October 10th, 2009 / 9:14 pm
 Snippets
—

Movies are remade all the time.  Why not books?

24 Comments

  1. October 11th, 2009 / 1:18 am Nathan (Nate) Tyree—

      Hamlet has been written a thousand times

  2. October 10th, 2009 / 9:18 pm Nathan (Nate) Tyree—

      Hamlet has been written a thousand times

  3. October 11th, 2009 / 1:57 am Ken Baumann—

      you da man

  4. October 10th, 2009 / 9:57 pm Ken Baumann—

      you da man

  5. October 11th, 2009 / 2:05 am Rauan Klassnik—

      books are remade in translation all the time….
      and constantly updated. like the Odyssey.

      and contemporary english language (or children’s) versions of shakespeare. the canterbury tales. etc.
      etc.

      that being said,….

  6. October 10th, 2009 / 10:05 pm Rauan Klassnik—

      books are remade in translation all the time….
      and constantly updated. like the Odyssey.

      and contemporary english language (or children’s) versions of shakespeare. the canterbury tales. etc.
      etc.

      that being said,….

  7. October 11th, 2009 / 2:33 am Lincoln—

      Books are normally considered the product of one person, the writer. Movies are more communal, with frequently multiple writers, the director plus all his crew, production, actors, etc.

      That said, certain plots/stories are re-written and reimagined all the time, Shakespeare being an obvious example as mentioned.

  8. October 10th, 2009 / 10:33 pm Lincoln—

      Books are normally considered the product of one person, the writer. Movies are more communal, with frequently multiple writers, the director plus all his crew, production, actors, etc.

      That said, certain plots/stories are re-written and reimagined all the time, Shakespeare being an obvious example as mentioned.

  9. October 11th, 2009 / 3:54 am John Madera—

      Hey Ken,

      There’s Kenneth Goldsmith’s DAY where, continuing his practice of “uncreativity,” he takes the New York Times for Friday, September 1, 2000 “and retyped-page by page, column by column, line by line—reducing multiple font sizes to 9-point Bookman Old Style and ignoring instructions to turn where stories continue.”

      Have you seen Jen Bervin’s NETS, a rewriting, recasting of Shakespeare’s Sonnets?
      Here’s a link to some commentary about it: http://www.webdelsol.com/Double_Room/issue_five/Jen_Bervin.html

      And there’s Simon Morris’s RE-WRITING FREUD where he re-writes Sigmund Freud’s THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS.

      Robert Fitterman is doing some excellent work re-envisioning, re-creating, re-making familiar works. Here is his description of some of his experiments with Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises:
      THE SUN ALSO ALSO RISES by ROBERT FITTERMAN When I was 13, my brother gave me a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”. It was my first foray into real literature and I hated it. Even with little or no way to enter the novel, I dutifully slugged through it (I mean, what is cog-nak anyway?) Now, I have returned to revisit my relationship with that novel. In this version, I have erased my way through Hemingway’s original text, leaving behind only the phrases that begin with the pronoun “I”. – Robert Fitterman

      MY SUN ALSO RISES by ROBERT FITTERMAN “My Sun Also Rises” is a parallel companion to the The Sun Also Also Rises, which translates the previous erased version of the Hemingway original into my own experience of moving to downtown Manhattan in 1981.

      ALSO ALSO ALSO RISES, THE SUN by NAYLAND BLAKE In November 2007, I was invited to perform at the KGB Bar Reading Series. Having just completed the two Hemingway pieces, I was eager to perform them but I needed a second voice, a Hemingway. Happily, Nayland Blake agreed to read the Hemingway part, and we alternated chapters. In the process of rehearsing and thinking about this project, Nayland suggested that he might write his own version. His text, “Also Also Also Rises, The Sun” is a beautiful, minimalist version that further opens the conceptual possibilities for the piece.

  10. October 10th, 2009 / 11:54 pm John Madera—

      Hey Ken,

      There’s Kenneth Goldsmith’s DAY where, continuing his practice of “uncreativity,” he takes the New York Times for Friday, September 1, 2000 “and retyped-page by page, column by column, line by line—reducing multiple font sizes to 9-point Bookman Old Style and ignoring instructions to turn where stories continue.”

      Have you seen Jen Bervin’s NETS, a rewriting, recasting of Shakespeare’s Sonnets?
      Here’s a link to some commentary about it: http://www.webdelsol.com/Double_Room/issue_five/Jen_Bervin.html

      And there’s Simon Morris’s RE-WRITING FREUD where he re-writes Sigmund Freud’s THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS.

      Robert Fitterman is doing some excellent work re-envisioning, re-creating, re-making familiar works. Here is his description of some of his experiments with Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises:
      THE SUN ALSO ALSO RISES by ROBERT FITTERMAN When I was 13, my brother gave me a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”. It was my first foray into real literature and I hated it. Even with little or no way to enter the novel, I dutifully slugged through it (I mean, what is cog-nak anyway?) Now, I have returned to revisit my relationship with that novel. In this version, I have erased my way through Hemingway’s original text, leaving behind only the phrases that begin with the pronoun “I”. – Robert Fitterman

      MY SUN ALSO RISES by ROBERT FITTERMAN “My Sun Also Rises” is a parallel companion to the The Sun Also Also Rises, which translates the previous erased version of the Hemingway original into my own experience of moving to downtown Manhattan in 1981.

      ALSO ALSO ALSO RISES, THE SUN by NAYLAND BLAKE In November 2007, I was invited to perform at the KGB Bar Reading Series. Having just completed the two Hemingway pieces, I was eager to perform them but I needed a second voice, a Hemingway. Happily, Nayland Blake agreed to read the Hemingway part, and we alternated chapters. In the process of rehearsing and thinking about this project, Nayland suggested that he might write his own version. His text, “Also Also Also Rises, The Sun” is a beautiful, minimalist version that further opens the conceptual possibilities for the piece.

  11. October 11th, 2009 / 4:39 am ce.—

      then, there’s also rewrites of stories and poems (e.g. how many rewrites of “The Lady with the Dog” are there?) but, i guess these aren’t necessarily book length endeavors.

      i did have the idea of wanting to rewrite a modern Travels with Charlie. i wonder if there are more of these out there–updated versions of dated non-fictions.

  12. October 11th, 2009 / 12:39 am ce.—

      then, there’s also rewrites of stories and poems (e.g. how many rewrites of “The Lady with the Dog” are there?) but, i guess these aren’t necessarily book length endeavors.

      i did have the idea of wanting to rewrite a modern Travels with Charlie. i wonder if there are more of these out there–updated versions of dated non-fictions.

  13. October 11th, 2009 / 4:17 pm Patrick deWitt—

      Barely on topic – or not at all – but: Has any director ever made a film of a short story collection, in order, without attempting to link the stories, like Short Cuts?
      c.e. – I love Travels with Charlie.

  14. October 11th, 2009 / 12:17 pm Patrick deWitt—

      Barely on topic – or not at all – but: Has any director ever made a film of a short story collection, in order, without attempting to link the stories, like Short Cuts?
      c.e. – I love Travels with Charlie.

  15. October 11th, 2009 / 4:26 pm sasha fletcher—

      off topic from patrick’s but i really like how jesus’ son made the book into even more of a continuous story.

  16. October 11th, 2009 / 12:26 pm sasha fletcher—

      off topic from patrick’s but i really like how jesus’ son made the book into even more of a continuous story.

  17. October 11th, 2009 / 11:46 pm ce.—

      Travels with Charlie made me want Steinbeck as my grandpa.

  18. October 11th, 2009 / 7:46 pm ce.—

      Travels with Charlie made me want Steinbeck as my grandpa.

  19. October 12th, 2009 / 2:45 pm Kevin O'Neill—
  20. October 12th, 2009 / 10:45 am Kevin O'Neill—
  21. October 12th, 2009 / 5:38 pm jereme—

      movies are remade all the time because of $$$. You take a movie that has already made money back in the 60s or 50s or whatever, reshoot it, release it and get more $$$.

      i think you will find it hard to come by movies that are remade out of artistic endeavor.

      this concept really doesn’t apply to books.

      why would you WANT to rewrite a book?

  22. October 12th, 2009 / 1:38 pm jereme—

      movies are remade all the time because of $$$. You take a movie that has already made money back in the 60s or 50s or whatever, reshoot it, release it and get more $$$.

      i think you will find it hard to come by movies that are remade out of artistic endeavor.

      this concept really doesn’t apply to books.

      why would you WANT to rewrite a book?

  23. October 12th, 2009 / 7:16 pm RJ—

      Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

  24. October 12th, 2009 / 3:16 pm RJ—

      Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.