It's always good news when a book is made into a film – especially when it’s one
starring Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Toni Collette, Jean Reno & Christopher
Plummer which I would say bodes extremely well for its chances of success. Last
night there was a special trade preview of Hector
and the Search for Happiness which will open in the UK
“I knew hardly anything about the film beforehand; I
felt the title had potential and of course the ever strong appeal of anything
with Simon Pegg in it was undeniable. His hilarious previous films mean that
most of my generation believe anything with him as the star can do little wrong.
From the opening scene I thought I was going to watch a comedy, as the bright
blue sky and shiny yellow plane, with Simon Pegg seated inside wearing flying
goggles, seemed set up to be funny. However when this particular episode turned
out to be a dream I wondered which genre the film would fall into. The film does
have a jokey mood and many laugh-out-loud moments; but what I really enjoyed
about Hector and the Search for Happiness
was the more serious undertone, and the honesty of a young man looking for joy
in this world. It seems as if the young psychologist (Pegg) has the ideal life.
Everything is in order and his perfect girlfriend (Rosamund Pike) is everything
a simple man like Hector dreams of. However an urge to find more in life, his
current failure to make his patients happy, and the strong indication there’s
another woman out there for him, leads Hector to go on a trip round the world
finding out what makes people happy. It was often emotional and moving, and
overall truly heartfelt. The clever individual style of the film is very
appealing, the action sometimes merges into a Herge-style cartoon for a moment,
and the occasional flashbacks makes it unusual and alternative. Moreover, I
really appreciated the recurring Tintin theme. The yellow aeroplane at the
start, the cartoons, the Blue Lotus book and Hector’s resulting trip to
Shanghai; all unashamedly remind you of the Tintin books, and it’s just another
quirky touch to this film that I think make it so successful. I’ve never read Hector and the Search for Happiness, but now would
like to. The film gives a fascinating account of different situations and
cultures all round the world, and will raise some serious questions in your own
mind about happiness. Anyone who sees it will not regret spending a couple of
hours with Hector on his search for joy. Fantastic!”
Over two million readers worldwide have already
engaged with psychiatrist François
Lelord’s modern fable and it is published in paperback in the
UK
Congratulations to Comma Press; their short
story collection The Iraqi Christ
by Hassan Blasim (translated by Jonathan Wright) has just been announced the
Winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize,
2014. As the Bookseller commented, “It is the first time in
the prize’s 24-year history that it has gone to an Arab writer and also the
first time that a short story collection has been victorious.” From legends
of the desert to horrors of the forest, Blasim’s stories blend the fantastic with the
everyday, the surreal with the all-too-real. A soldier with the ability to
predict the future finds himself blackmailed by an insurgent into the ultimate
act of terror…Fleeing a robbery, a Baghdad shopkeeper falls into a deep hole, at
the bottom of which sits a djinni and the corpse of a soldier from a completely
different war…Taking his cues from Kafka, his prose shines a dazzling light into
the dark absurdities of Iraq’s recent past and the torments of its countless
refugees. This is a new kind of story-telling, forged in the crucible of war,
and just as shocking. You can watch an interview with author Hassan Blassim minutes after being announced the
winner here; hear him on Thursday 22nd May's BBC Front
Row here and also read the Guardian coverage of the win. A rave review in the
Independent which you can read in full here said “Think Irvine Welsh in post-war and post-Saddam Baghdad
Wakolda by Lucia
Puenzo is a story of obsession, loyalty and control as one man with
dark intentions charms his way into the lives of an innocent, unsuspecting
family. This is a dark and chilling story full of dramatic tension and
well-drawn characters, which is based on the true exile of Josef Mengele to
South America . It begins when in Patagonia , 1960. José is on the run. Having fled from him
homeland Germany , he has come
to South America to continue his work – José is
a doctor, who is seeking to manipulate genes to create the ‘perfect’ human
race’. José is of course actually Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, infamous for
performing human experiments at Auschwitz and
sooner or later his past is going to catch up with him. Wakolda (Pb, 978 1843915430 £8.99) is published by
Hesperus Nova in July. It was released as an Argentinian film (called
The German Doctor in the US
There are lots of personal stories of both the first
and Second World War out this summer of course, but Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer by Air Commodore
Alastair Dyson Panton is perhaps uniquely
poignant. So much more than merely a memoir of war, this is a vivid and often
lyrical description of life as an RAF reconnaissance pilot in France during the
hellish summer of 1940, as the Germans marched into first Belgium
The Bristol Blenheim has a fascinating history –
have a look at this interesting and nostalgic 8 minute film which gives you
a good impression of the affection many feel towards this
plane.
Under the Channel by Gilles
Petel was launched last week with a party in London London
That got me thinking about how often the Channel
tunnel has been used in fiction and film. Who can forget the extraordinary helicopter and train chase in Mission Impossible for
example?
And of course there was the Sky Atlantic series last
year: The Tunnel - pretty grisly gripping
stuff!
But the story of the real tunnel is fairly
extraordinary in its own right. Who knew that they actually started building it
1880 – yes that’s right – 1880!! Watch this really brilliant British Pathe film from 1957 to find
out a bit more – it will amaze you!
And even today, there’s lots more you don’t see –
here’s an interesting two
minute film about the service tunnel – entitled Inside the
Channel Tunnel you Don't See - here you can actually walk across from
Britain to
France
Well, the weather’s rubbish, we’ve had the May Bank
Holiday – so that tells us it must be nearly time for Wimbledon right? Correct – it starts on June
23rd – so you’ve just got a couple of weeks to get your bookshops
full of tennis themed titles!
One essential tome is Tennis Maestros: The Twenty Greatest Male Tennis Players of
All Time by John Bercow (978 1849545129). Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak
Djokovic are the top-ranked tennis players today - but how do today’s champions
compare with those of earlier eras? From William Renshaw and the four French
Musketeers to Cochet, Lacoste, Brugnon and Borotra; tennis fans have long
enjoyed watching the greats strut their stuff. But who are the greatest singles
players of all time? In this book John
Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, who was a competitive junior
player and is a qualified tennis coach, assesses the merits of the maestros and
proposes a ranked list of the all-time greats. It is no easy task. Court
surfaces and ball speeds have changed, racket technology has revolutionised the
game and trying to distinguish the best from the rest is as challenging as it is
fun. This handsome £20 hardback is published by Biteback on 12 June, and
the Bercow name has no doubt helped with
some terrific publicity! There will be a Sunday Times review and
interview with John Bercow on Sunday 1st
June, an interview and feature in the Daily Express next week; he’ll be
on the Steve Wright Show on BBC
Radio 2 on 10th June and has
already been on BBC R4 on Sunday 25th May – and there have been reviews
the Guardian and the FT last weekend. This is definitely the sort
of book to provoke intense debate – and the ideal present for those zillions of
tennis nuts – so get it on display!
Here are one fan's top
ten tennis greats on You Tube – how many make it into Bercow’s book I
wonder?
And don’t forget the Bluffer's Guide to Tennis by Dave Whitehead (pb, 978 1909937161 £6.99) which
has just been published. This paperback will instantly enable you to acquire all
the knowledge you need to pass as an expert in the world of tennis. Never again
need you confuse topspin with a flatshot or a reflex volley with a bolo. Bask in
the admiration of your fellow tennis lovers as you pronounce confidently on the
merits of the windshield wiper, the reverse forehand, and the run-around. Above
all, never wear a headband – and you too will soon be indistinguishable from the
experts. As always, this series provides “An amazing amount of solid fact
disguised as frivolous observation.” (the Sunday Telegraph said this
so it must be true) and there will be plenty of publicity coming up in national
and regional press, lifestyle, outdoor, fitness, travel and sports magazines
plus a strong social media campaign – get yourself onto the Bluffer's
Facebook page for plenty more time-wasting fun!
That’s all for now
folks, more next week!
This newsletter is sent weekly to over 700
booksellers as well as publishers and publicists. If you would like to order any
of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles
Website or talk to your Compass Sales
representative.
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