Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘adaptations’

Shop Talk |

The Unfilmable Novel

by Celeste Ng

I am unreasonably excited to see the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Is it because Gatsby is one of my favorite novels? Because Baz Lurhmann is brilliant? Because Leonardo DiCaprio makes me swoon? Mark me down for “All of the Above.” Actually, most of all, I can’t wait to see how this novel comes to life on the big screen. It contains some of the most cinematic scenes I can think of—one of my favorites is the first moment we meet Daisy, in a swirl of white curtains—but I’m not sure how it will translate to film. Which makes […]


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First Looks, May 2012: The Last Hundred Days and The Innocents

by Erika Dreifus

Hello again, FWR friends. Welcome to the latest installment of our “First Looks” series, which highlights soon-to-be released books that have piqued my interest as a reader-who-writes. We publish “First Looks” here on the FWR blog around the 15th of each month, and as always, I’d love to hear your comments and your recommendations of forthcoming titles. Please drop me a line anytime: erika(at)fictionwritersreview(dot)com, and thanks in advance. This month’s First Looks picks take us in a decidedly international direction. Let’s begin with The Last Hundred Days, Patrick McGuinness’s debut novel, which was longlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize […]


Reviews |

The Secret in Their Eyes, by Eduardo Sacheri

by Denise Delgado

Popular Argentinian writer Eduardo Sacheri has said that “writing is a special way to read.” In this review of The Secret in Their Eyes, Denise Delgado explores the similarities and differences between Sacheri’s first novel and the Academy-Award winning film adaptation he helped write.


Shop Talk |

Faulkner meets HBO

by Celeste Ng

David Milch, the creator of NYPD Blue and Deadwood, will be bringing Faulker’s literary works to HBO. Yup, you read that right. Reports the New York Times: “I’m not, probably, the first person they would have thought of approaching them,” Mr. Milch said in a phone interview, referring to his months-long discussions with the William Faulkner Literary Estate. “But a number of conversations were fruitful and here we are.” But the Times points out Milch isn’t as far-fetched a choice as you might think: But before he started putting colorful words in the mouths of Andy Sipowicz and Al Swearengen, […]


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Franz Kafka. Frank Capra. Franz Capra. Frank Kafka.

by Celeste Ng

To you into the Halloween spirit, here is a wacky and delightfully creepy little short film combining Kafka–struggling to write his story “The Metamorphosis”–and Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. The film won an Oscar for Best Short Live Action Film in 1994. Here’s Part 1. Hooked? Here ‘s the rest:Part 2 / Part 3. (Via.)


Shop Talk |

It's all in the details… or is it? Movies vs. Fanfiction

by Celeste Ng

I don’t know about you, but when I see a movie after reading the book on which it’s based, I almost always prefer the book to the movie. Okay, there are exceptions: The Lovely Bones, for instance, where I prefered the film, and The Princess Bride—I love both the movie and William Golding’s novel deeply, and differently. But when it comes to Harry Potter, I land firmly on the book side. For me, much of the fun is in the details of Rowling’s world: the Fizzing Whizbees and Puking Pastilles, the elaborate recipes for Polyjuice Potion and the Draught of […]


Essays |

The Problem of the Author: On Not Reading Autobiography into the Writing of Andre Dubus

by Joshua Bodwell

What is the difference between art and life, between the writer and the writing? In this essay on the late, great Andre Dubus, we learn how Dubus recognized “transformative moments” as authors Richard Ford and Anne Beattie, among others, weigh in on his talents, and his legacy.


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Rock Bottom to be adapted as musical

by Celeste Ng

FWR Contributor Michael Shilling‘s debut novel, Rock Bottom, will be adapted into a stage musical by the Landless Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.! The novel—and the new show—tells the story of the Blood Orphans, a once-great rock band, in Amsterdam on the last day of their final tour. The musical is a collaboration between Shilling, playwright/composer Andrew Lloyd Baughman, and songwriter/vocalist Talia Segal. It runs July 15th-August 7th at the D.C. Arts Center. And, as befits a show about a rock band, it contains explicit language, graphic adult situations, and nudity—so what are you waiting for? For more information, including […]


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Lit and video games: a forbidden love story?

by Celeste Ng

Why aren’t more novelists writing video games? That’s what the Guardian asked recently: Part of the problem is clearly to do with priorities. As the game writer and former critic Rhianna Pratchett says in the film: “Story is often the last thing thought about and the first thing pulled apart.” So much effort goes into making spectacular worlds, tackling the technical logistics and ensuring the playing experience is enjoyable that decent plot and dialogue fall by the wayside. Yet there are trickier issues involved. As a few people say in the film, gaming presents a unique challenge in terms of […]




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