Comments for Simon Maginn

Comment on Books by Simon Maginn by simonmaginn

simonmaginn — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:34:28 +0000

Hi Syreeta. I’m glad you liked The Dark. I feel it’s only fair to warn you, though, that it has almost nothing to do with the book. There’s no Welsh ‘mythology’ in the book, the characters are different, the story is completely different and the film just basically takes one or two key scenes from the book, wrenches them out of context and then puts in some kind of impossible-to-understand plot pudding in place of the storyline. I don’t mean to sound negative about the film – it’s good-looking and lots of people like it. It’s its own thing. But it isn’t ‘adapted’ from the book, except in the sense that a pile of rubble could be said to be ‘adapted’ from a house. I hope you like the book: it’s very dear to my heart. I made my feelings known about the film ‘adaptation’ here: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur22040485/comments

Comment on Books by Simon Maginn by Syreeta S.

Syreeta S. — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:23:12 +0000

I absolutely love the movie based on The Sheep. The dark is amazing I will hunt down a copy of the Sheep am sure I will love it even more than the movie.

Comment on Ebooks (Sheep, etc.) by My Homepage

My Homepage — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:12:58 +0000

… [Trackback]…

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Comment on ‘What’s it about?’ by simonmaginn

simonmaginn — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:37:35 +0000

Like your piece. But literary theory always rather goes over my head. I’m certainly not suggesting that characters should just sit around thinking: that would surely be self-indulgent solipsistic nonsense. Mine is a slightly different point, I think; that the requirements of visual forms of fiction (film/TV) have started to dictate the terms of engagement for all writers. My favourite Graham Greene novel is Brighton Rock: there is a brilliant 'plot spring' at the beginning, which forces Pinky, the psychotic gangster, and Rose, the naive waitress, together. The book is so immensely powerful, I think, not because of the plot (gangsters and so on, yawn), but because of what the plot allows or forces to happen: the ‘dark theology’ between these two characters. The plot is a necessary means to this end, but it isn’t what makes the book great: it’s not what the book is ‘about’. Or take Independence Day by Richard Ford. A plot summary would yield something like: ‘A middle-aged suburban American man goes on a road trip with his difficult, oppositional teenage son’. If there was a film made of it, that’s what the listings would bill it as. But that barely begins to describe the richness and sadness and beauty of the thing. That plot description would never entice me to pick the book up: it sounds dull and uneventful, whereas it is an absolute page-turner, urgent and desperate and fierce. Again, the book is really ‘about’ the relationship between the two characters, and, by extension, about fathers and sons more generally. Again, the plot is just a way of allowing or forcing this to happen. That’s what I’m getting at.

Comment on ‘What’s it about?’ by Cecilia M. Fernandez

Cecilia M. Fernandez — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:20:19 +0000

I also think that plot is a hassle. Read my take on plot on my blog!

Comment on Outrage as Kindle reduces free samples to first six letters. by Sample letters

Sample letters — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:35:54 +0000

Only first six letters!!! This is not justified.

Comment on Outrage as Kindle reduces free samples to first six letters. by Bev Morley

Bev Morley — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:19:08 +0000

Hey Simon

What a ridiculous move – 6 letters? Pah.

Samples are limited anyway to a percentage of the book, and just because a potential buyer has access to a decent sized sample, it doesn’t mean they have to read it all. In fact, if they can’t find the time to read a sample, how will they find the time to read the whole book?

Here’s a six letter word for you, Ms Carapace, NUMPTY!

Comment on Outrage as Kindle reduces free samples to first six letters. by simonmaginn

simonmaginn — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:00:53 +0000

Sorry, I liked your first six letters but after that I thought it tailed off a bit.

Comment on Outrage as Kindle reduces free samples to first six letters. by RandomizeME

RandomizeME — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:59:57 +0000

Funny, but isn’t the Twitter 150-character limit more apt?

Comment on Peter James ‘to take over Brighton’ by Review: Looking Good Dead by Peter James « Book club blog

Review: Looking Good Dead by Peter James « Book club blog — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:49:18 +0000

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