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Io e Mr Wilder
Calista Frangopoulos è una donna sposata di cinquantasette anni, con due figlie in procinto di lasciare casa. Francesca, la grande, andrà a fare l'università negli Stati Uniti e Arlene, la piccola, è stata presa per l'anno successivo a Oxford. Dopo aver lasciato Francesca all'aeroporto, Calista ricorda quando lei stessa era stata in America per tre settimane nel 1976 e l'incontro casuale che le aveva segnato l'esistenza, quando una sera a Los Angeles, con la sua amica Gill, si era ritrovata a tavola con Billy Wilder, senza sapere chi fosse. Un'occasione fortuita che un anno dopo l'aveva portata a lavorare come interprete dal greco sul set del penultimo film di Wilder, Fedora, che avrebbe determinato la sua scelta di diventare compositrice di colonne sonore e che, molti anni dopo, le avrebbe permesso di maturare una decisione importante con la leggerezza del finale di A qualcuno piace caldo: "Why not?". Già, perché no? La vita è grande. Billy Wilder è Hollywood, la celebrità, il genio, ma anche il Novecento, il nazismo, la Shoah, la fuga di tanti verso l'America, è una potente ossessione che permette a Jonathan Coe di scrivere un romanzo bellissimo e complesso, nelle cui pagine scorre con forza una vena di nostalgia: la nostalgia degli anni che passano, delle cose che si lasciano, di quello che siamo stati e non siamo più. E, soprattutto, di ciò che possiamo ancora dare e di cui nessuno sembra avere più bisogno.
234 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2020
286 people are currently reading
5181 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Coe
82 books2,607 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Jonathan Coe, born 19 August 1961 in Birmingham, is a British novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name, in the light of the 'carve up' of the UK's resources which some felt was carried out by Margaret Thatcher's right wing Conservative governments of the 1980s. Coe studied at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge, before teaching at the University of Warwick where he completed a PhD in English Literature. In July 2006 he was given an honorary degree by The University of Birmingham.
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Retrieved 10:55, February 2, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan...
Jonathan Coe, born 19 August 1961 in Birmingham, is a British novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name, in the light of the 'carve up' of the UK's resources which some felt was carried out by Margaret Thatcher's right wing Conservative governments of the 1980s. Coe studied at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge, before teaching at the University of Warwick where he completed a PhD in English Literature. In July 2006 he was given an honorary degree by The University of Birmingham.
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Retrieved 10:55, February 2, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 924 reviews
October 23, 2020
Jonathon Coe is probably best known for his state of the nation, very human comedies that examine the British, their relationships, politics and foibles.
In Mr Wilder and Me, his 13th novel, he changes direction.
This is a gentle book that, in an interesting way, explores the final years of Billy Wilder, the famous Hollywood film director.
We first meet Calista (our main protagonist) in present day London. She’s of Greek descent, married with two grown up daughters and scores music for film.
A chain of memory takes us back many years to the point when she leaves Athens and her parents for the first time to travel the world.
When roaming America she’s asked by a new travelling companion if she would lend her moral support at a dinner date with a barely known friend of her father’s.
The friend is Billy Wilder.
So, Calista meets Mr Wilder along with his great friend and writing partner Iz Diamond and Audrey and Barbara their wives. A tenuous relationship begins, eventually seeing Calista working on the set of Fedora, Wilder’s penultimate and not particularly successful film.
Calista is a very matter of fact, down to earth character ‘A sensible person rather than a romantic’ - which could be seen as a weakness in the book in that Calista’s coming of age story, love life, hopes and aspirations are played down .......... by herself, as narrator. There is no big emotional centre to the book, or not where you would expect to find it. However, the fading away of Wilder’s successful career, the enduring nature of friendship, the happy/ sad flow of memory are all affecting and poignant in their own subtle way.
Mr Wilder and Me does take a darker turn as Billy Wilder thinks back to the war and describes how his family were scarred by the Holocaust. The irony that German money is now funding his latest venture is not lost to the reader.
I found the book to be touching and full of interest. There’s loads of fascinating stuff about movies and movie making, there’s some illuminating vignettes of real Hollywood characters and there are, of course, some evocative settings - Corfu, Paris, Munich, London and Hollywood.
All in all, an informative and very likeable novel.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
In Mr Wilder and Me, his 13th novel, he changes direction.
This is a gentle book that, in an interesting way, explores the final years of Billy Wilder, the famous Hollywood film director.
We first meet Calista (our main protagonist) in present day London. She’s of Greek descent, married with two grown up daughters and scores music for film.
A chain of memory takes us back many years to the point when she leaves Athens and her parents for the first time to travel the world.
When roaming America she’s asked by a new travelling companion if she would lend her moral support at a dinner date with a barely known friend of her father’s.
The friend is Billy Wilder.
So, Calista meets Mr Wilder along with his great friend and writing partner Iz Diamond and Audrey and Barbara their wives. A tenuous relationship begins, eventually seeing Calista working on the set of Fedora, Wilder’s penultimate and not particularly successful film.
Calista is a very matter of fact, down to earth character ‘A sensible person rather than a romantic’ - which could be seen as a weakness in the book in that Calista’s coming of age story, love life, hopes and aspirations are played down .......... by herself, as narrator. There is no big emotional centre to the book, or not where you would expect to find it. However, the fading away of Wilder’s successful career, the enduring nature of friendship, the happy/ sad flow of memory are all affecting and poignant in their own subtle way.
Mr Wilder and Me does take a darker turn as Billy Wilder thinks back to the war and describes how his family were scarred by the Holocaust. The irony that German money is now funding his latest venture is not lost to the reader.
I found the book to be touching and full of interest. There’s loads of fascinating stuff about movies and movie making, there’s some illuminating vignettes of real Hollywood characters and there are, of course, some evocative settings - Corfu, Paris, Munich, London and Hollywood.
All in all, an informative and very likeable novel.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
August 14, 2022
Oh, dear. This one just didn't work for me, which was a massive surprise given that I'm a huge fan of both Billy Wilder's films and Jonathan Coe's novels. My main issue with the book is that it just didn't seem to go anywhere. Obviously, Coe chose this story for a reason, but even after finishing the book I have no idea what it was. Also, it was incredibly pretentious - 15 of the book's 270-ish pages were given over to the subject of brie (very cheesy), and there was a frequent use of French words and phrases that I was unable to translate. All in all, a frustrating book, with no apparent purpose.
October 12, 2020
This is the story of how a young Calista who is Greek/English meets film director Billy Wilder and writer Iz Diamond by chance. She amuses Wilder with her naive boredom as at this point she has no idea who he is. As ‘Fedora’ is to be part filmed in Greece she gets a job as an interpreter. Calista is looking back on this youthful experiences, reflecting on the experiences she gained.
This is a captivating and enthralling read which I rapidly became totally absorbed in. I knew little about Wilder beyond his legendary status as this has definitely piqued my interest to know more and I’m sure that people who are film buffs will enjoy this portrayal. Fedora is being made as Wilder’s sun is descending and he hopes it will restore some of his reputation lost to the ‘bearded ones’ - the new breed of directors like Spielberg and Scorsese. I love the insights, I find what Iz Diamond, their respective wives say about Wilder enlightening and fascinating and the director comes across as meticulous, compassionate, kind and perceptive. It’s nostalgic too as Calista looks back on this early adventure as she also reflects on her daughters who are now the same age as she was then. It’s dark too and bitter for Wilder as parts of the book are set in Germany which he finds difficult. The settings are superb and the film scenes shot in various places are colourful and as intriguing as some of the actors. This is a coming of age story for Calista, she learns so much about herself, about people and the world so for her it’s an awakening whereas it’s the reverse for Wilder. He is ageing and has the acquired wisdom and a multitude of experiences, some good and some bad.
Overall, a very entertaining, well written and delightful story which is also very thought provoking. I loved it.
This is a captivating and enthralling read which I rapidly became totally absorbed in. I knew little about Wilder beyond his legendary status as this has definitely piqued my interest to know more and I’m sure that people who are film buffs will enjoy this portrayal. Fedora is being made as Wilder’s sun is descending and he hopes it will restore some of his reputation lost to the ‘bearded ones’ - the new breed of directors like Spielberg and Scorsese. I love the insights, I find what Iz Diamond, their respective wives say about Wilder enlightening and fascinating and the director comes across as meticulous, compassionate, kind and perceptive. It’s nostalgic too as Calista looks back on this early adventure as she also reflects on her daughters who are now the same age as she was then. It’s dark too and bitter for Wilder as parts of the book are set in Germany which he finds difficult. The settings are superb and the film scenes shot in various places are colourful and as intriguing as some of the actors. This is a coming of age story for Calista, she learns so much about herself, about people and the world so for her it’s an awakening whereas it’s the reverse for Wilder. He is ageing and has the acquired wisdom and a multitude of experiences, some good and some bad.
Overall, a very entertaining, well written and delightful story which is also very thought provoking. I loved it.
October 8, 2020
Jonathan Coe enters rather different territory from his usual fare with this historical blend of fact and fiction, set in the late 1970s, as he unpeels the layers of the life and times of the famous Hollywood director, Billy Wilder. An almost 60 year old troubled Calista, with twin daughters, is feeling increasingly unwanted, including professionally as a musical composer, she looks back with nostalgia on a pivotal time in her life, when as a young and naive woman she left Athens and found herself on a Greek island and on the film set of Fedora, one of Wilder's last films in what was a prolific and lauded career. She is employed as an interpreter and translator, embarking on an exciting and glamorous adventure, immersed in a world that she knew not, where everything is strange and new.
This coming of age phase of Calista's life contrasts sharply with the older Wilder coming to terms to the harsh realities of a Hollywood that no longer has any interest in him, the times they are a changing, and its now the time of adrenaline fuelled action packed movies and a greater focus on more serious and darker themes. This is epitomised for Wilder in the financing of his film coming from Germans, Calista travels with him to Munich to film scenes there. Wilder's roots are European and his traumatic and tragic personal history is laid bare, of trying to find out what happened to his Austrian Jewish relatives, a man carrying the all too real burdens and impact of the horrors and terrors of the Nazis. It is so understandable that an anguished Wilder would concentrate on the lighter and more entertaining themes of life in his filmmaking, leaving those who are not weighed down by personal traumas more able to make movies of humanity's significantly darker sides.
Coe pays a tender and affectionate homage to Wilder with this fascinating, intimate, well researched, knowledgeable and immersive picture of Wilder's inner and outer self, the personal and the professional, what it means to be affected by the ups and downs of being in the creative industries, that is later echoed by Calista's experiences as a music composer. Insights are given of him on the film set with its ups and downs, and his often witty relationship with the screenwriter, Iz Diamond. This is a lovely, emotionally heart tugging, informative, often humorous, engaging and entertaining read, of the film industry and major players within it in this historical period, of the ageing process, and the impact of the personal on the professional, and of how we can all face similar issues, irrespective of our status and wealth. Many thanks to Penguin UK for an ARC.
This coming of age phase of Calista's life contrasts sharply with the older Wilder coming to terms to the harsh realities of a Hollywood that no longer has any interest in him, the times they are a changing, and its now the time of adrenaline fuelled action packed movies and a greater focus on more serious and darker themes. This is epitomised for Wilder in the financing of his film coming from Germans, Calista travels with him to Munich to film scenes there. Wilder's roots are European and his traumatic and tragic personal history is laid bare, of trying to find out what happened to his Austrian Jewish relatives, a man carrying the all too real burdens and impact of the horrors and terrors of the Nazis. It is so understandable that an anguished Wilder would concentrate on the lighter and more entertaining themes of life in his filmmaking, leaving those who are not weighed down by personal traumas more able to make movies of humanity's significantly darker sides.
Coe pays a tender and affectionate homage to Wilder with this fascinating, intimate, well researched, knowledgeable and immersive picture of Wilder's inner and outer self, the personal and the professional, what it means to be affected by the ups and downs of being in the creative industries, that is later echoed by Calista's experiences as a music composer. Insights are given of him on the film set with its ups and downs, and his often witty relationship with the screenwriter, Iz Diamond. This is a lovely, emotionally heart tugging, informative, often humorous, engaging and entertaining read, of the film industry and major players within it in this historical period, of the ageing process, and the impact of the personal on the professional, and of how we can all face similar issues, irrespective of our status and wealth. Many thanks to Penguin UK for an ARC.
November 26, 2023
Same as Fedora, the 1978 Billy Wilder film this book is revolving around, this story …shows such compassion for its characters: for its ageing characters, in particular – be they men or women – struggling to find a role for themselves in a world which is interested only in youth and novelty.
My guess is that Jonathan Coe deliberately set out to write a novel resembling, in pace and ambience, the charming story-telling of old Hollywood movies. (Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner is mentioned more than once, along with most of Wilder’s popular and less so films.) The plot feels like a modern -day fairy tale; it alternates between the life-changing encounter of a young Greek girl, Calista, with the well-known director back in the 70s, and how that meeting keeps affecting her approach to the challenges of middle age.
But the real protagonist of the novel is Billy Wilder himself; it’s his own story that evocatively demonstrates the many ways History and Chance affect people’s destinies, sometimes leading them to salvation and achievement, other times mercilessly crashing them down. It’s all part of the script called Life and how it keeps deviating from what even the best of writers, like Wilder and his long-time friend and associate I.A.L. Diamond (also present in the book), had actually plotted.
From the Greek islands of Lefkada and Corfu, where Fedora was partly shot to the Ufa Studios of pre-war Berlin, from The Bistro Restaurant in Beverly Hills to Bayerischer Hotel in Munich, from the old Ansonia Hotel in Paris where the German and Austrian émigrés lived before the war to the plush Raphael Hotel where the filming crew stayed at the time Wilder was shooting Fedora, from the BAFTA bar in Piccadilly to a brie-producing farm in Meaux, near Paris, this story takes us places; and in the travel-dry season we are all experiencing right now it’s a nice ticket for some flights of fancy.
It’s obvious that Coe did a lot of research prior to writing it. That said, I had the sense that the ample material he amassed gave birth to the story of Calista and not the other way around. Her story seems too prosaic to merit a whole novel; I think that she only served as the vehicle that enabled the narration of a bunch of other, far more interesting stories. I didn’t warm up to her younger self’s portrayal. Maybe Coe wanted to create a Cinderella-like (or more befittingly, since we’re talking about Wilder, a Sabrina-like) tenderfoot to play the part of the wide-eyed recipient of Wilder’s hard-earned wisdom. But this kind of innocence and unworldliness needs the magnetism and charm of, say, an Audrey Hepburn in order to be alluring. With the visual factor missing, it was frankly a bit boring - whereas I wanted it to be enchanting. Another case of great expectations...
Coe has never let me down so far, although he has grown into a very different author from the impudent young man who gave us What a Carve Up! , his best work in my opinion.
Admittedly, the book's theme is alluring for a movie-buff and a Wilder-enthusiast like myself. It contains many anecdotes and astute observations on movie-making and film makers, such as: …the Lubitsch approach to storytelling was the ultimate in elegance, slyness and obliqueness, underpinned by a sort of gentle, quintessentially Middle-European cynicism.
And Wilder’s own take on moviemaking: …I want my movie to be serious, I want it to be sad – but that doesn’t mean, when the audience comes out of the cinema, they feel like you’ve been holding their head down the toilet for the last two hours, you know? You have to give them something else, something a little bit elegant, a little bit beautiful. Life is ugly. We all know that. You don’t need to go to the movies to learn that life is ugly. You go because those two hours will give your life some little spark, whether it’s comedy or laughter or… just, I don’t know, some beautiful gowns and good-looking actors or something – some spark that it didn’t have before. A bit of joy, maybe.
The main character and part of the locations are related to my country. The plot, however beautiful an ending it delivers, had me thinking that the material it was based upon would better serve as one of those long, thoroughly researched New Yorker articles. It was unnecessarily verbose at times and its clichés undermined its originality. A pleasant story, nevertheless, just not as exciting as I had expected it to be. Funny, same thing seems to be true for Fedora, the film that Wilder wrote and directed. But then... nobody’s perfect! :-)
My guess is that Jonathan Coe deliberately set out to write a novel resembling, in pace and ambience, the charming story-telling of old Hollywood movies. (Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner is mentioned more than once, along with most of Wilder’s popular and less so films.) The plot feels like a modern -day fairy tale; it alternates between the life-changing encounter of a young Greek girl, Calista, with the well-known director back in the 70s, and how that meeting keeps affecting her approach to the challenges of middle age.
But the real protagonist of the novel is Billy Wilder himself; it’s his own story that evocatively demonstrates the many ways History and Chance affect people’s destinies, sometimes leading them to salvation and achievement, other times mercilessly crashing them down. It’s all part of the script called Life and how it keeps deviating from what even the best of writers, like Wilder and his long-time friend and associate I.A.L. Diamond (also present in the book), had actually plotted.
From the Greek islands of Lefkada and Corfu, where Fedora was partly shot to the Ufa Studios of pre-war Berlin, from The Bistro Restaurant in Beverly Hills to Bayerischer Hotel in Munich, from the old Ansonia Hotel in Paris where the German and Austrian émigrés lived before the war to the plush Raphael Hotel where the filming crew stayed at the time Wilder was shooting Fedora, from the BAFTA bar in Piccadilly to a brie-producing farm in Meaux, near Paris, this story takes us places; and in the travel-dry season we are all experiencing right now it’s a nice ticket for some flights of fancy.
It’s obvious that Coe did a lot of research prior to writing it. That said, I had the sense that the ample material he amassed gave birth to the story of Calista and not the other way around. Her story seems too prosaic to merit a whole novel; I think that she only served as the vehicle that enabled the narration of a bunch of other, far more interesting stories. I didn’t warm up to her younger self’s portrayal. Maybe Coe wanted to create a Cinderella-like (or more befittingly, since we’re talking about Wilder, a Sabrina-like) tenderfoot to play the part of the wide-eyed recipient of Wilder’s hard-earned wisdom. But this kind of innocence and unworldliness needs the magnetism and charm of, say, an Audrey Hepburn in order to be alluring. With the visual factor missing, it was frankly a bit boring - whereas I wanted it to be enchanting. Another case of great expectations...
Coe has never let me down so far, although he has grown into a very different author from the impudent young man who gave us What a Carve Up! , his best work in my opinion.
Admittedly, the book's theme is alluring for a movie-buff and a Wilder-enthusiast like myself. It contains many anecdotes and astute observations on movie-making and film makers, such as: …the Lubitsch approach to storytelling was the ultimate in elegance, slyness and obliqueness, underpinned by a sort of gentle, quintessentially Middle-European cynicism.
And Wilder’s own take on moviemaking: …I want my movie to be serious, I want it to be sad – but that doesn’t mean, when the audience comes out of the cinema, they feel like you’ve been holding their head down the toilet for the last two hours, you know? You have to give them something else, something a little bit elegant, a little bit beautiful. Life is ugly. We all know that. You don’t need to go to the movies to learn that life is ugly. You go because those two hours will give your life some little spark, whether it’s comedy or laughter or… just, I don’t know, some beautiful gowns and good-looking actors or something – some spark that it didn’t have before. A bit of joy, maybe.
The main character and part of the locations are related to my country. The plot, however beautiful an ending it delivers, had me thinking that the material it was based upon would better serve as one of those long, thoroughly researched New Yorker articles. It was unnecessarily verbose at times and its clichés undermined its originality. A pleasant story, nevertheless, just not as exciting as I had expected it to be. Funny, same thing seems to be true for Fedora, the film that Wilder wrote and directed. But then... nobody’s perfect! :-)
January 6, 2021
Πρώτο βιβλίο της χρονιάς!Το καλύτερο ξεκίνημα!
"Δε χρειάζεται να πας σινεμά για να μάθεις ότι η ζωή είναι άσχημη.Όλοι το ξέρουμε.Πηγαίνεις επειδή εκείνες οι δύο ώρες θα δώσουν στη ζωή σου μια μικρή σπίθα,είτε αυτό είναι κωμωδία ή γέλιο ή...(..)μια σπίθα χαράς!"
Ένας διαφορετικός Κόου σε σύγκριση με τα πέντε έργα του που έχω διαβάσει.Νοσταλγικός,ρομαντικός,με ροή γρήγορη,όχι τόσο ��ιλοσοφικός ή φλύαρος,και τέλος ιδιαίτερα σεναριακός (αν υπάρχει αυτή η λέξη).Το φαντάζομαι άνετα σε κινηματογραφική μεταφορά από τον λατρεμένο μου Γούντι Άλλεν.Δεν ξέρω αν είμαι η μόνη,αλλά ένιωθα σε όλο το έργο ότι υπήρχε στο βάθος μια μουσική(και όχι λόγω της ηρωίδας) από μια μελωδία άγνωστη αλλά ταυτόχρονα τόσο οικεία!
"Δε χρειάζεται να πας σινεμά για να μάθεις ότι η ζωή είναι άσχημη.Όλοι το ξέρουμε.Πηγαίνεις επειδή εκείνες οι δύο ώρες θα δώσουν στη ζωή σου μια μικρή σπίθα,είτε αυτό είναι κωμωδία ή γέλιο ή...(..)μια σπίθα χαράς!"
Ένας διαφορετικός Κόου σε σύγκριση με τα πέντε έργα του που έχω διαβάσει.Νοσταλγικός,ρομαντικός,με ροή γρήγορη,όχι τόσο ��ιλοσοφικός ή φλύαρος,και τέλος ιδιαίτερα σεναριακός (αν υπάρχει αυτή η λέξη).Το φαντάζομαι άνετα σε κινηματογραφική μεταφορά από τον λατρεμένο μου Γούντι Άλλεν.Δεν ξέρω αν είμαι η μόνη,αλλά ένιωθα σε όλο το έργο ότι υπήρχε στο βάθος μια μουσική(και όχι λόγω της ηρωίδας) από μια μελωδία άγνωστη αλλά ταυτόχρονα τόσο οικεία!
September 10, 2021
Ρομαντικό, τρυφερό, μελαγχολικό. Σ’ ένα άκρως νοσταλγικό βιβλίο με κινηματογραφική αφήγηση, ο Κόου μάλλον θέλει να κάνει ένα διάλειμμα από τα συνήθη θέματα που πραγματεύεται στα βιβλία του και αυτή τη φορά καταπιάνεται με το Χόλυγουντ και το διάσημο σκηνοθέτη του «Μερικοί το προτιμούν καυτό» Μπίλυ Γουάιλντερ. Ο Κόου επιλέγει σε αυτό του το μυθιστόρημα ν΄αφήσει για λίγο πίσω του τις πολιτικές αναφορές και τη βρετανική σχολή γραφής και να δοκιμάσει την τύχη σ’ ένα διαφορετικού ύφους κείμενο, προσπάθεια που κατά τη γνώμη μου στέφεται με απόλυτη επιτυχία.
Μου άρεσε πολύ και δεν ξέρω αν ήμουν η μόνη που το ένιωσα αυτό αλλά καθόλη τη διάρκεια της ανάγνωσης ένιωθα λες και είμαι κομπάρσος που συμμετέχει στα γυρίσματα μιας ταινίας. Η ροή κυλούσε με τέτοιο κινηματογραφικό τρόπο που άνετα μπορώ να φανταστώ το βιβλίο αυτό σύντομα σε κάποια κινηματογραφική αίθουσα με τη μορφή ταινίας.
Σε αυτό λοιπόν το βιβλίο ο Κόου όντας και δε χωράει αμφιβολία περί αυτού μεγάλος θαυμαστής του Γουάιλντερ, εξερευνεί τα τελευταάι χρόνια της ζωής του διάσημου σκηνοθέτη.Η αποστολή που έχει να φέρει εις πέρας μάλλον δύσκολη καθώς είναι πολύ εύκολο όντας φανατικός θαυμαστής του να περάσει τη διαχωριστική γραμμή του θαυμασμού που θα έδινε στο μυθιστορημα μια εντελώς στημένη και ψεύτικη.
Η αφήγηση ξεκινάει στο Λονδίνο με την ελληνικης καταγωγής συνθέτρια Καλλιστώ Φραγκοπούλου. Οι κόρες της είναι έτοιμες ν’ αφήσουν την οικογενειακή εστία και με αφορμή αυτό το γεγονός θα κάνει και εκείνη ένα νοσταλικό ταξίδι μνήμης και θα θυμηθεί το δικό της πρώτο ταξίδι χωρίς τους γονείς της. Σ’ ένα ταξίδι που θα της αλλάξει τη ζωή θα συναντήσει τον άγνωστο μέχρι τότε σ’ εκείνη Γουάιλντερ. Λίγο καιρό αργότερα θα βρεθεί ως διερμηνέας στην Κέρκυρα για τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας Fedora. H εποχή που γυρίζεται η Φεντόρα βρίσκει τον Γουάιλντερ στη δύση της καριέρας του. Νέοι σκηνοθέτες τοτε, σπουδαίοι και τρανοί σήμερα όπως ο Σπίλμπεργκ και ο Σκορτσέζε έρχονται να πάρουν τη θέση τους στο κινηματογραφικό στερέωμα. Η διαπίστωση αυτή βρίσκει τον Μπίλι βαθιά πληγωμένο και με σαφή δυσκολία ανεύρεσης χρηματοδότη για την ταινία του. Η συνειδητοποίηση του χρόνου που κυλά είς βάρος του δημιουργεί μια έξτρα μελαγχολική διάθεση στην αφήγηση αν και την ίδια ώρα δε χάνει την πίστη και την αισιοδοξία.
«Όσο δύσκολα και αν είναι αυτά που σου συμβαίνουν, είπε, η ζωή δε θα πάψει ποτέ να έχει κρυμμένες χαρές να σου προσφέρει. Και πρέπει να τις αδράξεις».
Η συνύπαρξη ενός ώριμου ηλικιωμένου και της νεαρής τότε Καλλιστούς που προσπαθεί να βρει τη θέση της στον κόσμο και ν’ ανακαλύψει την κλίση της. Μια ιστορία ενηλικίωσης για την Καλλιστώ που μέσα από την τριβή της με τον Μπιλι θα γνωρίσει τον εαυτό της. Ένα ξύπνημα και ένας βίος αντίθετος για τον Γουάιλντερ. Δυο αντίθετοι δρόμοι που όμως με κάποιο μαγικό τρόπο διασταυρώθηκαν δημιουργώντας κοινές αναμνήσεις. Θεατρικό, γεμάτο μυρωδιές. Μου άρεσε πολύ.
"Η ζωή είναι άσχημη. Όλοι το ξέρουμε. Δε χρειάζεται να πας σινεμά για να μάθεις ότι η ζωή είναι άσχημη. Πηγαίνεις εκείνες οι δύο ώρες θα δώσουν στη ζωή σου μια μικρή σπίθα, είτε αυτό είναι κωμωδία ή γέλιο ή...απλώς, δεν ξέρω, μερικές όμορφες τουαλέτες και γοητευτικοί ηθοποιοί ή κάτι τέλος πάντων- μια σπίθα που δεν υπήρχε πριν. Μια σπίθα χαράς, ίσως".
Μου άρεσε πολύ και δεν ξέρω αν ήμουν η μόνη που το ένιωσα αυτό αλλά καθόλη τη διάρκεια της ανάγνωσης ένιωθα λες και είμαι κομπάρσος που συμμετέχει στα γυρίσματα μιας ταινίας. Η ροή κυλούσε με τέτοιο κινηματογραφικό τρόπο που άνετα μπορώ να φανταστώ το βιβλίο αυτό σύντομα σε κάποια κινηματογραφική αίθουσα με τη μορφή ταινίας.
Σε αυτό λοιπόν το βιβλίο ο Κόου όντας και δε χωράει αμφιβολία περί αυτού μεγάλος θαυμαστής του Γουάιλντερ, εξερευνεί τα τελευταάι χρόνια της ζωής του διάσημου σκηνοθέτη.Η αποστολή που έχει να φέρει εις πέρας μάλλον δύσκολη καθώς είναι πολύ εύκολο όντας φανατικός θαυμαστής του να περάσει τη διαχωριστική γραμμή του θαυμασμού που θα έδινε στο μυθιστορημα μια εντελώς στημένη και ψεύτικη.
Η αφήγηση ξεκινάει στο Λονδίνο με την ελληνικης καταγωγής συνθέτρια Καλλιστώ Φραγκοπούλου. Οι κόρες της είναι έτοιμες ν’ αφήσουν την οικογενειακή εστία και με αφορμή αυτό το γεγονός θα κάνει και εκείνη ένα νοσταλικό ταξίδι μνήμης και θα θυμηθεί το δικό της πρώτο ταξίδι χωρίς τους γονείς της. Σ’ ένα ταξίδι που θα της αλλάξει τη ζωή θα συναντήσει τον άγνωστο μέχρι τότε σ’ εκείνη Γουάιλντερ. Λίγο καιρό αργότερα θα βρεθεί ως διερμηνέας στην Κέρκυρα για τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας Fedora. H εποχή που γυρίζεται η Φεντόρα βρίσκει τον Γουάιλντερ στη δύση της καριέρας του. Νέοι σκηνοθέτες τοτε, σπουδαίοι και τρανοί σήμερα όπως ο Σπίλμπεργκ και ο Σκορτσέζε έρχονται να πάρουν τη θέση τους στο κινηματογραφικό στερέωμα. Η διαπίστωση αυτή βρίσκει τον Μπίλι βαθιά πληγωμένο και με σαφή δυσκολία ανεύρεσης χρηματοδότη για την ταινία του. Η συνειδητοποίηση του χρόνου που κυλά είς βάρος του δημιουργεί μια έξτρα μελαγχολική διάθεση στην αφήγηση αν και την ίδια ώρα δε χάνει την πίστη και την αισιοδοξία.
«Όσο δύσκολα και αν είναι αυτά που σου συμβαίνουν, είπε, η ζωή δε θα πάψει ποτέ να έχει κρυμμένες χαρές να σου προσφέρει. Και πρέπει να τις αδράξεις».
Η συνύπαρξη ενός ώριμου ηλικιωμένου και της νεαρής τότε Καλλιστούς που προσπαθεί να βρει τη θέση της στον κόσμο και ν’ ανακαλύψει την κλίση της. Μια ιστορία ενηλικίωσης για την Καλλιστώ που μέσα από την τριβή της με τον Μπιλι θα γνωρίσει τον εαυτό της. Ένα ξύπνημα και ένας βίος αντίθετος για τον Γουάιλντερ. Δυο αντίθετοι δρόμοι που όμως με κάποιο μαγικό τρόπο διασταυρώθηκαν δημιουργώντας κοινές αναμνήσεις. Θεατρικό, γεμάτο μυρωδιές. Μου άρεσε πολύ.
"Η ζωή είναι άσχημη. Όλοι το ξέρουμε. Δε χρειάζεται να πας σινεμά για να μάθεις ότι η ζωή είναι άσχημη. Πηγαίνεις εκείνες οι δύο ώρες θα δώσουν στη ζωή σου μια μικρή σπίθα, είτε αυτό είναι κωμωδία ή γέλιο ή...απλώς, δεν ξέρω, μερικές όμορφες τουαλέτες και γοητευτικοί ηθοποιοί ή κάτι τέλος πάντων- μια σπίθα που δεν υπήρχε πριν. Μια σπίθα χαράς, ίσως".
December 4, 2020
Βαθμολογία: 9/10
Αυτό είναι μόλις το τρίτο βιβλίο του Τζόναθαν Κόου που διαβάζω, μετά το εξαιρετικό "Αριθμός 11" που διάβασα τον Ιούλιο του 2016 και το πολύ καλό "Expo 58" που διάβασα τον Μάιο του 2018, και δεν έχω παρά να δηλώσω για άλλη μια φορά εξαιρετικά ικανοποιημένος, τόσο από την όλη ιστορία, όσο κυρίως από τη γραφή και τη γενικότερη ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου.
Λοιπόν, ας ξεκινήσω λίγο από τον σκηνοθέτη Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ, που είναι οπωσδήποτε από τους κορυφαίους όλων των εποχών: Έχω δει μονάχα πέντε ταινίες του μέχρι τώρα, και θα περίμενε κανείς ότι η όχι και τόσο γνωστή ταινία Fedora του 1978 -που αποτελεί βασικό στοιχείο της πλοκής του βιβλίου-, δύσκολα θα ήταν μια από αυτές τις πέντε. Έλα όμως που πέρυσι τον Ιανουάριο την έδειξε η ΕΡΤ, και την είδα από σπόντα. Και πραγματικά την απόλαυσα. Σίγουρα δεν φτάνει το επίπεδο των άλλων δικών του που έχω δει ("Μερικοί το προτιμούν καυτό", "Η γκαρσονιέρα", "Έρωτας το απόγευμα" και "Το τελευταίο ατού" - πόσο τρομερή είναι η τελευταία; Πραγματικά εξαιρετική!), όμως έχει στοιχεία που την κάνουν ξεχωριστή και ιδιαίτερη. Έτσι, μόλις είδα ότι θα κυκλοφορούσε τόσο σύντομα στα ελληνικά ένα μυθιστόρημα του Κόου σχετικά με τον Γουάιλντερ, ενθουσιάστηκα.
Ναι, είναι ένα πολύ, πολύ όμορφο και καλογραμμένο μυθιστόρημα, που αποτελεί ιστορία ενηλικίωσης της αφηγήτριας, και παράλληλα ένα πορτρέτο μιας τεράστιας προσωπικότητας του αμερικάνικου κινηματογράφου, του Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ, η καριέρα του οποίου οδεύει προς το τέλος της, μάλλον άδοξα σε σχέση με αυτά που δημιούργησε και πέτυχε τις προηγούμενες δεκαετίες. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι ο Κόου κατάφερε να αναδείξει τον άνθρωπο Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ, έστω και μέσω της νεαρής αφηγήτριας, που κάλλιστα θα μπορούσε να είναι και αληθινό πρόσωπο. Δεν ξέρω, ένιωσα ότι τον γνώρισα σαν άνθρωπο, πήρα λίγο μάτι από τη ζωή και την εξέλιξή του, είδα σε έναν βαθμό τον τρόπο σκέψης του, το πώς έβλεπε τα πράγματα για τις ταινίες αλλά και τη ζωή γενικότερα. Η γραφή είναι, φυσικά, καταπληκτική, οξυδερκής και σε σημεία χειμαρρώδης, ο Κόου αγγίζει και κάποια στενάχωρα θέματα με τρόπο όμως που δεν σε καταθλίβει, αλλά που όμως σε κάνει να σκέφτεσαι, ενώ παράλληλα σε ταξιδεύει πίσω στον χρόνο και σου δίνει τη δυνατότητα να δεις λίγο από τα παρασκήνια των γυρισμάτων μιας κινηματογραφικής ταινίας.
Πρόκειται για ένα γλυκόπικρο μυθιστόρημα, με έντονη νοσταλγική διάθεση και κάποιες νότες μελαγχολίας, που προσφέρει μεγάλη αναγνωστική απόλαυση, ενώ αν μη τι άλλο έχει την ικανότητα να δώσει το έναυσμα στους αναγνώστες για να εξερευνήσουν εις βάθος το έργο του Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ (ίσως και άλλων σκηνοθετών/σεναριογράφων που αναφέρονται στο βιβλίο), κάτι φυσικά εξαιρετικά ευπρόσδεκτο και εποικοδομητικό. Εγώ, πάντως, θα δω άμεσα μια ταινία του, αν και δεν έχω αποφασίσει ακόμα ποια. Ίσως δω στο καπάκι δυο-τρεις, θα μου το απαγορέψει κανείς;
Αυτό είναι μόλις το τρίτο βιβλίο του Τζόναθαν Κόου που διαβάζω, μετά το εξαιρετικό "Αριθμός 11" που διάβασα τον Ιούλιο του 2016 και το πολύ καλό "Expo 58" που διάβασα τον Μάιο του 2018, και δεν έχω παρά να δηλώσω για άλλη μια φορά εξαιρετικά ικανοποιημένος, τόσο από την όλη ιστορία, όσο κυρίως από τη γραφή και τη γενικότερη ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου.
Λοιπόν, ας ξεκινήσω λίγο από τον σκηνοθέτη Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ, που είναι οπωσδήποτε από τους κορυφαίους όλων των εποχών: Έχω δει μονάχα πέντε ταινίες του μέχρι τώρα, και θα περίμενε κανείς ότι η όχι και τόσο γνωστή ταινία Fedora του 1978 -που αποτελεί βασικό στοιχείο της πλοκής του βιβλίου-, δύσκολα θα ήταν μια από αυτές τις πέντε. Έλα όμως που πέρυσι τον Ιανουάριο την έδειξε η ΕΡΤ, και την είδα από σπόντα. Και πραγματικά την απόλαυσα. Σίγουρα δεν φτάνει το επίπεδο των άλλων δικών του που έχω δει ("Μερικοί το προτιμούν καυτό", "Η γκαρσονιέρα", "Έρωτας το απόγευμα" και "Το τελευταίο ατού" - πόσο τρομερή είναι η τελευταία; Πραγματικά εξαιρετική!), όμως έχει στοιχεία που την κάνουν ξεχωριστή και ιδιαίτερη. Έτσι, μόλις είδα ότι θα κυκλοφορούσε τόσο σύντομα στα ελληνικά ένα μυθιστόρημα του Κόου σχετικά με τον Γουάιλντερ, ενθουσιάστηκα.
Ναι, είναι ένα πολύ, πολύ όμορφο και καλογραμμένο μυθιστόρημα, που αποτελεί ιστορία ενηλικίωσης της αφηγήτριας, και παράλληλα ένα πορτρέτο μιας τεράστιας προσωπικότητας του αμερικάνικου κινηματογράφου, του Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ, η καριέρα του οποίου οδεύει προς το τέλος της, μάλλον άδοξα σε σχέση με αυτά που δημιούργησε και πέτυχε τις προηγούμενες δεκαετίες. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι ο Κόου κατάφερε να αναδείξει τον άνθρωπο Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ, έστω και μέσω της νεαρής αφηγήτριας, που κάλλιστα θα μπορούσε να είναι και αληθινό πρόσωπο. Δεν ξέρω, ένιωσα ότι τον γνώρισα σαν άνθρωπο, πήρα λίγο μάτι από τη ζωή και την εξέλιξή του, είδα σε έναν βαθμό τον τρόπο σκέψης του, το πώς έβλεπε τα πράγματα για τις ταινίες αλλά και τη ζωή γενικότερα. Η γραφή είναι, φυσικά, καταπληκτική, οξυδερκής και σε σημεία χειμαρρώδης, ο Κόου αγγίζει και κάποια στενάχωρα θέματα με τρόπο όμως που δεν σε καταθλίβει, αλλά που όμως σε κάνει να σκέφτεσαι, ενώ παράλληλα σε ταξιδεύει πίσω στον χρόνο και σου δίνει τη δυνατότητα να δεις λίγο από τα παρασκήνια των γυρισμάτων μιας κινηματογραφικής ταινίας.
Πρόκειται για ένα γλυκόπικρο μυθιστόρημα, με έντονη νοσταλγική διάθεση και κάποιες νότες μελαγχολίας, που προσφέρει μεγάλη αναγνωστική απόλαυση, ενώ αν μη τι άλλο έχει την ικανότητα να δώσει το έναυσμα στους αναγνώστες για να εξερευνήσουν εις βάθος το έργο του Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ (ίσως και άλλων σκηνοθετών/σεναριογράφων που αναφέρονται στο βιβλίο), κάτι φυσικά εξαιρετικά ευπρόσδεκτο και εποικοδομητικό. Εγώ, πάντως, θα δω άμεσα μια ταινία του, αν και δεν έχω αποφασίσει ακόμα ποια. Ίσως δω στο καπάκι δυο-τρεις, θα μου το απαγορέψει κανείς;
August 19, 2020
Life is ugly. We all know that. You don't need to go to the movies to learn that life is ugly. You go because those two hours will give your life some little spark, whether it's comedy or laughter or... just, I don't know, some beautiful gowns and good-looking actors or something... some spark that it didn't have before. A bit of joy, maybe.
This is an amiable novel that felt a bit inconsequential through much of its length as almost-sixty year old Cal recalls her youth when she fell into a job working for Billy Wilder. Film buffs will probably lap up all the insider gossip and details as Wilder is making Fedora.
It's only quite near the end that some kind of deeper meaning came into focus for me as two types of film-making, or creativity more generally, are brought into tension with each other: the turning away from pain approach of Wilder who used frivolity, comedy and humour to hold tragedy at bay, and the contrasting embracing of anguish, epitomised in the book specifically by Spielberg's Schindler's List, though directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola are name-checked too.
The 'now' story of Calista feels rather superimposed on the more interesting tale of her youth, and this is notably less funny than other books of Coe's that I've read: there's a whimsical moment when Wilder makes fun of Hollywood's obsession with sharks following the box-office success of Jaws but generally this is more warm and generous in spirit than hilarious.
Thanks to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley
August 24, 2020
Mr Wilder and Me (2020) is the ever reliable Jonathan Coe's latest novel. It's utterly charming. I was engrossed from the off. The multiple, interconnected narratives are all absorbing however the main one, about the making of Billy Wilder's 1978 film Fedora is completely beguiling. If you are interested in cinema, and most especially the work of Billy Wilder, this book becomes even more enjoyable. By the end, somewhat predictably, I had a tear in my eye and a smile on my face.
5/5
5/5
January 2, 2021
Αγαπώ προκαταβολικά τα βιβλία που συνδυάζουν τη λογοτεχνία με τον κινηματογράφο, πόσο μάλλον όταν αφορούν έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους σκηνοθέτες (κι εξυπνότερους ανθρώπους γενικά) της χρυσής εποχής του Χόλιγουντ, τον δημιουργό αριστουργημάτων όπως τα Η Λεωφόρος της Δύσης, Μερικοί το Προτιμούν Καυτό, Η Γκαρσονιέρα, Double Idemnity και πολλών άλλων, δηλαδή τον Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ.
Με αφορμή μια από τις ήσσονος σημασίας δημιουργίες της φιλμογραφίας του Γουάιλντερ, τη Fedora του 1978, ο Κόου περιγράφει (ή μάλλον αναπλάθει, καθώς πρόκειται για μυθοπλασία) τα γυρίσματα μέσα από τις αναμνήσεις της Καλλιστώς, μιας μεσήλικης ελληνικής καταγωγής συνθέτριας μουσικής για το σινεμά, που βρέθηκε ως νεαρή και ανερ��άτιστη καθηγήτρια αγγλικών μετά από μια σειρά συμπτώσεων εκεί ως διερμηνέας του συνεργείου στην Κέρκυρα και τη Λευκάδα.
Ο Γουάιλντερ, στη δύση της καριέρας του, φιλοδοξούσε με αυτή την ταινία να κάνει τη θριαμβευτική επανεμφάνιση του με εκείνο το είδος της κλασικής bigger than life ταινίας που είχε ίντριγκα, χλιδή και πάθη, εκείνα τα συστατικά δηλαδή που στα τέλη της δεκαετίας του 70 είχαν περάσει ανεπιστρεπτί στη λήθη και είχαν αντικατασταθεί από το πιο γήινο και κοντινό στην πραγματική ζωή σινεμά της αμφισβήτησης, με σκηνοθέτες όπως ο Σπίλμπεργκ και ο Κόπολα.
Κι αν το αποτέλεσμα ήταν μάλλον καταδικασμένο από την αρχή, καθώς η δυσκολία της χρηματοδότησης οδήγησε τον σκηνοθέτη στην Ευρώπη, όπου ακόμα αντιμετωπιζόταν ως μύθος, στα γερμανικά κεφάλαια και στα γυρίσματα σε Γερμανία, Γαλλία και Ελλάδα, ο Γουάιλντερ, ως άλλος Δον Κιχώτης, με Σάντσο Πάντσα τον φίλο και σεναριογράφο του, Ίζακ Ντάιαμοντ, ρίχτηκε στα γυρίσματα με τον ρομαντισμό του γνήσιου καλλιτέχνη που ζει για το όραμά του με κάθε τίμημα, προσκολλημένος σε έναν κινηματογράφο άλλων εποχών, τον οποίο εκείνος άλλωστε έχτισε, χαρίζοντας τις πιο εμβληματικές στιγμές του. Και κάπως έτσι, εντελώς ειρωνικά, η Fedora, μια αντίστροφη ανάγνωση της Λεωφόρου της Δύσης των 11 υποψηφιοτήτων για Όσκαρ, δεν προτάθηκε ούτε για ένα και ξεχάστηκε γρήγορα, όπως όλη η ύστερη περίοδος του Γουάιλντερ.
Αν και η σύνδεση του παρόντος της Καλλιστώς και των οικογενειακών και καλλιτεχνικών προβλημάτων που αντιμετωπίζει με το παρελθόν της γνωριμίας της με τον Γουάιλντερ και των γυρισμάτων του Φεντόρα είναι (κατά τη γνώμη μου) μάλλον ισχνή και χρησιμεύει περισσότερο ως ένα αφηγηματικό τέχνασμα για την παράλληλη αφήγηση, ο Κόου βρίσκεται στα καλύτερά του όταν, με την ανάλαφρη στωικότητα και το τυπικά συγκρατημένο βρετανικό φλέγμα που τον χαρακτηρίζουν, μιλάει για τη σαγήνη και την παγίδα της νοσταλγίας, την ανάγκη να ξορκίζεις δημιουργικά και μέσα από την τέχνη τους δαίμονές σου, τη δυσκολία να συμβιβαστείς με το παρελθόν της ακμής και της νιότης κι ένα παρόν που αρχίζει να σε προσπερνάει. Και φυσικά, με απόλυτο σεβασμό στον μύθο του Γουάιλντερ, ο Κόου του χαρίζει εκείνες τις πνευματώδεις ατάκες που τον έκαναν θρύλο κι εμπλουτίζει την αφήγηση με παραλειπόμενα από όλη τη φιλμογραφία του σκηνοθέτη, σε ένα γλυκόπικρο σινεφιλικό και λογοτεχνικό ταξίδι.
Τελειώνοντας το βιβλίο θες να (ξανα)δεις τη Fedora, να φας μπρι (το τυρί παίζει το δικό του απολαυστικό ρόλο της αφήγηση) και να διαβάσεις περισσότερο Κόου. Ίσως και να δεις με άλλο μάτι την ίδια σου τη ζωή. Ο Γουάιλντερ, άλλωστε, τελείωσε την Γκαρσονιέρα με το αλησμόνητο Shut up and deal.
Με αφορμή μια από τις ήσσονος σημασίας δημιουργίες της φιλμογραφίας του Γουάιλντερ, τη Fedora του 1978, ο Κόου περιγράφει (ή μάλλον αναπλάθει, καθώς πρόκειται για μυθοπλασία) τα γυρίσματα μέσα από τις αναμνήσεις της Καλλιστώς, μιας μεσήλικης ελληνικής καταγωγής συνθέτριας μουσικής για το σινεμά, που βρέθηκε ως νεαρή και ανερ��άτιστη καθηγήτρια αγγλικών μετά από μια σειρά συμπτώσεων εκεί ως διερμηνέας του συνεργείου στην Κέρκυρα και τη Λευκάδα.
Ο Γουάιλντερ, στη δύση της καριέρας του, φιλοδοξούσε με αυτή την ταινία να κάνει τη θριαμβευτική επανεμφάνιση του με εκείνο το είδος της κλασικής bigger than life ταινίας που είχε ίντριγκα, χλιδή και πάθη, εκείνα τα συστατικά δηλαδή που στα τέλη της δεκαετίας του 70 είχαν περάσει ανεπιστρεπτί στη λήθη και είχαν αντικατασταθεί από το πιο γήινο και κοντινό στην πραγματική ζωή σινεμά της αμφισβήτησης, με σκηνοθέτες όπως ο Σπίλμπεργκ και ο Κόπολα.
Κι αν το αποτέλεσμα ήταν μάλλον καταδικασμένο από την αρχή, καθώς η δυσκολία της χρηματοδότησης οδήγησε τον σκηνοθέτη στην Ευρώπη, όπου ακόμα αντιμετωπιζόταν ως μύθος, στα γερμανικά κεφάλαια και στα γυρίσματα σε Γερμανία, Γαλλία και Ελλάδα, ο Γουάιλντερ, ως άλλος Δον Κιχώτης, με Σάντσο Πάντσα τον φίλο και σεναριογράφο του, Ίζακ Ντάιαμοντ, ρίχτηκε στα γυρίσματα με τον ρομαντισμό του γνήσιου καλλιτέχνη που ζει για το όραμά του με κάθε τίμημα, προσκολλημένος σε έναν κινηματογράφο άλλων εποχών, τον οποίο εκείνος άλλωστε έχτισε, χαρίζοντας τις πιο εμβληματικές στιγμές του. Και κάπως έτσι, εντελώς ειρωνικά, η Fedora, μια αντίστροφη ανάγνωση της Λεωφόρου της Δύσης των 11 υποψηφιοτήτων για Όσκαρ, δεν προτάθηκε ούτε για ένα και ξεχάστηκε γρήγορα, όπως όλη η ύστερη περίοδος του Γουάιλντερ.
Αν και η σύνδεση του παρόντος της Καλλιστώς και των οικογενειακών και καλλιτεχνικών προβλημάτων που αντιμετωπίζει με το παρελθόν της γνωριμίας της με τον Γουάιλντερ και των γυρισμάτων του Φεντόρα είναι (κατά τη γνώμη μου) μάλλον ισχνή και χρησιμεύει περισσότερο ως ένα αφηγηματικό τέχνασμα για την παράλληλη αφήγηση, ο Κόου βρίσκεται στα καλύτερά του όταν, με την ανάλαφρη στωικότητα και το τυπικά συγκρατημένο βρετανικό φλέγμα που τον χαρακτηρίζουν, μιλάει για τη σαγήνη και την παγίδα της νοσταλγίας, την ανάγκη να ξορκίζεις δημιουργικά και μέσα από την τέχνη τους δαίμονές σου, τη δυσκολία να συμβιβαστείς με το παρελθόν της ακμής και της νιότης κι ένα παρόν που αρχίζει να σε προσπερνάει. Και φυσικά, με απόλυτο σεβασμό στον μύθο του Γουάιλντερ, ο Κόου του χαρίζει εκείνες τις πνευματώδεις ατάκες που τον έκαναν θρύλο κι εμπλουτίζει την αφήγηση με παραλειπόμενα από όλη τη φιλμογραφία του σκηνοθέτη, σε ένα γλυκόπικρο σινεφιλικό και λογοτεχνικό ταξίδι.
Τελειώνοντας το βιβλίο θες να (ξανα)δεις τη Fedora, να φας μπρι (το τυρί παίζει το δικό του απολαυστικό ρόλο της αφήγηση) και να διαβάσεις περισσότερο Κόου. Ίσως και να δεις με άλλο μάτι την ίδια σου τη ζωή. Ο Γουάιλντερ, άλλωστε, τελείωσε την Γκαρσονιέρα με το αλησμόνητο Shut up and deal.
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December 17, 2020Λατρεύω τα βιβλία του Jonathan Coe, λατρεύω τις ταινίες του Billy Wilder - και ειδικά την αλλόκοτη γοητευτική Fedora του - πως θα μπορούσα λοιπόν να μη λατρέψω αυτό το τόσο τρυφερό και βαθιά ανθρώπινο νέο του μυθιστόρημα; Το μόνο κακό με κάθε καινούργιο έργο του Coe είναι ότι τελειώνει γρήγορα κι ανυπομονείς για το επόμενο.
October 2, 2020
Fifty-something film music composer Calista looks back on her youth when, in the summer of 1977, she worked on the Billy Wilder movie Fedora and got to know the personable director.
I know - from the summary above you can tell it’s not a plot-heavy novel! But Jonathan Coe’s latest, while not as great as his last couple books have been, was a fairly interesting mix of fiction and non-fiction.
The way Coe wrote Wilder was easily the most enjoyable part of the book. He very masterfully brings to life someone I only know the name of - I’ve not seen any of his movies and, before I properly looked into this book, thought the novel was going to be about the actor Gene “Willy Wonka/Young Frankenstein” Wilder! - showing us his big personality, his wit and charm, warmth and intelligence. If a book isn’t going to be story-driven then its characters need to make up for that and Coe’s Wilder did just that.
It’s not just about the making of Wilder’s 1978 movie Fedora but also about his long and interesting life, starting out in Europe, finally selling a script to Hollywood, making his name there, and then coming back post-war and seeing the devastation of his homeland. And I think here is Coe’s main point of the book: about the difference between pre- and post-war film directors.
Wilder, in his autobiographical monologue (presented as a screenplay, which was a nice touch), talks about coming back to Europe after the war and being asked to put together reels and reels of footage taken from the Nazis’ concentration camps and, understandably, being shaken. Wilder’s known for his lighter movies and possibly dismissed at the time we first meet him - the late ‘70s - for not being as serious as the new wave of “bearded young men” like Scorsese and Spielberg.
Then he talks about trying to buy the rights to Thomas Keneally’s novel Schindler’s Ark, which was eventually adapted by Spielberg as Schindler’s List. But then Wilder says he wouldn’t have made as good a film as Spielberg anyway, and I think that’s because Wilder saw the raw footage of the Holocaust and was one of the first people to assemble it for presentation to the world. His reaction to such trauma was to keep it at arm’s length by making comedic, fun movies; Spielberg and the other post-war directors are able to so fully embrace darkness on film because they never had to face it in reality like Wilder did.
It’s a thoughtful point and, like the concept of this novel, makes me wonder what drove Coe to pursue it and turn it into this book. Movies have always been a feature of his novels so it’s not totally surprising but it’s still a strange choice. It is fascinating though to see a great public figure at the tail end of their career and life and seeing how they handle diminished fame and fortune.
The novel’s framing device of Calista in her 50s looking back is dull and makes for a slow entrance into the novel proper - I suppose it was needed to jump around in Wilder’s life to show him at different points after the Fedora shoot but it’s not terribly engrossing. Nor is much about Calista as a character - her film ignorance, her loves; eh, I didn’t care and her reciting film trivia word for word isn’t as funny as Coe thinks.
It’s also a very easy to put down book because there’s no real tension or overarching story that’s setting a pace and making you keep turning the pages. The Fedora shoot wasn’t dramatic or that special, though you learn that Wilder’s directing style was quite stiff - insisting that each word be read as it appears in the script with zero improvisation from the actor - which upset the lead actress in the early days of filming.
The book is very informative though. I knew nothing about Billy Wilder before reading it and now know a great deal about him both personally and professionally - and I’ll keep an eye out for his movies in the future and see what he was like as a visual storyteller.
Like the comparison of the two movies Calista goes to see towards the end of the book - Taxi Driver and The Shop Around the Corner - Mr Wilder and Me is not an exciting, dangerous story like Scorses’s masterpiece but more like the amiable and warm Ernst Lubitsch film, and deliberately so. Wilder loved Lubitsch and chose to make films like his - it’s fitting that Coe should write a novel about Wilder in the same vein.
And that’s what Mr Wilder and Me is: a thoughtful, pleasant read if not that compelling or memorable a narrative, with an excellent portrait of a larger-than-life film artist at its core. I liked it well enough but it’s not among Jonathan Coe’s best novels.
I know - from the summary above you can tell it’s not a plot-heavy novel! But Jonathan Coe’s latest, while not as great as his last couple books have been, was a fairly interesting mix of fiction and non-fiction.
The way Coe wrote Wilder was easily the most enjoyable part of the book. He very masterfully brings to life someone I only know the name of - I’ve not seen any of his movies and, before I properly looked into this book, thought the novel was going to be about the actor Gene “Willy Wonka/Young Frankenstein” Wilder! - showing us his big personality, his wit and charm, warmth and intelligence. If a book isn’t going to be story-driven then its characters need to make up for that and Coe’s Wilder did just that.
It’s not just about the making of Wilder’s 1978 movie Fedora but also about his long and interesting life, starting out in Europe, finally selling a script to Hollywood, making his name there, and then coming back post-war and seeing the devastation of his homeland. And I think here is Coe’s main point of the book: about the difference between pre- and post-war film directors.
Wilder, in his autobiographical monologue (presented as a screenplay, which was a nice touch), talks about coming back to Europe after the war and being asked to put together reels and reels of footage taken from the Nazis’ concentration camps and, understandably, being shaken. Wilder’s known for his lighter movies and possibly dismissed at the time we first meet him - the late ‘70s - for not being as serious as the new wave of “bearded young men” like Scorsese and Spielberg.
Then he talks about trying to buy the rights to Thomas Keneally’s novel Schindler’s Ark, which was eventually adapted by Spielberg as Schindler’s List. But then Wilder says he wouldn’t have made as good a film as Spielberg anyway, and I think that’s because Wilder saw the raw footage of the Holocaust and was one of the first people to assemble it for presentation to the world. His reaction to such trauma was to keep it at arm’s length by making comedic, fun movies; Spielberg and the other post-war directors are able to so fully embrace darkness on film because they never had to face it in reality like Wilder did.
It’s a thoughtful point and, like the concept of this novel, makes me wonder what drove Coe to pursue it and turn it into this book. Movies have always been a feature of his novels so it’s not totally surprising but it’s still a strange choice. It is fascinating though to see a great public figure at the tail end of their career and life and seeing how they handle diminished fame and fortune.
The novel’s framing device of Calista in her 50s looking back is dull and makes for a slow entrance into the novel proper - I suppose it was needed to jump around in Wilder’s life to show him at different points after the Fedora shoot but it’s not terribly engrossing. Nor is much about Calista as a character - her film ignorance, her loves; eh, I didn’t care and her reciting film trivia word for word isn’t as funny as Coe thinks.
It’s also a very easy to put down book because there’s no real tension or overarching story that’s setting a pace and making you keep turning the pages. The Fedora shoot wasn’t dramatic or that special, though you learn that Wilder’s directing style was quite stiff - insisting that each word be read as it appears in the script with zero improvisation from the actor - which upset the lead actress in the early days of filming.
The book is very informative though. I knew nothing about Billy Wilder before reading it and now know a great deal about him both personally and professionally - and I’ll keep an eye out for his movies in the future and see what he was like as a visual storyteller.
Like the comparison of the two movies Calista goes to see towards the end of the book - Taxi Driver and The Shop Around the Corner - Mr Wilder and Me is not an exciting, dangerous story like Scorses’s masterpiece but more like the amiable and warm Ernst Lubitsch film, and deliberately so. Wilder loved Lubitsch and chose to make films like his - it’s fitting that Coe should write a novel about Wilder in the same vein.
And that’s what Mr Wilder and Me is: a thoughtful, pleasant read if not that compelling or memorable a narrative, with an excellent portrait of a larger-than-life film artist at its core. I liked it well enough but it’s not among Jonathan Coe’s best novels.
August 26, 2021
When I reviewed Coe's last novel Middle England, I started by saying "For me, Jonathan Coe's novels feel like a form of literary comfort food or guilty pleasure". That statement applies just as much this time round - once again the book is warm, witty and perceptive, though if I were being hypercritical I would say that all the best lines in it are direct quotes from Wilder. I should also say that I am no film buff, so won't comment on the cinema history and film criticism elements.
The core story is Wilder's - specifically his 1978 film Fedora, a low-budget film about an ageing actress that was funded by a German company after he failed to interest Hollywood's major players, and also his past as a German Jew who escaped to Hollywood via Paris in the early stages of Nazi rule but left behind a family who were not so lucky. The narrative framework is provided by the narrator Calista, an entirely fictional composer of film music and mother of young adult children, who is also now looking back at her life in late middle age and thinking she is no longer needed. Calista recounts her unlikely meeting with Wilder, and her involvement in the filming of Fedora, initially in Greece as an interpreter and then in Munich as a PA for Wilder's writing partner Iz Diamond.
As always with Coe, the story is a pleasure to read, but I can't quite bring myself to give it five stars because I can see the authorial machinery rather too clearly.
The core story is Wilder's - specifically his 1978 film Fedora, a low-budget film about an ageing actress that was funded by a German company after he failed to interest Hollywood's major players, and also his past as a German Jew who escaped to Hollywood via Paris in the early stages of Nazi rule but left behind a family who were not so lucky. The narrative framework is provided by the narrator Calista, an entirely fictional composer of film music and mother of young adult children, who is also now looking back at her life in late middle age and thinking she is no longer needed. Calista recounts her unlikely meeting with Wilder, and her involvement in the filming of Fedora, initially in Greece as an interpreter and then in Munich as a PA for Wilder's writing partner Iz Diamond.
As always with Coe, the story is a pleasure to read, but I can't quite bring myself to give it five stars because I can see the authorial machinery rather too clearly.
October 9, 2020
Don't be alarmed, but Jonathan Coe has just resurrected my late father, I.A.L. Diamond. He has also performed this miracle on Mr. Billy Wilder. We see this feat through the eyes of Calista, a young Anglo-Greek woman who weightlessly falls from a gap year trip into the Bavarian den of the two ageing lions, making their final stab at cinematic relevance in the last notable Wilder film, "Fedora". Mr. Coe has always used cinema, good and bad, to illuminate aspects of character and society, and he's done it here with wit and affection and gravitas. And yes, I am currently in tears.
April 18, 2021
Εξαιρετικό! Εντελώς διαφορετικό από ό,τι άλλο έχω διαβάσει από Κόου κι ίσως εκεί να βρίσκεται κι η υπεροχή του, στη μοναδικότητά του. Ευκολοδιάβαστο, αλλά όχι εύπεπτο.
Η νεαρή Καλλιστώ σε μια εξόρμησή της στην Αμερική γνωρίζει τον σκηνοθέτη Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ. Λίγο μετά, εντελώς απρόσμενα, θα βρεθεί στα γυρίσματα της καινούργιας του ταινίας στην Ελλάδα.
Μέσα από αρκετές αναφορές στον Β' Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο και με μια αρκετά καυστική διάθεση απέναντι στον Χολυγουντιανό κινηματογράφο ο Κόου καταφέρνει να μας χαρίσει ένα υπέροχο βιβλίο, μέσα από το οποίο ακολουθούμε τη νεαρή Καλλιστώ να μεταβαίνει από την απόλυτη αθωότητα στην ενηλικίωση και, κατά τη δική μου άποψη, τον ίδιο τον Κόου μέσα από τα μάτια του Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ.
Στα συν του βιβλίου η άψογη μετάφραση.
Η νεαρή Καλλιστώ σε μια εξόρμησή της στην Αμερική γνωρίζει τον σκηνοθέτη Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ. Λίγο μετά, εντελώς απρόσμενα, θα βρεθεί στα γυρίσματα της καινούργιας του ταινίας στην Ελλάδα.
Μέσα από αρκετές αναφορές στον Β' Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο και με μια αρκετά καυστική διάθεση απέναντι στον Χολυγουντιανό κινηματογράφο ο Κόου καταφέρνει να μας χαρίσει ένα υπέροχο βιβλίο, μέσα από το οποίο ακολουθούμε τη νεαρή Καλλιστώ να μεταβαίνει από την απόλυτη αθωότητα στην ενηλικίωση και, κατά τη δική μου άποψη, τον ίδιο τον Κόου μέσα από τα μάτια του Μπίλι Γουάιλντερ.
Στα συν του βιβλίου η άψογη μετάφραση.
January 26, 2021
“When the world is catapulting towards change, do you hold on for dear life or decide it’s time to let go?”
This story is another delicious example of the blended fact and fiction novels, which are becoming so popular now, and this one is executed to perfection, by an author who is new to me.
No fast-paced action, in fact, no rushing whatsoever. No in-depth twisted storyline to unravel, or dark and hidden clues to fathom, no ‘bad guy’ to chase down. This is simply a story to luxuriate in, to savour every word and nuance, to get to know the characters, and to fully appreciate the quality of the well edited research and exquisite prose, which put me completely at ease and nicely relaxed. It seems that for almost everyone who has read and reviewed this book, the journey has been a unique and totally different experience to that of the next person, so opening that first page really needs to happen without any pre conceived ideas about the storyline, or expectations for an outcome. You simply need to enjoy the ride!
Narrated in a single voice, that of Calista herself, this is a story told in dual time frames, spanning several decades and finds her visiting many different countries, whilst enjoying various new, exciting and life-changing experiences. It is therefore even more astonishing to discover that in fact, the characters of Calista and her family are just about the only part of the storyline which is fictional, their backstory being seamlessly and artistically woven and blended with the many factual layers, into a complete and powerful package, which stands up well to scrutiny.
Compellingly written with total authority and confidence, the author is an artist with words, allowing the visually descriptive narrative and dialogue to transport me, a neutral observer, along on Calista’s adventures, with the sights, sounds and smells being oh! so close, yet tantalisingly out of reach! In this well constructed, multi-faceted storyline, there are many touching and emotional personal vignettes playing out simultaneously, with those parallel factual and fictional elements intertwined to enrich and add depth to the experience, as I glimpsed inside the rather fractured world of the rich and famous.
As Calista reminisces back to the heady days of the late 1970s, we essentially witness a rather morose and defeated Wilder, who together with his long time career associate, Diamond, realise and are trying to come to terms with, the prospect that the sands of time have rather caught up with, and indeed, overtaken them. This begs the question is Fedora, ostensibly a new film they are collaborating on, about a rather faded film star, really a personal homage to a director and writer, who once in the limelight, now find themselves retreating ever further into the shadows, with their rather dated style of film. Contrast that with the young Calista, whose stars are definitely in the ascent, as Wilder and Diamond take her under their collective wings and offer her an opening into their glamorous world. Calista seems to have the knack of bringing out the best in both men, with her innocent guile and charm. Gradually Wilder, an Austrian by birth, opens up to her about his highly emotional past and his constant striving to bring closure to the personal wartime events which have helped to shape him and his career. This vulnerability and desperate intensity, is laid bare for all to see and hear, during a post filming dinner at which all the crew are present, when his pain of a lifetime spent searching for a sense of belonging and answers, pours forth like a scripted speech from one of his own films.
Fast forward to the present day and in a bittersweet parallel, we find Calista struggling with her own ‘raison d’etre’, now that her family seems to have discovered their independence, her job as a full time mother is taking on a new background role and her career composing film scores has been confined to back burners of time. Can it be that she is able to manipulate and call upon that one final endgame, which will offer a lifeline to stave off her own personal lengthening shadows and approaching sands of time.
There are many background characters, who although they all have their part to play, don’t form an intrinsic part of the wider story. However, the principle characters are multi-faceted, well developed and defined, quite relatable and easy to invest in. Calista manages to connect with Wilder, Diamond and their wives with an innocence and naivety which is really surprising, drawing them out and forcing them to interact honestly with each other, in ways which they hadn’t done for some time. There is a vulnerability and emotional complexity about them which is both poignant and touching. Scratch the surface and there is a genuine depth and inclusivity. The scene between Wilder and Calista at the cheese farm, is definitely one to look out for
When I came to this story, I knew very little about the legend that is Billy Wilder and I was familiar with just a small handful of the many films he had made. To some extent this is simply a potted memoir of the man, however introducing the fictional character of Calista to the equation, has give the words an added dimension. The icing on the cake of this story, which rather reads like a film script itself, would be to see the book optioned for film in the future, thus completing that third dimension.
This story is another delicious example of the blended fact and fiction novels, which are becoming so popular now, and this one is executed to perfection, by an author who is new to me.
No fast-paced action, in fact, no rushing whatsoever. No in-depth twisted storyline to unravel, or dark and hidden clues to fathom, no ‘bad guy’ to chase down. This is simply a story to luxuriate in, to savour every word and nuance, to get to know the characters, and to fully appreciate the quality of the well edited research and exquisite prose, which put me completely at ease and nicely relaxed. It seems that for almost everyone who has read and reviewed this book, the journey has been a unique and totally different experience to that of the next person, so opening that first page really needs to happen without any pre conceived ideas about the storyline, or expectations for an outcome. You simply need to enjoy the ride!
Narrated in a single voice, that of Calista herself, this is a story told in dual time frames, spanning several decades and finds her visiting many different countries, whilst enjoying various new, exciting and life-changing experiences. It is therefore even more astonishing to discover that in fact, the characters of Calista and her family are just about the only part of the storyline which is fictional, their backstory being seamlessly and artistically woven and blended with the many factual layers, into a complete and powerful package, which stands up well to scrutiny.
Compellingly written with total authority and confidence, the author is an artist with words, allowing the visually descriptive narrative and dialogue to transport me, a neutral observer, along on Calista’s adventures, with the sights, sounds and smells being oh! so close, yet tantalisingly out of reach! In this well constructed, multi-faceted storyline, there are many touching and emotional personal vignettes playing out simultaneously, with those parallel factual and fictional elements intertwined to enrich and add depth to the experience, as I glimpsed inside the rather fractured world of the rich and famous.
As Calista reminisces back to the heady days of the late 1970s, we essentially witness a rather morose and defeated Wilder, who together with his long time career associate, Diamond, realise and are trying to come to terms with, the prospect that the sands of time have rather caught up with, and indeed, overtaken them. This begs the question is Fedora, ostensibly a new film they are collaborating on, about a rather faded film star, really a personal homage to a director and writer, who once in the limelight, now find themselves retreating ever further into the shadows, with their rather dated style of film. Contrast that with the young Calista, whose stars are definitely in the ascent, as Wilder and Diamond take her under their collective wings and offer her an opening into their glamorous world. Calista seems to have the knack of bringing out the best in both men, with her innocent guile and charm. Gradually Wilder, an Austrian by birth, opens up to her about his highly emotional past and his constant striving to bring closure to the personal wartime events which have helped to shape him and his career. This vulnerability and desperate intensity, is laid bare for all to see and hear, during a post filming dinner at which all the crew are present, when his pain of a lifetime spent searching for a sense of belonging and answers, pours forth like a scripted speech from one of his own films.
Fast forward to the present day and in a bittersweet parallel, we find Calista struggling with her own ‘raison d’etre’, now that her family seems to have discovered their independence, her job as a full time mother is taking on a new background role and her career composing film scores has been confined to back burners of time. Can it be that she is able to manipulate and call upon that one final endgame, which will offer a lifeline to stave off her own personal lengthening shadows and approaching sands of time.
There are many background characters, who although they all have their part to play, don’t form an intrinsic part of the wider story. However, the principle characters are multi-faceted, well developed and defined, quite relatable and easy to invest in. Calista manages to connect with Wilder, Diamond and their wives with an innocence and naivety which is really surprising, drawing them out and forcing them to interact honestly with each other, in ways which they hadn’t done for some time. There is a vulnerability and emotional complexity about them which is both poignant and touching. Scratch the surface and there is a genuine depth and inclusivity. The scene between Wilder and Calista at the cheese farm, is definitely one to look out for
When I came to this story, I knew very little about the legend that is Billy Wilder and I was familiar with just a small handful of the many films he had made. To some extent this is simply a potted memoir of the man, however introducing the fictional character of Calista to the equation, has give the words an added dimension. The icing on the cake of this story, which rather reads like a film script itself, would be to see the book optioned for film in the future, thus completing that third dimension.
December 1, 2020
Ακολουθεί διαφορετικά μονοπάτια εδώ ο Κόου και τα καταφέρνει περίφημα για μια ακόμη φορά. Το ύφος είναι εδώ, η ιστορία είναι εδώ, οι εικόνες είναι εδώ, ακόμη και μια κοινωνικοπολιτική χροιά (αρκετά πιο έμμεσα, βέβαια, από προηγούμενες δουλειές του) είναι εδώ. Αδιάψευστος μάρτυς το ότι η πρώτη σελίδα οδηγεί απολαυστικά στην τελευταία χωρίς να επιτρέπει ενδιάμεση διακοπή.
December 28, 2020
Eίναι απίστευτη η δύναμη της τέχνης, έχει συμβεί πολλές φορές σε πολλούς , ένα τραγούδι, μια ταινία , να έχουν παίξει καθοριστικό ρόλο σε αποφάσεις ζωής. Η τέχνη πάντα έρχεται να σου θυμίσει με ρεαλιστικό ή μη τρόπο πως θα έπρεπε να είναι η ζωή.
September 12, 2020
I found this novel interesting since, though I’d seen or heard of several of his films, I didn’t know very much about Billy Wilder as a director or about his personal life. All the detail we read here was fascinating for me - about Billy Wilder himself, his European roots, the actors and screenwriters he worked with and the mechanics of shooting movies.
I confess I didn’t take much else from this story. I can appreciate the points made about the style of movies from the first half of the 20th century compared with the in-your-face realism, and often brutality, of those made from the 60s onwards but I couldn’t engage overmuch with the kind of nostalgia we are invited to embrace here.
An entertaining read, lacking much of the humour I was expecting from Jonathan Coe in what came across as a heartfelt homage to the films of yesteryear and Wilder in particular.
With thanks to Penguin, Viking via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
I confess I didn’t take much else from this story. I can appreciate the points made about the style of movies from the first half of the 20th century compared with the in-your-face realism, and often brutality, of those made from the 60s onwards but I couldn’t engage overmuch with the kind of nostalgia we are invited to embrace here.
An entertaining read, lacking much of the humour I was expecting from Jonathan Coe in what came across as a heartfelt homage to the films of yesteryear and Wilder in particular.
With thanks to Penguin, Viking via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
January 26, 2021
Το γνωστό καυστικό βρετανικό χιούμορ του Τζόναθαν Κοου δεν λείπει ούτε από αυτό το βιβλίο του. Ένα βιβλίο σχετικά ανάλαφρο κι ευκολοδιάβαστο με αρκετές ωστόσο πολιτικές σποντες για τα βρετανικά ζητήματα και όχι μόνο. Εδώ " πιάνει στην πένα του" τον κόσμο της showbiz και κυρίως του σινεμά και του Χόλυγουντ, μέχρι και τον ρεπόρτερ της κίτρινης φυλλάδας που πασχίζει να βγάλει μια ειδηση.Το διάβασα με μεγάλη ευχαρίστηση και θαύμασα για ακόμα μια φορά τον τρόπο με τον οποίο γράφει αυτός ο άνθρωπος. Ήταν και θα συνεχίσει να είναι ο αγαπημένος μου!
January 11, 2021
Από εμένα όχι. Δεν κατάλαβα το νόημα αυτού του βιβλίου, τον σκοπό, τους λόγους που το διάβαζα. Επίσης, μου φάνηκε λες και διάβαζα άλλον συγγραφέα!!! Απίστευτο. Δεν το παράτησα μόνο επειδή είναι ο Κόου. 2.5 τα αστεράκια αυτή τη φορά!!
October 14, 2020
Oddly, I have never read anything by Jonathan Coe. As such, possibly this was not the best place for me to start – no film fan, I have difficulty sitting through anything and going to the cinema is tortuous for me (why watch something when you can read ?). However, I have seen, “Some Like It Hot,” as a child, so I was, at least, aware of who Billy Wilder was, which was a start.
This is the story of Calista, who first met Mr Wilder on a backpacking trip around the States, when a girl that she meets while travelling takes her to a dinner to meet a friend of her father’s. When her love-struck travelling companion leaves her in the lurch, literally in the restaurant, the two, older couples they are eating with, are extremely kind to her. Calista, who has shown no interest in Hollywood prior to the meeting, becomes a bit of a film obsessive – albeit in learning facts gleaned from books, rather than watching the movies themselves.
Later, Mr Wilder contacts her and she finds herself on the set of ‘Fedora,’ first as an interpreter and later as something more integral and involved. This is the story of Billy Wilder’s personal history and of Calista’s attempts to come to terms with the fact she no longer feels relevant in either her career, or the lives of her children. A very warm and enjoyable read, which is very poignant. I received a copy of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
This is the story of Calista, who first met Mr Wilder on a backpacking trip around the States, when a girl that she meets while travelling takes her to a dinner to meet a friend of her father’s. When her love-struck travelling companion leaves her in the lurch, literally in the restaurant, the two, older couples they are eating with, are extremely kind to her. Calista, who has shown no interest in Hollywood prior to the meeting, becomes a bit of a film obsessive – albeit in learning facts gleaned from books, rather than watching the movies themselves.
Later, Mr Wilder contacts her and she finds herself on the set of ‘Fedora,’ first as an interpreter and later as something more integral and involved. This is the story of Billy Wilder’s personal history and of Calista’s attempts to come to terms with the fact she no longer feels relevant in either her career, or the lives of her children. A very warm and enjoyable read, which is very poignant. I received a copy of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
December 17, 2020
(3.75) Because of the timing of the books’ release, I couldn’t help but think of this as derivative of A Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson: a woman looks back at a golden summer spent in Greece in the orbit of a famous man (Leonard Cohen there; Billy Wilder here). I’m a Wilder fan, but had never heard of the film he was making in 1977, Fedora, and didn’t know any details of his personal life. I found the overall plot a little lite, particularly the framing story about Calista in the present day, and was thinking I’d give 3 stars, but my opinion shot up all because of a 50-page sequence modeled on a film script (with scene directions, voice overs, etc.) in which Calista records Billy’s experiences in Europe before and after the Second World War, making a documentary on the concentration camps and always, always . I also liked the detail of Al Pacino ordering a cheeseburger wherever he goes, even if it’s not on the menu.
[Awful typo (the reverse of one I found in English Pastoral, which is about farming!): “sown into the lining” instead of sewn on the top of p. 135 in the UK hardback.]
[Awful typo (the reverse of one I found in English Pastoral, which is about farming!): “sown into the lining” instead of sewn on the top of p. 135 in the UK hardback.]
September 23, 2022
Calista, a woman of 57, finds herself at a crossroads in that her twin daughters are about to embark on their own lives, and on the professional front, the film scores she composes are no longer in fashion. Her ruminations on her earlier life in 1977 take her back to meeting Billy Wilder, who in his 70's, has found his films no longer resonate with audiences ever since the "young men with beards" (i.e., Spielberg, Coppola) are attracting all the audiences. He muses that everyone still remarks on films he'd made years ago such as The Apartment and Some Like it Hot, and he's hoping that his newest project, Fedora, based on a book by Thomas Tryon, will turn his fortunes around. Jonathan Coe has fashioned a novel of such nuance and layered brilliance with this unlikely material. His work has always been interesting, but here, he combines a memory piece, a coming of age piece, and a look at a true icon of the golden age of Hollywood.
Full disclosure -- I am probably the only reader of this book who actually saw the movie Fedora when it came out, but am hiding my reactions since to reveal them would constitute a spoiler.
Full disclosure -- I am probably the only reader of this book who actually saw the movie Fedora when it came out, but am hiding my reactions since to reveal them would constitute a spoiler.
September 14, 2021
Ciak!
Curioso quest’ultimo romanzo di Jonathan Coe, a partire dalla scelta del soggetto, che invero non è mai stata un punto di forza dell’autore inglese.
In questo caso Coe ha ambientato il racconto negli anni ’70, sul set delle riprese di un film del grande maestro Billy Wilder, ma per farlo non ha puntato su uno dei riconosciuti capolavori (A qualcuno piace caldo, L’appartamento, Viale del tramonto, L’asso nella manica, ecc) bensì su una delle pellicole più ignorate e, secondo molti, meno riuscite della filmografia del regista: “Fedora”, penultimo film di un Wilder già ultrasettantenne.
Nel romanzo abbiamo quindi tutta la troupe al lavoro, dal regista allo sceneggiatore suo sodale abituale (I.A.L. Diamond), dal musicista allo scenografo e naturalmente agli attori, del calibro di William Holden, Henry Fonda, Marthe Keller. Tutta gente famosa insomma, ad eccezione della giovane traduttrice e poi assistente, narratrice in prima persona, che è l’unico personaggio immaginario e rappresenta in un certo senso il punto di vista di Coe sulla scena e soprattutto sui retroscena del film e dei suoi partecipanti.
La scelta di “Fedora” è significativa perché testimonia che l’intento dello scrittore non era certo quello di comporre un’agiografia di Wilder, che avrebbe inquadrato il regista alle prese con una delle sue opere più celebrate e universalmente acclamate, ma piuttosto di cogliere il momento della decadenza di cui l’artista è ben consapevole (…la tragedia di chi un tempo era all’apice del successo e ora si accorge che è tutto finito…) e che a ben vedere rappresenta anche il soggetto del film.
Se per Wilder quel film rappresentava una sorta di ossessione, confermata da alcuni collaboratori come il fedele sceneggiatore Diamond (…Sì, ci deve essere qualcosa in questa storia che significa molto per lui, qualcosa di cui vuole liberarsi…), cosa si proponesse Coe dalla rievocazione del lavoro preparatorio di un film forse mediocre, accompagnando via via i luoghi delle riprese al seguito della troupe (Grecia, Germania, Parigi…), non mi è del tutto chiaro.
Certo è che il risultato (del romanzo) è debole: si legge senza sforzo perché Coe, come pressoché tutti gli autori inglesi, esprime una prosa limpida in bello stile, è istruttivo quasi come un romanzo storico in minore perché approfondisce le dinamiche tecniche, psicologiche, organizzative e le complesse interazioni di un gruppo di notevoli artisti impegnati al lavoro.
Tuttavia soltanto il fascino discreto di un sottile ma persistente velo di malinconia evita al libro il rischio della noia, come comprova il fatto che il capitolo forse più efficace è imperniato su una “deviazione” dalla rigida scansione dei tempi delle riprese, allorché Wilder, accompagnato dalla sua assistente/narrante, giunge in ritardo sul set (fatto per lui inusuale) per recarsi presso la fattoria nella campagna francese dove si produce il più pregiato formaggio Brie di tutta la Francia e assaporarlo in tutta serenità, innaffiato con un bel bicchiere di Pinot Noir.
Curioso quest’ultimo romanzo di Jonathan Coe, a partire dalla scelta del soggetto, che invero non è mai stata un punto di forza dell’autore inglese.
In questo caso Coe ha ambientato il racconto negli anni ’70, sul set delle riprese di un film del grande maestro Billy Wilder, ma per farlo non ha puntato su uno dei riconosciuti capolavori (A qualcuno piace caldo, L’appartamento, Viale del tramonto, L’asso nella manica, ecc) bensì su una delle pellicole più ignorate e, secondo molti, meno riuscite della filmografia del regista: “Fedora”, penultimo film di un Wilder già ultrasettantenne.
Nel romanzo abbiamo quindi tutta la troupe al lavoro, dal regista allo sceneggiatore suo sodale abituale (I.A.L. Diamond), dal musicista allo scenografo e naturalmente agli attori, del calibro di William Holden, Henry Fonda, Marthe Keller. Tutta gente famosa insomma, ad eccezione della giovane traduttrice e poi assistente, narratrice in prima persona, che è l’unico personaggio immaginario e rappresenta in un certo senso il punto di vista di Coe sulla scena e soprattutto sui retroscena del film e dei suoi partecipanti.
La scelta di “Fedora” è significativa perché testimonia che l’intento dello scrittore non era certo quello di comporre un’agiografia di Wilder, che avrebbe inquadrato il regista alle prese con una delle sue opere più celebrate e universalmente acclamate, ma piuttosto di cogliere il momento della decadenza di cui l’artista è ben consapevole (…la tragedia di chi un tempo era all’apice del successo e ora si accorge che è tutto finito…) e che a ben vedere rappresenta anche il soggetto del film.
Se per Wilder quel film rappresentava una sorta di ossessione, confermata da alcuni collaboratori come il fedele sceneggiatore Diamond (…Sì, ci deve essere qualcosa in questa storia che significa molto per lui, qualcosa di cui vuole liberarsi…), cosa si proponesse Coe dalla rievocazione del lavoro preparatorio di un film forse mediocre, accompagnando via via i luoghi delle riprese al seguito della troupe (Grecia, Germania, Parigi…), non mi è del tutto chiaro.
Certo è che il risultato (del romanzo) è debole: si legge senza sforzo perché Coe, come pressoché tutti gli autori inglesi, esprime una prosa limpida in bello stile, è istruttivo quasi come un romanzo storico in minore perché approfondisce le dinamiche tecniche, psicologiche, organizzative e le complesse interazioni di un gruppo di notevoli artisti impegnati al lavoro.
Tuttavia soltanto il fascino discreto di un sottile ma persistente velo di malinconia evita al libro il rischio della noia, come comprova il fatto che il capitolo forse più efficace è imperniato su una “deviazione” dalla rigida scansione dei tempi delle riprese, allorché Wilder, accompagnato dalla sua assistente/narrante, giunge in ritardo sul set (fatto per lui inusuale) per recarsi presso la fattoria nella campagna francese dove si produce il più pregiato formaggio Brie di tutta la Francia e assaporarlo in tutta serenità, innaffiato con un bel bicchiere di Pinot Noir.
March 22, 2021
In de Oscarwinnende komedie ‘The Apartment’ (1960) giet New Yorker Jack Lemmon de spaghetti af met een tennisracket, stapt de eetkamer binnen waar Shirley MacLaine op hem zit te wachten, en verkondigt met geveinsde nonchalance: ‘Ya know, I used to live like Robinson Crusoe. I mean shipwrecked among eight million people. And then one day I saw a footprint in the sand and there you were.’ Het is mede dankzij zulke gedenkwaardige speelsheid dat Billy Wilder als één van de allerbelangrijkste Amerikaanse filmregisseurs geldt. Jonathan Coe brengt nu het icoon Wilder met succes van doek naar boek.
Na de solide maar weinig opzienbarende titels ‘Expo 58’ en ‘Klein Engeland’, heeft de Brit zijn onstuitbare vertelkracht van ‘De Rotters Club’ en het ondergewaardeerde ‘Het huis van de slaap’ teruggevonden. Coe in topvorm hoort bij het selecte clubje schrijvers (denk aan David Mitchell en Ian McEwan) die in elk hoofdstuk onverwijld de lezer aan boord kunnen trekken. Zo ontwijkt hij telkenmale met gierende banden de valkuil van niet-lineaire verhalen, waarbij de lezer liever op de ene tijdlijn vertoeft dan op de andere. In dit geval blikken we met de fictieve Grieks-Britse Calista in het Londen van nu terug op eind jaren 70, toen haar ontmoeting met de wereldvermaarde filmmaker Billy Wilder en de daaruit voortvloeiende professionele en vriendschappelijke band haar levensloop veranderde. De 57-jarige vrouw ziet haar grootste talenten (opvoeden en soundtracks componeren) in onbruik raken: haar tweelingdochters worden razendsnel volwassen en originele filmcomposities worden vervangen door generische computermuziek. In haar herinneringen komen we op en rond Wilders filmset een scala aan verzonnen en echte personen tegen die elk, als stukken op een schaakbord, een essentiële functie vervullen om het verhaal zo volwaardig mogelijk te ontvouwen.
Briljant hoeveel info Jonathan Coe over Billy Wilders persoonlijkheid en repertoire in zijn roman propt en hoe hij toch de leeservaring onkreukbaar naturel weet te houden: alle anekdotes dienen als noodzakelijke schakels in de vertelling en wringen zich als op zichzelf staande scènes in het lezersgeheugen: Al Pacino die in een Duitse bistro amok maakt omdat hij per se een Amerikaanse cheeseburger wil. Een fan die op restaurant ongevraagd de cruciale impact van Wilders films op zijn leven komt verhelderen, terwijl die samen met zijn vaste scenarist, de illustere Iz Diamond, tevreden oesters zit te slurpen. Het tafereel waarin Calista bij Franse boeren de troostende kracht van brie ontdekt, is dermate memorabel dat Coe stukjes stinkkaas als zijn madeleines van Proust vereeuwigt. Net wanneer de Brit de diepgang dreigt te offeren op het altaar van laagdrempeligheid, traceert hij Wilders Joodse roots en beleven we in een uitgebreide flashback – schitterend in de vorm van een filmscript gegoten – de opkomst van het nazisme en de aangrijpende zoektocht naar Wilders vermiste moeder.
Doordat Calista de maker van onder meer ‘Some Like It Hot’ en ‘The Lost Weekend’ slechts op het einde van zijn carrière aantreft en hij zijn nieuwste filmproject, ‘Fedora’, amper bekostigd krijgt, kan Coe zich bezinnen over de houdbaarheidsdatum van kunst. Hoewel Wilder nog steeds als een levende legende wordt gezien, moet hij het toverstokje waarmee hij steevast de stijl van het nakende tijdperk vormgaf, doorgeven aan groentjes als Steven Spielberg, die met ‘Jaws’ de pretparksensatie van cinema een enorme boost zal geven.
‘Meester Wilder en ik’ past op de boekenplank naast Jess Walter’s ‘Schitterende ruines’ en ‘Het Boek der illusies’ van Paul Auster, maar deze uitstekende cinematografische romans missen Coe’s gevatheid, geestdrift en puntje-van-je-stoel-dialogen. Hij vermengt comedy met drama, soap met arthouse, geeft inkijk in Hollywood’s interne keuken en brengt een liefdesverklaring van de ene kunstvorm naar de andere. Zet de popcorn alvast naast je leesstoel.
https://www.humo.be/nieuws/meesterver...
Na de solide maar weinig opzienbarende titels ‘Expo 58’ en ‘Klein Engeland’, heeft de Brit zijn onstuitbare vertelkracht van ‘De Rotters Club’ en het ondergewaardeerde ‘Het huis van de slaap’ teruggevonden. Coe in topvorm hoort bij het selecte clubje schrijvers (denk aan David Mitchell en Ian McEwan) die in elk hoofdstuk onverwijld de lezer aan boord kunnen trekken. Zo ontwijkt hij telkenmale met gierende banden de valkuil van niet-lineaire verhalen, waarbij de lezer liever op de ene tijdlijn vertoeft dan op de andere. In dit geval blikken we met de fictieve Grieks-Britse Calista in het Londen van nu terug op eind jaren 70, toen haar ontmoeting met de wereldvermaarde filmmaker Billy Wilder en de daaruit voortvloeiende professionele en vriendschappelijke band haar levensloop veranderde. De 57-jarige vrouw ziet haar grootste talenten (opvoeden en soundtracks componeren) in onbruik raken: haar tweelingdochters worden razendsnel volwassen en originele filmcomposities worden vervangen door generische computermuziek. In haar herinneringen komen we op en rond Wilders filmset een scala aan verzonnen en echte personen tegen die elk, als stukken op een schaakbord, een essentiële functie vervullen om het verhaal zo volwaardig mogelijk te ontvouwen.
Briljant hoeveel info Jonathan Coe over Billy Wilders persoonlijkheid en repertoire in zijn roman propt en hoe hij toch de leeservaring onkreukbaar naturel weet te houden: alle anekdotes dienen als noodzakelijke schakels in de vertelling en wringen zich als op zichzelf staande scènes in het lezersgeheugen: Al Pacino die in een Duitse bistro amok maakt omdat hij per se een Amerikaanse cheeseburger wil. Een fan die op restaurant ongevraagd de cruciale impact van Wilders films op zijn leven komt verhelderen, terwijl die samen met zijn vaste scenarist, de illustere Iz Diamond, tevreden oesters zit te slurpen. Het tafereel waarin Calista bij Franse boeren de troostende kracht van brie ontdekt, is dermate memorabel dat Coe stukjes stinkkaas als zijn madeleines van Proust vereeuwigt. Net wanneer de Brit de diepgang dreigt te offeren op het altaar van laagdrempeligheid, traceert hij Wilders Joodse roots en beleven we in een uitgebreide flashback – schitterend in de vorm van een filmscript gegoten – de opkomst van het nazisme en de aangrijpende zoektocht naar Wilders vermiste moeder.
Doordat Calista de maker van onder meer ‘Some Like It Hot’ en ‘The Lost Weekend’ slechts op het einde van zijn carrière aantreft en hij zijn nieuwste filmproject, ‘Fedora’, amper bekostigd krijgt, kan Coe zich bezinnen over de houdbaarheidsdatum van kunst. Hoewel Wilder nog steeds als een levende legende wordt gezien, moet hij het toverstokje waarmee hij steevast de stijl van het nakende tijdperk vormgaf, doorgeven aan groentjes als Steven Spielberg, die met ‘Jaws’ de pretparksensatie van cinema een enorme boost zal geven.
‘Meester Wilder en ik’ past op de boekenplank naast Jess Walter’s ‘Schitterende ruines’ en ‘Het Boek der illusies’ van Paul Auster, maar deze uitstekende cinematografische romans missen Coe’s gevatheid, geestdrift en puntje-van-je-stoel-dialogen. Hij vermengt comedy met drama, soap met arthouse, geeft inkijk in Hollywood’s interne keuken en brengt een liefdesverklaring van de ene kunstvorm naar de andere. Zet de popcorn alvast naast je leesstoel.
https://www.humo.be/nieuws/meesterver...
September 3, 2022
O carte foarte potrivită de vacanta, o lectura relaxanta și întrucâtva necesară pentru cei ca mine care avem cunoștințe insuficiente despre perioada buna a cinematografiei și despre producțiile cu adevărat remarcabile, marcante.
Acum va rog sa mă scuzați, dar trebuie sa văd "Unora le place jazzul"!
Acum va rog sa mă scuzați, dar trebuie sa văd "Unora le place jazzul"!
June 12, 2022
BBC Listeners
October 16, 2020
England, 2020: satire is dead and England’s literary satirist-in-residence, Jonathan Coe, has quite reasonably decided to take a break from addressing the state of the nation. For his latest novel he’s returned to his other chief obsessions of film and music. Well, I thought, lulled by the cheerful cover art and undemanding opening, if he’s decided to write a lighter, more lyrical work about the golden age of movies in response to current apocalyptic times, that’s totally understandable and fine by me. Who can blame him?
‘Mr Wilder and me’ is narrated by an older woman, Calista - Coe writes women really well, one of the many reasons I love him - looking back on her youth when she inadvertently became part of Billy Wilder’s filming entourage, employed initially as a translator during a shoot in her native Greece. It starts gently enough, with a middle-class London family doing their middle-class thing, albeit with a potentially traumatic event lurking in the background. Then on with Calista’s reminiscences of her earlier life in Athens, her developing interest in music, a US road trip, first romance and general coming-of-age stuff, all with the gently bittersweet nostalgia that he does so evocatively.
However…
If some authors are painterly, Jonathan Coe is composerly. The flow of his narratives have a composer’s sensibility (and he is indeed a composer of music) and his immersion in music shines in his pacing and dynamic. In compositional terms, ‘Mr Wilder and me’ starts with some pleasant slightly wistful melody, but some ominous minor chords quietly appear here and there, which then become increasingly dissonant until the dark crescendo erupts and we are suddenly staring into the abyss. This novel, like many of his previous works, blends fiction with real lives and real events, and in terms of real events, without giving away any of the plot, it really is the abyss. And although he doesn’t make a big thing about it, these are historical events that have a very immediate relevance now, as we sleepwalk into totalitarianism. It’s not a polemical novel but it’s certainly not apolitical.
It’s also about the need to create - Calista and her music, Mr Wilder and his films, even the anonymous French farmer and his memorable brie: ‘the urge to create, to keep giving something to the world - a fundamentally generous impulse’ on which hope-filled note the novel closes, resolving into a quietly optimistic major key. Whatever horrors befall, the human impulse to touch and inspire people though art and music remains, and the novel ends with a immense act of generosity and an anticipation of new beginnings. Which I was glad of, personally.
I love Jonathan Coe. I’ve read all his novels (this is his twelfth), most of them more than once; I’ve seen him do several events, and I’ve gone idiotically fangirly red and stammery when he’s signed a book for me. So I was all primed to enjoy this one - and I did, very much. It’s not up there with the scathing satire and brilliant literary theory games of ‘What a carve-up’ or the incisive social commentary of ‘The Rotter’s Club’ et seq; it’s much more akin to ‘The house of sleep’ or ‘The rain before it falls’ - less overtly clever and zeitgeisty, with a more muted reflective feel, and real emotional depth.
‘Mr Wilder and me’ is narrated by an older woman, Calista - Coe writes women really well, one of the many reasons I love him - looking back on her youth when she inadvertently became part of Billy Wilder’s filming entourage, employed initially as a translator during a shoot in her native Greece. It starts gently enough, with a middle-class London family doing their middle-class thing, albeit with a potentially traumatic event lurking in the background. Then on with Calista’s reminiscences of her earlier life in Athens, her developing interest in music, a US road trip, first romance and general coming-of-age stuff, all with the gently bittersweet nostalgia that he does so evocatively.
However…
If some authors are painterly, Jonathan Coe is composerly. The flow of his narratives have a composer’s sensibility (and he is indeed a composer of music) and his immersion in music shines in his pacing and dynamic. In compositional terms, ‘Mr Wilder and me’ starts with some pleasant slightly wistful melody, but some ominous minor chords quietly appear here and there, which then become increasingly dissonant until the dark crescendo erupts and we are suddenly staring into the abyss. This novel, like many of his previous works, blends fiction with real lives and real events, and in terms of real events, without giving away any of the plot, it really is the abyss. And although he doesn’t make a big thing about it, these are historical events that have a very immediate relevance now, as we sleepwalk into totalitarianism. It’s not a polemical novel but it’s certainly not apolitical.
It’s also about the need to create - Calista and her music, Mr Wilder and his films, even the anonymous French farmer and his memorable brie: ‘the urge to create, to keep giving something to the world - a fundamentally generous impulse’ on which hope-filled note the novel closes, resolving into a quietly optimistic major key. Whatever horrors befall, the human impulse to touch and inspire people though art and music remains, and the novel ends with a immense act of generosity and an anticipation of new beginnings. Which I was glad of, personally.
I love Jonathan Coe. I’ve read all his novels (this is his twelfth), most of them more than once; I’ve seen him do several events, and I’ve gone idiotically fangirly red and stammery when he’s signed a book for me. So I was all primed to enjoy this one - and I did, very much. It’s not up there with the scathing satire and brilliant literary theory games of ‘What a carve-up’ or the incisive social commentary of ‘The Rotter’s Club’ et seq; it’s much more akin to ‘The house of sleep’ or ‘The rain before it falls’ - less overtly clever and zeitgeisty, with a more muted reflective feel, and real emotional depth.
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