Despite the writer’s physical description of him, Harry Wolper consistently looked like Peter O’Toole in my mind and spoke with his voice. That often had me smiling during unusual moments.
January 18, 2012
This is one of my favorite books. As I ended the book I left with a feeling that if there is a creator, he/she/it needs us as much as we need and search for it. There is no omnipotence, no fire and brimstone, just an almighty, albeit flawed creator who set us forth out of love, compassion, and companionship. The story line is a little whacky, but the sub plot with Boris and his girlfriend and the denouement seem to tie everything together.In the end I was so happy that I had read this novel.
Read
January 22, 2021On this re-reading I discovered that Creator, too, is Frankenstein in disguise! Much more comic but also dealing with serious issues concerning creation, creativity, inventiveness, the sources of fiction, science, etc. Lots of fun all over again. Much different from the movie even though the same author wrote both novel and screenplay.
Currently reading
August 16, 2009more science-y and sex-y than "satan"
December 30, 2010
Laugh out loud funny.
August 4, 2019
Fantastic, Psychological, Intense, Absurd, Dark, Humorous...
If those buzzwords appeal to you, you'll want to get your hands on this book and also Jeremy Leven's other book, Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S..
Leven has a rare ability to drag his protagonist into the abyss of madness, and you, the reader, must follow. But there is something compelling about this descent; the journey is involving and, in its odd way, humorous. Definitely not for everybody, but those who like it will love it.
"Creator" was made into a movie in 1985, with Peter O'Toole and scripted by Jeremy Leven. The film was not without appeal, but they had to vastly simplify the rich structure of the book for translation to the screen. I'd advise reading the book, so you'll experience it as it was meant to be. Don't see the movie until after you've read the book.
If those buzzwords appeal to you, you'll want to get your hands on this book and also Jeremy Leven's other book, Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S..
Leven has a rare ability to drag his protagonist into the abyss of madness, and you, the reader, must follow. But there is something compelling about this descent; the journey is involving and, in its odd way, humorous. Definitely not for everybody, but those who like it will love it.
"Creator" was made into a movie in 1985, with Peter O'Toole and scripted by Jeremy Leven. The film was not without appeal, but they had to vastly simplify the rich structure of the book for translation to the screen. I'd advise reading the book, so you'll experience it as it was meant to be. Don't see the movie until after you've read the book.
June 24, 2018
This wacky book! 😅 Been looking for it for years now, a friend was finally able to come up with some clues that helped me locate it here.
No copy on Kobo, but Kindle has it. Downloaded a preview, and boy, was it steamy. I remember it was sexual, I just didn't remember it was THAT sexual, lol.
Will read it eventually again someday. I remember the ending confused me, who created who and all that stuff. But, I was a kid then, maybe it'll finally make more sense this time around.
No copy on Kobo, but Kindle has it. Downloaded a preview, and boy, was it steamy. I remember it was sexual, I just didn't remember it was THAT sexual, lol.
Will read it eventually again someday. I remember the ending confused me, who created who and all that stuff. But, I was a kid then, maybe it'll finally make more sense this time around.
December 28, 2018
It is a tedious slog
The gist of the novel is hard to summarize, as many seemingly unrelated events are described in prose and exposition. The main character wished to clone his long-dead lover, and he had all the tools that perhaps were necessary for that task. He also "cloned" a literary son, with some of the traits the main character admired and abhorred. The flashbacks are tedious and seem endless.
The gist of the novel is hard to summarize, as many seemingly unrelated events are described in prose and exposition. The main character wished to clone his long-dead lover, and he had all the tools that perhaps were necessary for that task. He also "cloned" a literary son, with some of the traits the main character admired and abhorred. The flashbacks are tedious and seem endless.
October 5, 2020
After all these years, still one of my favourites!
October 8, 2008
Another twisted story by Jeremy Leven. This book was very interesting, sad at times, but not nearly as good as Satan.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews