Terry Pratchett on TV

I've just watched the second part of Andrew Marr's history of popular fiction which this time covered fantasy, including a generous helping of George R R Martin and Game of Thrones.

It was a wonderful trip through the usual suspects - Tolkien, Lewis et al - but Marr also interviewed Frances Harding and Neil Gaiman and then showed some footage of Sir Terry Pratchett  working with his assistant, ad then Marr interviewed the assistant about his working practices.

It was excellent television, and I look forward to reading Mort as the programme suggested that it was with this novel that Discworld started mirroring the Roundworld.

 

Films in 1987

1987 was not a classic year for films.

At the Oscars The Last Emperor won Best Film and Michael Douglas and Cher won the top acting awards. I've seen both Wall Street and Moonstruck, and although the former was better than the latter neither of them really figure on any of my "must see" lists. I did enjoy The Untouchables and Sean Connery did deserve his Oscar, but surely it was for his whole career rather than just this one film.

The Golden Globes had the intelligence to give the award for Best Musical or Comedy to Hope and Glory. It was a well-deserved win and a good film, but very different to Excalibur, which in my mind comes pretty close to The Lord of the Rings in sword and sorcery film making - and it has Helen Mirren as Morgana.

Other notable films that I actually managed to see were:

Empire of the Sun: Spielberg's adaptation of J G Ballard's masterwork.

Fatal Attraction: a good thriller but definitely not a date movie!

Good Morning Vietnam: early Robin Williams, before he became sentimental.

House of Games: first film by David Mamet - makes The Sting look like child's play.

Maurice: another Forster adaptation from James Ivory, but not in the same class as A Room With a View.

A Month in the Country: I'd read the book after I bought it for my wife and the film was just as good.

Prick Up your Ears: an early film from Alan Bennett and Stephen Frears which I caught on TV.

Radio Days: a wonderful Woody Allen film. Need I say more?

Robocop: I caught this in the US while on a business trip and found that I rather enjoyed it.

Spaceballs: a spoof on Star Wars and sci-fi films from Mel Brooks that intermittently hits its target.

White Mischief: an interesting murder story among expats in post-war Kenya that was better than my summary sounds.

Looking back at what I have written above it was quite an interesting year for film, with a good variety available to the discerning viewer, i.e. me.

Equal Rites

Equal Rites was published in 1987. this was the year in which I got married so I had other things on my mind and managed to miss it. never mind, it has only taken me 29 years to read it. I could not find any information on numbers of copies published so assume that after the limited initial print runs and subsequent success of the first two novels this one had a more appropriate initial printing.

I approached the book in an open mind, wondering how it would link in to its two predecessors - I'd somehow imagined that Discworld was like Middle Earth - and thought I would be reading more of the same. But as soon as I started reading I realised that it was just as funny, but introduced a whole new range of characters.

As someone once said in a slightly different context:

"I've started so I shall finish."

Having attended a University that took too many centuries to offer mixed education I enjoyed the satire of the Unseen University and Granny Weatherwax is a character to savour. I understand that she will become a regular character in the Discworld books and look forward to meeting her and re-visiting the Unseen University again quite soon.



 

Best Terry Pratchet Novel - Update

I'd intended to update my list each time I finished a book, but since The Light Fantastic could also be called The Colour of Magic II or Discworld II - The Light Fantastic then I will pass on this and simply declare that and the end of the second book we have a draw.

If Peter Jackson ever bought the film rights to the Discworld novels then presumably we could have six three hour films from these first two novels alone.

I shall watch Jasper Fforde nervously

Reality can exist in many guises, and rather than setting stories on a disc that that travels though space on the back of a giant turtle it is possible to set a story twenty years ago, just make a few changes like having the Crimean War go on for more than 150 years, and create a heroine who can travel into novels - the Book World - as part of a police force to maintain narrative integrity within fiction.

Welcome to the world of Swindon in an alternative 1985 where Thursday Next has to rescue Jane Eyre (that is the real, i.e. fictional, Jane Eyre) after she is kidnaped and held for ransom.

The book is The Eyre Affair, it was published in 2001 and I came to it late, but since then I've read everything that Jasper Fforde has written.

The quote in the title of this post is by Terry Pratchett and it appears on the jacket of The Eyre Affair (and others).

 

Films in 1986

This was an interesting year for films. There were no major fantasy films released, but it is clear that there were enough otherwise good films around to keep the average film club going for a whole season.

In an advance tribute to Moving Pictures here are my favourite films released in 1986:

The Mission: it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and I love the soundtrack.

Hannah and her Sisters: if not the best film that Woody Allen has ever made then certainly it has to be in the top three.

A Room with a View: I've never got on with Forster. After seeing and enjoying the film very much I staggered through the book and finished it with difficulty. The film is one of the rare adaptations where the film is better than the book. The brilliant casting helped, and HB-C's outfit for the trip to the country inspired my wife's wedding dress, so I am clearly biased.

Ran: I saw Kurosawa's samurai adaptation of King Lear in North Oxford and thought it was brilliant. When Peter Jackson released The Fellowship of the Ring one critic compared his handling of battle scenes to Kurosawa. Now everyone just tings of them as Peter Jackson's battle scenes.

Aliens: I missed this at the cinema but caught up with it several years later on TV and enjoyed the shooty shooty bang bang verve of Cameron's direction.

The Name of the Rose: This has to be on the list of books that would be impossible to film, but nonetheless I thought it was a brave stab that captured the spirit of Eco's original novel.