Word: novels
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Uzodinma Iweala (U-zod-din-ma EE-wall-a), a 23-year-old Harvard graduate who grew up in Washington, D.C., has written an extraordinary debut novel, Beasts of No Nation (HarperCollins), that is basking in critical acclaim. The book tells the story of Agu, a child soldier in an unnamed country in Western Africa, who has been recruited by a unit of guerrilla fighters after watching his own father being slaughtered. The author visited Nigeria, where his mother is currently the finance minister, frequently when he was growing up, and lived there last year, working with refugees. We chatted...
...MOVIE IS BETTER: By skipping the hometown beginnings of the heroine Sayuri and getting briskly to her induction into geisha life, the film announces its theme quickly and smartly. It expresses in winsome or searing glances what the novel took chapters to explain. The movie offers a little sympathy and backstory to the villainess Hatsumomo by giving her a scene with the lover whom geisha rules forbade her to have. And it gives Sayuri a fabulous dance scene that shows off director Rob Marshall's theater background...
DEFINITIVE VERSION: Nothing will ever touch the subtlety, mystery, power and charm of Lewis' novel. But this Lion is still a noble beast...
...worshipped the book; put Goblet's 734-page bulk on a severe diet that slimmed the plot without starving it; find a strong narrative line that, as director Mike Newell says, you can "hang stuff on like a necklace"; and make a movie that fit into the seven-novel structure but could stand alone as a ripping yarn. "Goblet of Fire was by far the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life," says screenwriter Steve Kloves. "It took two years to make that work--mostly trying to decide what to leave behind...
CHALLENGES: Scott Phillips' novel was a twisty little small-town noir with a double whammy or triple-cross on every other page. Which is fine for a leisurely read, but at 24 frames a second--movie speed--that can cause whiplash. Not to mention total incomprehension. Plus the book had some gnarly violence, and it took place mostly in strip clubs. If the MPAA rated books, that one would have been...