Skip to main content
Read page text
page 2
FROM THE PULPIT B ETWEEN 1975 AND 1990 the French television station Antenne 2 broadcast a regular Friday evening books programme called Apostrophes. Hosted throughout the period of its existence by one man, Bernard Pivot, it became very influential: an appearance on Apostrophes did wonders for an author and for the sale of his books. Each programme lasted 75 minutes. The usual format consisted of a studio discussion between six authors. Each in turn responded to Pivot’s questioning before being subjected to the comments and questions of the other authors. Some editions were devoted to a single writer. The level of discussion was generally high, and the programme gave writers of serious literary fiction the opportunity to present their work before a mass audience. Some bookshops began to have an Apostrophes table, displaying books featured on that week’s programme. It worked principally because of the enthusiasm and intelligence of Pivot himself; he also founded, as an offshoot, the monthly literary magazine, Lire. Of course it also provoked opposition, from publishers and authors who felt, often correctly, that their books had been unfairly ignored by Pivot. But in general writers and the book trade owed a good deal to the programme. Some English-speaking authors were featured – if their French was good enough to allow them to be articulate and to participate fully in the discussion. Julian Barnes and William Boyd were among them, and there can be little doubt that their high reputation in France had its origin, in part at least, from their appearance on Apostrophes. There has been nothing strictly comparable on British television, and, at least till recently, nothing that has had a like effect on sales. I say ‘till recently’, because the Richard and Judy Book Club on Channel 4, modelled on the American Oprah Show, has proved commercially successful, to the delight, and perhaps the surprise, of publishers. They are, one gathers, now happy to adjust publication dates, alter covers, and in general submit to whatever demands the programme’s producers may make, in order to have the books featured. But one has the impression that the R & J Book Club is seen primarily as a promotional device, and that it does not offer any serious discussion of literature. Over the years a good many attempts have been made to provide this on television. Books programmes have been hosted at different times by distinguished writers such as Melvyn Bragg and P D James, and by highly accomplished broadcasters like Robert Robinson, Frank Delaney and Joan Bakewell, and some of these have indeed offered incisive criticism. But, somehow, for whatever reason, all have withered; none has established itself as indispensable. A LLAN M ASSIE Books on the Box This may of course have been principally the fault of authors, rather than presenters, or even of the chosen format. It may be that British authors are in general less happy talking about their work, and less capable of doing so intelligently and articulately, than French ones. If so, understandable; we don’t have the same tradition of public discussion or indeed of café culture. Moreover, again till recently, many novelists here have clung to the old-fashioned idea that it is their business to write books and the business of their publishers to market them. This has certainly changed, and successful authors today accept perforce that they must themselves engage in promotion and selling. Many are fluent and accomplished broadcasters. I was recently involved with Ian Rankin in making a demonstration tape for a projected series of TV programmes arising from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and was impressed by his easy mastery of the medium. It is difficult to see a good reason why there shouldn’t be a successful books programme on television. But it requires certain ingredients. The first, clearly, is the right host or anchorman, someone with a discriminating enthusiasm, someone capable of maintaining discussion on a serious level. The second essential is that there should be consistency and continuity. Just as newspapers do better when they have regular reviewers, in whom readers come to repose trust, so also with television. This was where Bernard Pivot’s programme scored. Even so, one has to admit that there will always be something lacking. This is because those elements in a novel that are most discussible are rarely those that most concerned the author in the writing. You can talk most easily about themes, but when you are writing a novel the theme lurks in the background. You are occupied with questions of narrative and character; with the modulation of pace; with achieving the right balance between action, reflection, description and dialogue; with maintaining (or altering) the tone of voice. These, which may be described as technical matters, are what occupy your attention and sometimes perplex you. The theme, in contrast, can be left to take care of itself. Indeed you may not be aware of it till the book is finished, and sometimes not even then. This is why the simple question, ‘What is your book about?’ sometimes leaves you lost for words. The truth is that the experience of writing a novel, and indeed the experience of reading one, are quite distinct from the experience of talking about it. This is why there is a gulf, finally perhaps unbridgeable, between the book and the television programme. And it requires the intelligence and craftsmanship of a Bernard Pivot to disguise the unwelcome reality. 1 LITERARY REVIEW May 2006
page 3
CONTENTS T HIS MONTH ’ S PULPIT is written by Allan Massie. He is the author of nineteen novels, and his most recent book, The Thistle and the Rose: Six Centuries of Love and Hate Between the Scots and the English, is published by John Murray. M ARY K ENNY is the biographer of William Joyce, “Lord Haw-Haw”; she is presently working on a book about the British monarchy and Ireland. I RWIN S TELZER is US columnist for The Sunday Times; contributing editor at The Weekly Standard; Director of Economic Policy Studies at the Hudson Institute; and a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College. He is editor of and contributor to Neoconservatism, published by Atlantic Books. G ILLIAN D ARLEY ’s biography John Evelyn: Living for Ingenuity will be published later this year by Yale University Press. A C G RAYLING ’s Descartes: The Life of René Descartes and Its Place in His Times was published in October by Free Press. H AZHIR T EIMOURIAN has just completed a Life of Omar Khayyam. J ERRY B ROTTON is Senior Lecturer in Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. His latest book, The Sale of the Late King’s Goods: Charles I and his Art Collection, is published by Macmillan. S USANNA J ONES is the author of The Earthquake Birdand Water Lily. She teaches Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College. P ETER J ONES is the founder of Friends of Classics. N IGEL J ONES ’s Mosley is published by Haus in their Life & Times series. PULPIT BIOGRAPHY MEETINGOFMINDS DIPLOMACY HISTORY FOREIGN PARTS 11 A LLAN M ASSIE 44 66 88 1100 P AUL J OHNSON Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution Ruth Scurr N IGEL J ONES Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British FascismStephen Dorril P ETER J ONES Caesar: The Life of a Colossus Adrian Goldsworthy F RANK M C L YNN Orson Welles: Hello Americans Simon Callow 1122 1133 A C G RAYLING Rousseau’s Dog: The Tale of Two Great Thinkers at War in the Age of Enlightenment David Edmonds and John Eidinow The Courtier and the Heretic: The Secret Encounter between Leibniz and Spinoza that Defined the Modern World Matthew Stewart J ONATHAN K EATES Passionate Minds:The Great Enlightenment Love Affair David Bodanis 1155 1166 R AYMOND S EITZ The Ambassadors: From Ancient Greece to the Nation State Jonathan Wright I RWIN S TELZER After the Neocons: America at the Crossroads Francis Fukuyama 1199 2200 2222 2244 2255 D ANIEL J OHNSON Don’t Mention the War: The British and the Germans since 1890 John Ramsden R ICHARD O VERY My Dear Mr Stalin: The Complete Correspondence of Franklin D Roosevelt and Joseph V Stalin (Ed) Susan Butler M ARY K ENNY The Emergency: Neutral Ireland 1939-45 Brian Girvin J ERRY B ROTTON The English Civil War: A People’s History Diane Purkiss J ANE R IDLEY The Perfect Summer Juliet Nicolson Lost Voices of the Edwardians Max Arthur 2277 2288 3300 3311 3333 J OHN S WEENEY The Tribes Triumphant: Return Journey to the Middle East Charles Glass J USTIN M AROZZI Occupational Hazards Rory Stewart H AZHIR T EIMOURIAN Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran Jason Elliot J ONATHAN M IRSKY Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China and the West Peter Hessler J AMES O WEN A Death in Belmont Sebastian Junger LITERARY REVIEW May 2006 Editor:N ANCY S LADEK Deputy Editor: T OM F LEMING Editor-at-Large: J EREMY L EWIS Editorial Assistants: P HILIP W OMACK , G EORGE N ORTON Contributing Editors: A LAN R AFFERTY , S EBASTIAN S HAKESPEARE Business Manager: R OBERT P OSNER Advertising Manager: T ERRY F INNEGAN Advertising Assistant: M ATTHEW E DMONDS Founding Editor:D R A NNE S MITH Founding Father: A UBERON W AUGH Cover illustration by Chris Riddell Issue no. 332 2

Page Text

View plaintext

CONTENTS

T HIS MONTH ’ S PULPIT is written by Allan Massie. He is the author of nineteen novels, and his most recent book, The Thistle and the Rose: Six Centuries of Love and Hate Between the Scots and the English, is published by John Murray.

M ARY K ENNY is the biographer of William Joyce, “Lord Haw-Haw”; she is presently working on a book about the British monarchy and Ireland.

I RWIN S TELZER is US columnist for The Sunday Times; contributing editor at The Weekly Standard; Director of Economic Policy Studies at the Hudson Institute; and a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College. He is editor of and contributor to Neoconservatism, published by Atlantic Books.

G ILLIAN D ARLEY ’s biography John Evelyn: Living for Ingenuity will be published later this year by Yale University Press.

A C G RAYLING ’s Descartes: The Life of René Descartes and Its Place in His Times was published in October by Free Press.

H AZHIR T EIMOURIAN has just completed a Life of Omar Khayyam.

J ERRY B ROTTON is Senior Lecturer in Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. His latest book, The Sale of the Late King’s Goods: Charles I and his Art Collection, is published by Macmillan.

S USANNA J ONES is the author of The Earthquake Birdand Water Lily. She teaches Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College.

P ETER J ONES is the founder of Friends of Classics.

N IGEL J ONES ’s Mosley is published by Haus in their Life & Times series.

PULPIT

BIOGRAPHY

MEETINGOFMINDS

DIPLOMACY

HISTORY

FOREIGN PARTS

11

A LLAN M ASSIE

44

66

88

1100

P AUL J OHNSON Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution Ruth Scurr N IGEL J ONES Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British FascismStephen Dorril P ETER J ONES Caesar: The Life of a Colossus Adrian Goldsworthy F RANK M C L YNN Orson Welles: Hello Americans Simon Callow

1122

1133

A C G RAYLING Rousseau’s Dog: The Tale of Two Great Thinkers at War in the Age of Enlightenment David Edmonds and John Eidinow The Courtier and the Heretic: The Secret Encounter between Leibniz and Spinoza that Defined the Modern World Matthew Stewart J ONATHAN K EATES Passionate Minds:The Great Enlightenment Love Affair David Bodanis

1155

1166

R AYMOND S EITZ The Ambassadors: From Ancient Greece to the Nation State Jonathan Wright I RWIN S TELZER After the Neocons: America at the Crossroads Francis Fukuyama

1199

2200

2222

2244

2255

D ANIEL J OHNSON Don’t Mention the War: The British and the Germans since 1890 John Ramsden R ICHARD O VERY My Dear Mr Stalin: The Complete Correspondence of Franklin D Roosevelt and Joseph V Stalin (Ed) Susan Butler M ARY K ENNY The Emergency: Neutral Ireland 1939-45 Brian Girvin J ERRY B ROTTON The English Civil War: A People’s History Diane Purkiss J ANE R IDLEY The Perfect Summer Juliet Nicolson Lost Voices of the Edwardians Max Arthur

2277

2288 3300

3311

3333

J OHN S WEENEY The Tribes Triumphant: Return Journey to the Middle East Charles Glass J USTIN M AROZZI Occupational Hazards Rory Stewart H AZHIR T EIMOURIAN Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran Jason Elliot J ONATHAN M IRSKY Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China and the West Peter Hessler J AMES O WEN A Death in Belmont Sebastian Junger

LITERARY REVIEW May 2006

Editor:N ANCY S LADEK Deputy Editor: T OM F LEMING Editor-at-Large: J EREMY L EWIS

Editorial Assistants: P HILIP W OMACK , G EORGE N ORTON Contributing Editors: A LAN R AFFERTY , S EBASTIAN S HAKESPEARE Business Manager: R OBERT P OSNER Advertising Manager: T ERRY F INNEGAN Advertising Assistant: M ATTHEW E DMONDS Founding Editor:D R A NNE S MITH Founding Father: A UBERON W AUGH Cover illustration by Chris Riddell Issue no. 332

2

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content