The World According to Hollywood (The World According to Garp)

Why are bad books being made into films? I mean, I know most of what is being made in Hollywood is crap, so I suppose it makes sense to make bad books into even worse movies. But all the publicity and hype over The Da Vinci Code, in particular, has been getting to me over the past couple of weeks.

As I know I've mentioned before (Dan Brown's success is a sore spot for me), I thought very little of this book simply because it could've been so good. All the theory and research were there (because they was stolen from someone else) but the quality of writing and the pathetic attempts at suspense just made it laughable.

I originally wanted to see the film because I thought the cast (Audrey Tatou in particular) could pull it off providing they had a good screenplay. But both critics and friends have agreed that the script is dire and the acting average so Hollywood is not getting my £7.50 this time around.

John Irving's The World According to Garp is an example of Hollywood picking up on a genius book and turning it into a film that may not be critically acclaimed (it has a 6.9 on IMDb) but turned out to be a good way for many of Hollywood's current respected actors to showcase their early talent (Glenn Close, John Lithgow). Too bad it happened almost 25 years ago.

Onto the book...

I had never read John Irving before but I suspect this was the place to start. The World According to Garp is his most famous book so I was expecting something very mainstream and conventional. Instead I was rewarded with a novel I could really only compare to Catch-22 in terms of its sense of adventure and recklessness.

But that is not to say the novel is not accessible. In fact, I think John Irving could be the answer to helping frustrated or reluctant readers enjoy literature.

The mock-biography chronicles the life and times of writer T.S. Garp and his mother, hesitant feminist Jenny Fields. Garp is an 'everyman' and his life is an 'X-rated soap opera' of unexpected twists that border on the unbelievable but keep their feet firmly planted just when the reader needs it most.

Although written nearly 30 years ago, this book has lost none of its original power or social comment. Like Joseph Heller, I doubt John Irving will be quickly forgotten. That is one thing that Dan Brown will never achieve.

An Out-of-this-World Read (Rocket Boys)

I picked up Homer J. Hickam's Rocket Boys at a charity shop near my office on my lunch hour. I had finished the book I was reading on the way to work that morning and needed something to read on the way home. I had no previous knowledge of the novel, but it caught my eye because it billed itself as a "true story." The Stand-By-Me-esque blurb on the back cover was fairly intriguing so I paid my £1.50 hoping I'd made a good choice.

My humble expectations of a book I'd never heard of were immediately exceeded. For someone whose profession is rocket engineering, Hickam is an outstanding writer. In fact, his writing is far superior to some writers who write for a living (I'm not going to name any names... Dan Brown).

Rocket Boys is Hickam's story of his adolesence during the late 50's and early 60's in the mining town of Coalwood, West Virgina. Inspired by spotting Sputnik fly over his modest village, Hickam and a group of male friends form a rocket club. This memoir follows the ups and downs of the club, as well as of the town as the US economy changes.

I firmly believe that in years to come Rocket Boys could (and should) find its way onto high school reading lists across the US. It is a truthful, enigmatic glimpse into the space-race era and presents a lasting image of life in a coal-mining town. Plus, it's been made into a movie called October Sky which suits the modern American teaching style of reading the book and then watching the film.

I am 22 and I adored this book. I am going to buy a copy (not from the charity shop) of this for my dad for Father's Day because I know it will bring back fond memories of his childhood. It is classic books that bridge generations and readerships, and I firmly believe that Rocket Boys is a modern classic.