tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post7586934942383023267..comments2024-03-27T05:13:25.241-05:00Comments on The New Dork Review of Books: On Retellings: Novels as RemakesGreg Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08122230426442946518noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-59374417777486883912011-10-24T13:34:55.293-05:002011-10-24T13:34:55.293-05:00I'd like to be a PC nerd and point out that in...I'd like to be a PC nerd and point out that in the most recent Karate Kid he learned kung fu and not karate. Go figure. Also that I was too lazy to log in because I'm really just passing through so I'll just sign my name here. <br /><br />-CindyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-45466376792222286772010-09-07T16:59:00.141-05:002010-09-07T16:59:00.141-05:00@Ken - Not popular, maybe. Wrong, definitely.@Ken - Not popular, maybe. Wrong, definitely.Greg Zimmermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08122230426442946518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-90788764235770944682010-09-07T11:53:09.566-05:002010-09-07T11:53:09.566-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kennethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08822449936450212892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-44766114329259081272010-09-06T13:22:57.898-05:002010-09-06T13:22:57.898-05:00@Lisa - Yeah, I think you'll love On Beauty th...@Lisa - Yeah, I think you'll love On Beauty then. If you never read Zadie Smith, she's an incredibly talented writer.<br /><br />@Lyndsey - Haven't heard of The Penelopiad, but I see it's an Atwood novel - she's someone I've never read, but have always meant to. Thanks for the recommendation!<br /><br />@Jenny - My sentiments exactly: ACCKK! Gross.<br /><br />@Jeanne - If you'll pardon my ignorance, what is A Thousand Acres a retelling of? And I love the adaptation of Ulysses to real life - like quoting movies. Nicely done!Greg Zimmermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08122230426442946518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-11017436374620346172010-09-06T12:56:19.850-05:002010-09-06T12:56:19.850-05:00Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres started the cur...Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres started the current trend, I think, although I have no idea why, because I don't know anyone who liked it that much.<br /><br />I did like Ulysses, a lot, when I read it in college. Some of the sentences are part of my brain now, and come out at the oddest time (I got an email last week asking in a kind of exasperated way for my answer to a question I'd already answered and I typed "yes, I said yes, I will, yes" which is an echo of the last sentence of that novel.<br /><br />Total Recall is itself a re-working of previous science fiction stories (there were precedents for the Philip K. Dick story)Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-2117961429209716722010-09-04T18:13:49.827-05:002010-09-04T18:13:49.827-05:00Did you hear about the remake of Back to the Futur...Did you hear about the remake of Back to the Future? From what I hear, they are looking at Justin Bieber to play Michael J. Fox's part!! AHHCKKK!!!Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14128837662718618636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-34546477473788792332010-09-04T12:43:06.056-05:002010-09-04T12:43:06.056-05:00Good call on the films - The Penelopiad retells pa...Good call on the films - The Penelopiad retells part of the Odyssey and was pretty good (though I have to confess, I have not read the original)Lyndseyhttp://www.teadevotee.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-19433890010042178612010-09-03T19:24:50.618-05:002010-09-03T19:24:50.618-05:00I very much liked Howard's End so I'm goin...I very much liked Howard's End so I'm going to have to check out On Beauty. I had the same thoughts about Edgar Sawtelle--chop out 100 pages and I know I would have liked that book a lot better.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-73109653608109346882010-09-03T15:42:20.918-05:002010-09-03T15:42:20.918-05:00@Jane - I can see how that experience would put yo...@Jane - I can see how that experience would put you off NOVEL (hehe) retellings. <br /><br />@Billy - Thank you for the correction.<br /><br />@Kathy - Fairy tale retellings! Can't believe I didn't think of that, of which there are certainly many.<br /><br />@lady T - Good call on Ahab's Wife - there are a ton of books written from the point of view of characters of classics - Geraldine Brooks won a Pulitzer for March, e.g. Those not-really-spin-off-but-kind-of books are something I didn't consider as well.<br /><br />@Interpolations - Hey, thanks for the kind words.Greg Zimmermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08122230426442946518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-32191207016771357722010-09-03T14:54:51.024-05:002010-09-03T14:54:51.024-05:00I congratulate you on a fine post! Especially enjo...I congratulate you on a fine post! Especially enjoyed these lines, "Most people who have read it discuss it more as a war wound than a rewarding literary experience...." Many cheers, KevinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-78021185101366249112010-09-03T14:28:56.801-05:002010-09-03T14:28:56.801-05:00A particularly good example of this literary remak...A particularly good example of this literary remake genre is Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund,which has the wife of the obsessed captain from Moby Dick tell her side of the story. <br /><br /> The tale she tells(which also has specially made woodcut illustrations placed in the book)is strong enough to stand up on it's own even without the Melville connection.<br /><br /> If any of the Hollywood remakes were as inventive and clever as this book was,they would be more tolerable. Most of the time,those movies are just a lazy executive's greenlight.lady thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16287907577241697874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-23637715620832403152010-09-03T12:14:27.468-05:002010-09-03T12:14:27.468-05:00Haha! Greg, you have been usurped. There is a NEW ...Haha! Greg, you have been usurped. There is a NEW New Dork!! (Just kidding, Billy). Yes, I've definitely noticed the surfeit of remakes and had the same idea as you--Hollywood has run out of ideas. It extends to the toys that have been brought back. Somebody my age rules the World of Entertainment and is resurrecting all of the toys of my youth. But I digress.<br /><br />I really like fairy tale retellings! I think one of my favorites would have to be <i>Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister</i> by Gregory Maguire.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15867744753830511111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-6138348034548055112010-09-03T12:03:52.787-05:002010-09-03T12:03:52.787-05:00The upcoming Tron Legacy is a sequel not a remake....The upcoming Tron Legacy is a sequel not a remake.Billy Burgesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00361704194167828597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060047013304842896.post-59492138231499965952010-09-03T11:58:19.463-05:002010-09-03T11:58:19.463-05:00I sort of hate both the Hollywood remake thing and...I sort of hate both the Hollywood remake thing and the novel remake thing. One of my most painful literary experiences was Wide Sargasso Sea, a retelling of Jane Eyre from the POV of the crazy woman in the attic. It was just...awful. I've avoided retellings ever since.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com