Jim Cherry's Blog - Posts Tagged "walter-tevis"
Going on a Reading Jag!
Okay, last night I watched the Paul Newman movie "The Hustler" for about the millionth time (I first watched it when I was a kid because my father liked the movie) and it's a great movie (academy award nom's for Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott) and I've known for maybe 20 years it was based on a novel by Walter Tevis, and since then it has been in the back of mind to read it. Watching it last night it really resonated with me (especially Laurie's performance). So this morning I went to Amazon and see if a copy of The Hustler
was reasonably priced. Looking through the books he wrote I discovered he wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth
(might have already known this). I also discovered an interesting novel Mockingbird, and a book of short stories. I ordered Hustler and Man Who Fell to Earth from Amazon (cool covers, right?) and went off to my local library to order Mockingbird and the short stories.
I went to Wikipedida and looked him up and he had a pretty interesting life but I was disheartened to find there's no biography of him (any would be biographers out there looking for a subject?) So, with the books on their way (Hustler and Man scheduled to arrive Tuesday) I'll be reading them right away (I read some of The Hustler on Amazon and it had some pretty descriptive language that I thought was pretty cool, so, after the books arrive the reviews will be coming!
was reasonably priced. Looking through the books he wrote I discovered he wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth
(might have already known this). I also discovered an interesting novel Mockingbird, and a book of short stories. I ordered Hustler and Man Who Fell to Earth from Amazon (cool covers, right?) and went off to my local library to order Mockingbird and the short stories.I went to Wikipedida and looked him up and he had a pretty interesting life but I was disheartened to find there's no biography of him (any would be biographers out there looking for a subject?) So, with the books on their way (Hustler and Man scheduled to arrive Tuesday) I'll be reading them right away (I read some of The Hustler on Amazon and it had some pretty descriptive language that I thought was pretty cool, so, after the books arrive the reviews will be coming!
No Hustle, A Great Book
You probably know the story of “The Hustler” from the 1961 Paul Newman movie of the same name. It’s the tale of small time pool hustler Eddie Felson who wants to move from the small time to the big time by playing the best pool player, Minnesota Fats. He loses to Fats, falls for a woman, gets his thumbs broken, is taught how to win by gambler Bert, and has a rematch with Fats. It’s all there, the pleasure comes in the prose of Tevis’ writing.
The prose is sepia tinged as it should be for the world it’s conjuring for the reader. Tevis uses highly descriptive language, he‘s painting the words on thickly. I recently read Tevis’ “The Man Who Fell to Earth” which was written only about five years after “The Hustler” and he doesn’t use the thickly descriptive adjectives as he does in “Hustler.” It’s obviously a choice Tevis made in the writing.
The conclusion of “The Hustler” is a little more straightforward than the movie, and leaves you a bit more in limbo, because that’s where Tevis’ leaves Eddie, in limbo with Sarah. Are they made for each other? Are they both locked into their “contract of depravity” and they can only be with each other? After the second match with Minnesota Fats has Bert sunk his claws far enough into Eddie to keep him hustling for him?
“Walter Tevis’ “The Hustler” was an instant classic. It received critical acclaim at it’s publication and of course being made into a movie. Tevis’ may have been a bit out of step with his contemporaries in incorporating a more traditional writing style than Jack Kerouac or The Beats but Tevis’ style holds up after almost sixty years and still reads as freshly as the day it was written.
The prose is sepia tinged as it should be for the world it’s conjuring for the reader. Tevis uses highly descriptive language, he‘s painting the words on thickly. I recently read Tevis’ “The Man Who Fell to Earth” which was written only about five years after “The Hustler” and he doesn’t use the thickly descriptive adjectives as he does in “Hustler.” It’s obviously a choice Tevis made in the writing.
The conclusion of “The Hustler” is a little more straightforward than the movie, and leaves you a bit more in limbo, because that’s where Tevis’ leaves Eddie, in limbo with Sarah. Are they made for each other? Are they both locked into their “contract of depravity” and they can only be with each other? After the second match with Minnesota Fats has Bert sunk his claws far enough into Eddie to keep him hustling for him?
“Walter Tevis’ “The Hustler” was an instant classic. It received critical acclaim at it’s publication and of course being made into a movie. Tevis’ may have been a bit out of step with his contemporaries in incorporating a more traditional writing style than Jack Kerouac or The Beats but Tevis’ style holds up after almost sixty years and still reads as freshly as the day it was written.
Book vs Movie: The Hustler
Movie vs. Book, the eternal question, which is better? Was the book better than movie? Was the movie better? Prevailing opinion usually sides with the book, but is that necessarily true? I don’t know if I can answer that definitively for every book reader or movie goer. In the end that may be a subjective preference for any viewer, or reader. Something that comes to mind as I write this, does it matter if you saw the movie or read the book first? Or if you know the movies as well as, or better than the books it can cloud your idea of the book? These may be questions to discover answers to as I write these articles. I’m planning this as a weekly or monthly series of articles. Let’s get started! “The Hustler.”
Read Book vs Movie: The Hustler on Medium
Read Book vs Movie: The Hustler on Medium
Book vs Movie: The Hustler
Movie vs. Book, the eternal question, which is better? Was the book better than movie? Was the movie better? Prevailing opinion usually sides with the book, but is that necessarily true? I don’t know if I can answer that definitively for every book reader or movie goer. In the end that may be a subjective preference for any viewer, or reader. Something that comes to mind as I write this, does it matter if you saw the movie or read the book first? Or if you know the movies as well as, or better than the books it can cloud your idea of the book? These may be questions to discover answers to as I write these articles. I’m planning this as a weekly or monthly series of articles. Let’s get started! “The Hustler.”
Read Book vs Movie: The Hustler on Medium
Read Book vs Movie: The Hustler on Medium
