Happy 2015!

Highlight of a Lazy Saturday

Neverwhere on BBC Radio iPlayer.  The BBC restrict us mere Americans from watching any of their fantastic programming online but luckily, we can listen to their radio shows.  Woohoo!  I had wanted to read Neverwhere specifically because I knew the radio version was coming.  Luckily, I loved the book!  And so far, the radio version, is living up to that very high standard!  My problem with movies, TV and radio based on books, is that they have to cut so much to fit to the time constraints.  That doesn't seem to be the case here.  After the first hour, there may be a few lines or a paragraph here and there that I've noticed missing but that's about it.  All plot points in the first part have been hit to a tee.  It's a fabulous version of this awesome story and I'll be anxiously waiting to listen to the rest!

Writer Love

The first thing I always notice when watching movies, television or reading is the style of writing.  I'm far from a connoisseur and I've never taken a writing class, so I don't know tricks or styles.  But I'm fairly certain everyone knows good writing when they hear it.  Because of this there are certain writers that are in the upper echelons of writing in my book.  I would give my right arm to turn a phrase or make snide comments like they do.  My list currently includes:

- Anthony Bourdain: I wish I was brave enough to be as open with my thoughts as he is. "A Cook's Tour" will always be to me, one of the best books ever written.

-Stephen Fry: Probably one of the smartest men on earth while never lording that fact over your head and a race-car quick wit.

-Bill Bryson: He sets a stage like no other.  Whatever country or place he's visiting, you feel as if you're standing next to him about to fall into the same ludicrous situation he is. 

-Mark Gatiss/Steven Moffat: Both are unbelievable screenwriters individually but when writing as a team, their work just leaps off the screen.  I'm positive that, aside from the dreamboat status Benedict Cumberbatch has, the reason there's so much Sherlock on Pinterest is the beautiful words these men write. There are too many scenes to choose from, but this one never ceases to make me laugh out loud.

 

Are you sensing a pattern here?  If you can't tell or you've never read any of these guys, I tend to lean toward sarcasm and wit.  If you're able to write a great pun or deliver a one-liner, you're pretty much guaranteed to make it onto my list. As someone who reads quite a bit, there are of course others: Shakespeare, Tolkien, John Rogers,  Jeff Eastin, and J.K. Rowling, etc. but I won't bore you with all the why's. If you've read or watched anything, I'm sure you have your own lists and my reasons will most likely differ from yours.

 

After rambling for the last few minutes, I should most likely get to my original point.  All of this was actually to say, I've discovered a new writer to add to my list: Neil Gaiman.  I know, he's been around forever and he's always kind of floating out there in the universe to read but I'd never really gotten around to it.  Mostly, I was a being a bit of a wimp. The covers of his books always say something along the lines of "master of horror" and I like my fantasy mundane, not terrifying.  But, I had heard the BBC was doing a radio recording of "Neverwhere" and the cover of the book has Big Ben on it, so I dove in.  How horrifying could it be if the BBC was recording it.  Thank goodness my assumptions were correct.  He's completely brilliant and I'm not sure why I waited so long.  The story was fantastic but the writing was magic.  He's sarcastic and funny and uses big, beautiful words (yes, I'm a English nerd...)  And I will most certainly be jumping into another sooner rather than later, that is when the stack that's staring at me now gets a little smaller.

Now, I'm waiting with baited breath for the premiere of the radio version.  I'm not sure it will live up to the book (do most things ever live up to the book?) but seeing the cast list, I'm sure it will come very, very close.