WordFest presents Richard Ford

My association with WordFest in Calgary has granted me many great opportunities to hear different authors and artists talk about their craft and their work.  Today I'm happy to report it has had another connection with the list, as last night I attended a reading with Richard Ford, author of my 37th read, The Sportswriter, at the John Dutton Theatre.  Ford joining local author Aritha Van Herk to read from and discuss his latest novel, Canada.

And what an interview it was, I was truly impressed.  Richard Ford was a pleasure to listen to, both as he was reading and as he was answering questions.  With candour and wit, he not only gave thoughtful answers to every question, but also backed them up with stories from his personal and professional experiences.  There weren't any one word or rehearsed answers that so many authors seem to give at similar events.

The reason he wore purple socks was because "his pink ones were dirty."  They didn't title the book Saskatchewan (where it mostly takes place) because "it's easy to draw, but hard to pronounce." And the last book he re-read was The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.

It did take a few minutes to sink in for me once he started talking that he is indeed from Jackson, Mississippi.  Even though I knew he was from Jackson, his Southern accent threw me for a loop.  Eventually it dawned on me; I was under the impression he was from New Jersey by way of Michigan, just as Frank Bascombe, protagonist in The Sportswriter, was.  Of course he isn't Frank Bascombe and nor do they share a heritage.

Richard Ford and 'What's his Face'

I regret that I hadn't read Canada before the event, as if having done so would give me extra insight into the discussion.  But on the flip side, I now have something to really look forward to reading.  So taken was I with the author as a person, and intrigued by what I've heard of the book, I did something I so rarely do; I bought a copy.  I don't remember the last time I bought a hardcover book.  Really, I don't.  But this signed copy will look quite nice on my shelf, as it waits to be read.


But as keen as I am to read Canada, I will not be picking it up for quite some time.  After all, I still have 1300 pages of Lord of the Rings, as well as 38 other books to read.  Not to mention a few WordFest titles to look after too.



    

I'll prove a busy actor in their play.

It's been a busy few weeks for me, which is the main reason I haven't posted anything.  Most of the busy, neh, all of the busy is because I am again blogging for WordFest this October.  Well actually, I suppose I will be blogging leading up to the event as well.  But long story short, I've had to divert a lot of my attention to my duties with WordFest.

    

To begin, I've now been presented with a lengthy list of books to read.  Of course with over 70 authors coming, I'm unable to read even a quarter of them, but I would like to get a few of them in, as it always adds to an event when I've read the book being presented.  What this means is that I'll have less time to devote to my list reading.  In addition, I need to prepare and write a series of blog leading up to the event.  This includes author interviews, a look behind the scenes, and perhaps a couple of reviews.


But WordFest still affords some time for The List.  Last year, Lev Grossman, author of this list I've been devoting so much time to, was in attendance at WordFest.  This year, I am happy to report there are two connections to The List.  First off is Richard Ford, author of my 37th read The Sportswriter, who will be talking about his latest book Canada.  Ford will actually be presenting at a pre-WordFest event later this month, and I would love to be able to read his book before then.  Everybody I've talked to who has read it, raves about it.  The second author, who will actually be this year's "Distinguished Author", is Martin Amis, presenting his newest novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England.  Amis was the author of my 55th read, Money.  I was able to read Lionel Asbo last week, a quick read, and enjoyable for the most part, but a book that falls well short of his list entry.


Concerning my list read, which is currently One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I am still reading and actually nearly finished.  It's a great book, but one that I've been forced to go a little slower than I'd like, to allow more time for some WordFest books.  Hopefully I can get a review up this weekend, and start on #61, which is yet to be determined.


You can follow my WordFest blog right here.    

And mark how well the sequel hangs together:

One of the most shameless money making ploys in the movie business is the sequel.  In most cases a sequel is not meant to continue the story or revisit the characters, but to offer the studio a chance to make more money, rehashing the same thing that appeared in the first movie.  There are of course exceptions, like 'The Godfather Part II' or The Lord of the Rings movies, but most sequels fall into the "Weekend at Bernie's II" category.

This isn't unique to movies however, as books have long used the sequel for the same reason; people who loved the first one will probably buy the second book, regardless of its quality or relevancy.  In fact it works so well in the literary world, we see certain genres rely almost exclusively on the sequel, knowing their audience will buy every book from a series, regardless of who wrote it or how well they wrote it.  Look at many fantasy books, which offer an endless list of titles, each so generic, it hardly merits mention.  Even hardcore fans are often unable to distinguish book three from book twenty-six in a series.  Yet they still buy each one.

It got me thinking about what books from The List have sequels.  Although the majority of these reads could be considered 'higher-brow', they're still in the business of making money, and both writers and publishers see the potential of doing just that, by revisiting their most famous earlier books.  A quick glance of The List tells me that books are much like the movies, where some sequels are legitimate novels seeking to continue the story or expand the character; but for every one of those, there are a couple just rehashing everything for a quick buck.

Perhaps the most famous sequels associated with The List would be the Chronicles of Narnia books.  The first, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe spawned not only five sequels, but also a prequel.  But none of them match the quality of the first book, and in fact seem to get worse and worse.  By the time we reach the fourth book, The Silver Chair, the story has distanced itself so far from the first book, they only have the land of Narnia in common, nothing more.  They're the perfect example of the fantasy genre continuing the story, as I mentioned above.  While I may consider The Lord of the Rings movies to be sequels, the books are, in fact, not.  Although released as three separate novels, they were actually written as one gigantic book.  This is the reason Lev Grossman has told me I am expected to read all three, not just the first one in order to complete my mission, and the reason they can't really be counted as sequels.

Perhaps the most horrifying sequel associated with The List, is Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley, 'sequel' to Gone with the Wind.  Having not read it (nor do I have plans to do so), I can't really comment on the quality, but the mere fact it exists is disturbing.  To begin, it wasn't written by Margaret Mitchell, in fact it was written 40 years after her death.  This alone makes it seem more like a new 'Star Wars' book, instead of a companion to one of the great books of all time.  Secondly, Mitchell said she wrote the end scene to Gone with the Wind first, and worked backward from there, creating a story to fit that scene.  She knew how she wanted the story to end, and had no plans of every continuing it.  Scarlett is a book that has cash grab written all over it.

Similar to Scarlett is Closing Time by Joseph Heller, meant as a sequel to another all-time great, Catch-22.  While this was at least written by the original author, it was released 35 years after the first novel, a book which doesn't really set up for a sequel.  It's a far cry from the first novel and probably could have been left on the shelf.

But not all literary sequels are created equally, and there a few that really stand out.  John Updike followed up his first big hit Rabbit, Run with three more 'Rabbit' novels, each released about ten years apart, each following Harry Angstrom through the decades.  These books allow the reader to follow one of the great literary characters of the 20th century through the years, from naive young man to his death.  The books stand out, as they do not simply re-hash the events of the first novel, nor do they merely put the same character in a different situation a few years later.  These are books that delve deeper and deeper into the character, giving the reader an intimate portrait of Harry Angstrom.  They are also not books Updike spit out one afternoon, while he had a free moment.  The third and fourth novels, Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest were both awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  This is the same feat Richard Ford was able to accomplish, with his sequel to The Sportswriter, Independence Day, which won the Pulitzer in 1996, revisiting Frank Bascombe.  Perhaps its the snob in me, but I feel a book that wins the Pulitzer Prize can hardly be considered a mere sequel; these are literary heavyweights.

The above award-winning novels have me wondering if the fathers of The List purposely included the first novels from the respective series, instead of the award-winning sequels as a way of introducing readers to the stories from the beginning.  Or do they not believe a sequel can be so highly regarded as to warrant inclusion on a 'best of list?'  This would be my thought and I think if I were compiling a similar list I would be hesitant to include any sequel.  However, Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys is there; prequel to Jane Eyre.  I find this to be an odd book for The List, and am curious to see how it reads.  It surprises me that a prequel written 120 years after the original, obviously by a different author, could receive such lofty praise.  But I must reserve judgement for after I have read it, which will probably be sometime in 2013...


Now if you'll please excuse me, I need to put the finishing touches on my latest manuscript, following an alcoholic Holden Caufield in his mid-50's, tentatively titled Caught in the Rye.