What book are you reading tonight?

The Saloon
161

[quote=“Phil H, post:159, topic:1204”]Just finished The Brave Cowboy, a contemporary western (well contemporary in the mid 1950s anyway) about an anarchist cowboy trying to escape the demands of the government on a skittish horse.

Written by Edward Abbey this was adapted for film as Lonely Are The Brave and still stands up as a good read that poses some interesting questions about society, principles, duty and the rights of the individual. Recommended. Although the ending was somewhat too heavily signposted and predictable very early on.[/quote]
Alex Cox mentions this novel in his “10,00 Ways to Die” book. He reckons the begining of the novel was lifted by Sergio Leone for “A Fistful of Dollars”.

162

Well there is an early scene where the cowboy rides through a Mexican village and I guess it is a scene which became iconic in spaghettis but I’m not sure it is close enough to FOD to convince me it was lifted straight from here. It could be though.because what Cox does point out quite correctly is the dedication at the front of the book which shows Leone was aware of Abbey’s work.

“To the outlaws-
to all of them:
the good and the bad, the ugly
and the pretty, the dead and the live.”

You can’t really argue with that. This was published in 1956. I’m convinced this is where Leone got his title from.

163

I just finished Brett Halsey’s first novel, The Magnificent Strangers, which chronicles the hedonistic exploits of American expats living in Rome during the Dolce Vita era.

Halsey wrote this in the late Seventies, when he was back in the States and starring in TV’s General Hospital.

Obviously the book is heavily autobiographical (a small-time actor named “Monty Ford” turns up once or twice) and it’s also incredibly salacious and sleazy. Halsey’s prose ranges from pedantic to florid, often in the same paragraph, and the characters - an assortment of muscular hunks, would-be cowboys, agents, entrepreneurs and sundry sluttish wives, girlfriends and hookers - are almost universally loathsome. They exploit the Italians and are exploited in turn, and eventually the bubble bursts - in a series of increasingly grotesque and bloody episodes - and they’re forced to realign their lives elsewhere.

I hope Halsey intended it as savage satire, because that’s the best way to approach it.

Halsey attracted a lot of controversy for basing several incidents on genuine events - a depressed actor commits suicide by cutting off his balls; a woman dies in jail after being denied medication for diabetes following a drugs bust involving an American actor… And characters are clearly amalgams of real people, from TV actor “Dusty Miles”, who becomes a star in Westerns shot in Spain, to “Dick Wynters”, a beefcake who becomes Italy’s answer to James Bond.

As trashy as it is - and it is VERY trashy - it’s fun and fascinating reading for fans, who’ll appreciate cameos by the likes of Brad Harris and the first-hand details of quota film-making in a foreign land.

I got an old copy from Amazon for about £1. Halsey later issued a much-revised version, which I’d imagine is somewhat sanitised.

164

[quote=“Starblack, post:163, topic:1204”]I just finished Brett Halsey’s first novel, The Magnificent Strangers, which chronicles the hedonistic exploits of American expats living in Rome during the Dolce Vita era.

Halsey wrote this in the late Seventies, when he was back in the States and starring in TV’s General Hospital.

Obviously the book is heavily autobiographical (a small-time actor named “Monty Ford” turns up once or twice) and it’s also incredibly salacious and sleazy. Halsey’s prose ranges from pedantic to florid, often in the same paragraph, and the characters - an assortment of muscular hunks, would-be cowboys, agents, entrepreneurs and sundry sluttish wives, girlfriends and hookers - are almost universally loathsome. They exploit the Italians and are exploited in turn, and eventually the bubble bursts - in a series of increasingly grotesque and bloody episodes - and they’re forced to realign their lives elsewhere.

I hope Halsey intended it as savage satire, because that’s the best way to approach it.

Halsey attracted a lot of controversy for basing several incidents on genuine events - a depressed actor commits suicide by cutting off his balls; a woman dies in jail after being denied medication for diabetes following a drugs bust involving an American actor… And characters are clearly amalgams of real people, from TV actor “Dusty Miles”, who becomes a star in Westerns shot in Spain, to “Dick Wynters”, a beefcake who becomes Italy’s answer to James Bond.

As trashy as it is - and it is VERY trashy - it’s fun and fascinating reading for fans, who’ll appreciate cameos by the likes of Brad Harris and the first-hand details of quota film-making in a foreign land.

I got an old copy from Amazon for about £1. Halsey later issued a much-revised version, which I’d imagine is somewhat sanitised.[/quote]

Would be interesting to know what a man like Glenn Saxson (or Dan van Husen) has to say about it.

I have the idea Dan is reading these pages, so Dan, have your say about it!

165

Well, I did once ask Robert Woods what he thought about it, and he claimed Halsey based his central character on a combination of Woods and Gordon Scott (who is name-checked in the book). Halsey didn’t really comment on that when I ran it by him. Wise man.

166

I just finished reading John Murray’s book on Brett Halsey and he says the lead character in the novel is ‘an exaggerated portrait of Gordon Scott’. I haven’t read the novel but I plan to get hold of a copy. Sounds like it might be an entertaining read.

Murray’s book has some interesting stuff in it. I’ll be writing a review of it for the database shortly.

167

Cool. I’ll look out for that.

It would be fascinating to read a warts-and-all autobiography by one of the American expats. I don’t really count Mark Damon’s book, because that concentrates mainly, and understandably, on his production career.

168

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. Not sure about this so far. Don’t know whether he is really my sort of writer. Prefer Tom Holt so far.

169

Wow! I’ve been crawling my way through McCarthy’s Blood Meridian but the book is sooooooo long on narration and sophisticated dialogue that it often completely stumps me as to what the hell is going on! It feels as if it is going in circles. And none of this is made easier by McCarthy’s constant practice of writing dialogue in local, often southern bumbkin accents. “Y’all Gawin’ tuh dat place ov’r yonder?” Or carrying out whole conversations in untranslated Spanish. Talent? Absolutley. But that doesn’t make this head ache inducing read any more easier.

170

frickin love that book, of couse I live in southern texas so the spanish and western talk is second nature…but i did have to look at the dictionary a couple of times for some of that cowboy jargon

171

Try reading some of Bards more obscure plays (so you don’t know what will happen next), and trust me, you will be re-reading pages!

172

Read Hellboy: The Lost Army on the plane rides and started The Golden Compass

173

Right now I’m reading A Clockwork Orange. That’s pretty tough, the whole Nadsat thing is a true pain in the ass for the non English reader.

And I think in many respects the novel is more brutal than the movie.

174

Cooking book as going to make some fruit crumbles.

175

Telephone book as going to call someone ;D

176

I do like a nice crumble. What fruit are you using Ennioo? Any rhubarb involvement there?

177

You aren’t by any chance watching some of the Global DVDs, are you?

178

You guessed it Phil plenty of Rhubarb from the allotment this year !, so thought would have a dabble :wink: .
Have some blackberries aswell.

179

Didn’t look too far back on this thread, but has anyone read The Kite Runner(Khaled Hosseini)? My cousin says it’s a “must read”.

180

I’ve heard it’s very good.