11 novels; 25 years

[coyotegoth]

I started in Weston's Book Store, in Potsdam, back around 1983; I bought the first one I'd made with money from my paper route: 2001. Fitting enough, as that was the movie that started me on this journey- that codified my serious interest in film in the first place. From there, whenever I saw one, I'd buy it; some- 2001; The Shining; Lolita- were available everywhere; I've probably had half a dozen copies of each over the years. Some- Clean Break; Spartacus- were harder, and required a diligent search. Some last few stragglers- Paths of Glory; The Short-Timers; Red Alert- never crossed my path, in over twenty years of combing bookstores; it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I decided that enough was enough, and that I was not going to turn 40 with this unfinished. Now, they sit on a shelf at work, eleven novels: Clean Break. Paths of Glory. Spartacus. Lolita. Red Alert. 2001: A Space Odyssey. A Clockwork Orange. Barry Lyndon. The Shining (although my copy has that hideous new yellow cover; must find a copy of the old gray edition, with the logo of the faceless man). The Short-Timers. Eyes Wide Shut, which includes the original Dream Novel.

It's hard to think of another filmmaker for whom I would put forth this sort of effort; while many of Welles' movies were based on novels, Citizen Kane was an original, based on the life of Hearst. Kurosawa? I certainly have the Shakespeare plays, and The Lower Depths; more than half of his films were originals, though. Gilliam? I have Fear and Loathing, and an edition of the Munchausen stories, whereas Tideland... no. Best it ends here, even with a slightly anticlimactic feeling: after twenty-odd years of searching, a new clicks of the mouse on the Amazon site were all that was required. I suppose that as with any quest, the journey itself- and the discipline of setting upon it- were the real point, after all.

Comments

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

The very first book I bought with my own money was 2001. It was the first paperback edition after the movie came out, and was available in the end-cap book rack at my local A&P, which should give you an idea of how old I am. It had tip-in ads for True cigarettes.

In later years, I've bought the whole Kubrick ouvre on DVD but haven't tried to find all the books, though I've read several of them. The movies speak for themselves, often better than the books do.

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

The movies speak for themselves, often better than the books do.

Agreed, definitely.