stever@cit-vax (05/21/85)
From: stever@cit-vax (Steve Rabin ) Yes, the cover artwork is excellent. So are the books. I heard somewhere that Sting has the movie rights for these books. Does anyone know more about this? -s
milne@uci-icse (05/22/85)
From: Alastair Milne <milne@uci-icse>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, the cover artwork is excellent. So are the books. I heard
somewhere that Sting has the movie rights for these books. Does
anyone know more about this?
-s
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The cover art is very good, but I cannot begin to agree about the books.
"Ghormenghast" is 50 (on a good day) pages of action stuffed into 500 pages
of print. By "action" I mean anything at all happening. I slogged
doggedly through to the very end, and felt as if I'd emerged from quicksand
at last to stand on solid ground again. I skipped the reveries in the
banquet scene, though. I'm sorry, they were just impossible: at least 2
pages of reverie per character, with no punctuation. More than I could
stand. And the rest of the book moves with little more speed than they do.
How could you make a movie of it? What is there to show?
Alastair Milnecarlton@masscomp.UUCP (Carlton Hommel) (05/25/85)
I assume what is being discussed is the Gormenghast Trilogy, by Mervyn Peake. It consists of _Titus Groan_, _Gormenghast_, and _Titus Alone_. My copy lists an original publication date of 1946, with a reissue in 1967. In article <2055@topaz.ARPA> Alastair Milne writes: > The cover art is very good. You guys must be talking about a reissue. I have the Ballantine 1968 printing, with a blotchy read, white, and green cover. I'm glad to see the covers have been improved upon. > "Ghormenghast" is 50 (on a good day) pages of action stuffed into 500 pages > of print. By "action" I mean anything at all happening. I think you missed the point of the book. Peake is primarily a poet and an illustrator. He didn't set out to write a rousing tale of action adventure; he was using the written word to capture the essence of characters he had already drawn. I feel very sorry for you if your copies do not have his sketches. First editions of the Ballantine release had a center insert of eight glossy pages of his work. Later editions relied solely on untextured, black ink sketches. Granted, some parts of the novels were downright dull to a 17 yr old. I found the _Titus Alone_ a grave dissapointment after _Gormenghast_. But I imagine that upon rereading, I will find new things to marvel over. Some truely great writers have their own styles. Heinlein writes of the supercompetent, Anthony of the adolescent. Vance writes travelogues, Asprin writes comedies. Decrying Peake for lack of "action-adventure" is like depreciating Hogan for lack of "love interest." > How could you make a movie of it? What is there to show? Lots of scenes stand out in my mind. The Great Fire. Barquentine chastising Steerpike. The great chase leading to Steerpike's capture. The imprisioning of the twins, Cora and Clarise. The Countess and her birds. The home life of the Prunesquallors. Flay's kitchen. The Schoolroom. And, of course, the main character, Gormenghast Castle. Dune suffered in its translation to the screen because they tried to pack 400 pages of action into a two hour movie. If we extend your 500/50 thought, we find from 150 - 200 pages of action for the entire trilogy. Just about what the serialization of Star Wars ran to. :-) Dune also suffered from an attack of excessive costume design, which took liberties with the novel. No need to experement with Ghormenghast; Peake already described each characted in meticulous detail. Carl Hommel Husband: Bibliography is not my business. Wife: How do you explain the 4000 volumes upstairs?
stever%cit-vlsi@cit-vax.ARPA (09/24/85)
From: stever%cit-vlsi@cit-vax.ARPA (Steve Rabin ) Although I wimped out in the middle of the second volume, Peake's style was really inspiring. The richness of the stuff made me pause. I know i will come back and finish it off sometime soon. Rolling Stone's special on Sting mentioned that he has the movie rights to Gormenghast. Gormenghast would make an excellent movie! Steve
mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz) (09/25/85)
stever%cit-vlsi@cit-vax.ARPA (Steve Rabin) writes: > Although I wimped out in the middle of the second volume, Peake's > style was really inspiring. The richness of the stuff made me pause. I read all three volumes, waiting throughout for something to happen. It seemed like a million exciting threads were all left untied and unresolved. It was magnetic, but gave back nothing for the attraction. > Rolling Stone's special on Sting mentioned that he has the movie rights > to Gormenghast. Gormenghast would make an excellent movie! Gormenghast would make the same kind of movie that Dune and LOTR did. Bad. It would have to be skeletal, rushed, different, and unsatisfactory. -- Mike Huybensz ...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrh
terry@nrcvax.UUCP (Terry Grevstad) (10/10/85)
stever%cit-vlsi@cit-vax.ARPA says: >Although I wimped out in the middle of the second volume, Peake's >style was really inspiring. The richness of the stuff made me pause. >I know i will come back and finish it off sometime soon. > >Rolling Stone's special on Sting mentioned that he has the movie rights >to Gormenghast. Gormenghast would make an excellent movie! Gormenghast would make a *lousy* movie! It would have to be about 2 weeks long just to get half the story line in. Maybe you better go back and read the rest of the trilogy before you decide whether or not it would make a good movie. As a set of books, it was okay, interesting, rather ponderous, but imaginative. As a movie it would be really out of place. (Just my $.02 worth...) -- \"\t\f1A\h'+1m'\f4\(mo\h'+1m'\f1the\h'+1m'\f4\(es\t\f1\c _______________________________________________________________________ Terry Grevstad Network Research Corporation ihnp4!nrcvax!terry {sdcsvax,hplabs}!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!terry ucbvax!calma!nrcvax!terry
wombat@ccvaxa.UUCP (10/18/85)
/* Written 6:42 pm Oct 9, 1985 by terry@nrcvax.UUCP in ccvaxa:net.sf-lovers */ As a set of books, [Gormenghast] was okay, interesting, rather ponderous, but imaginative. As a movie it would be really out of place. /* End of text from ccvaxa:net.sf-lovers */ I disagree. The Gormenghast books are very visual. Peake was also an illustrator and it really shows. Reading along you develop clear pictures of the various characters and scenes. I claim that part of the reason it reads so slowly is that the brain is working overtime developing detailed pictures. It would not be an easy movie to make, and it would probably have to be done in parts to be good, but a faithful version would be wonderful. "When you are about to die, a wombat is better than no company at all." Roger Zelazny, *Doorways in the Sand* Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!wombat