About this title: Writer Michael Ondaatje and Academy Award-winning sound editor Walter Murch talk about how a film gets made and how a book gets written.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First Paperback Edition
Binding: Pictorial Softcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780375709821ISBN:0375709827
Description: Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" Tall. "From one of our most celebrated novelists, here are Michael Indaatje's conversations with the film and sound editor Walter Murch. Their exchange reveals behind-the-scenes glimpses of the directors Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, Anthony Minghella, and Fred Zinnemann, and inside talk on how a film is put together and how editing differs in film and writing. " This book has 339 pages and is illustrated throughout. The text contains NO internal ... read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
Date Published: 2004-10-01
ISBN-13:9780375709821ISBN:0375709827
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780375709821. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780375709821ISBN:0375709827
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Oversized HARDBACK w/ Dustjacket, some shelf wear, in protective mylar cover, Shiny near Fine copy! FREE USPS TRACKING NUMBER! Knopf, 2002. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2002-09-17
ISBN-13:9780375413865ISBN:0375413863
Description: New in New jacket. 2002 first american edition, not read, dj/book/pgs as new, not ex lib, no remainder marks, deliv confirm u101909C. read more
Edition: Uncorrected Proof
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780375413865ISBN:0375413863
Description: Very Good +++ PERFORMING ARTS: FILM: Uncirrected proof: 7 3/8 x 9 1.8 inches. 332 pages. Profusely illustrated with black and white photographs. Conversations between Michael Ondaajte, the author of five novels, two collections of poetry, and a memoir and Walter Murch, Film and Sound-Editor who has won three Academy Awards--a glimpse into the minds of two of the most creative figures of our time, and an inside look on how a film is put together plus a discussion of the different working styles ... read more
Description: Satisfaction Guaranteed. Shipped quickly. 2002. Hardcover. First Printing Ed. Used, very good. Very good overall with light to moderate wear. No dust jacket. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: ALFRED A KNOPF
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780375709821ISBN:0375709827
Description: New. "The Conversations is a treasure, essential for any lover or student of film, and a rare, intimate glimpse into the worlds of two accomplished artists who share a great passion for film and storytelling, and whose knowledge and love of the crafts of... read more
"Buddy Bolden was the greatest cornet player, the innovator, set the music free, the man who folks like Bunk Johnson and Louis Armstrong said started it all, beat the path for all other great jazzmen to follow.
Bolden lost his mind in a parade in a 1907 and spent the rest of his life in an asylum. He had blown out the vessels in his neck with the exertion of his playing. And he never made any recordings.
Ondaatje gathers every piece of information available on this legend, and engages in lurid fantasies with each little tidbit, fact, and rumor - sort of riffing on them.
Listening to far off horns in some southern town, walking past old buildings and dark windows, a person is liable to have the same type of fantasies.
Some of these paragraphs sound very much like an over-educated Canadian author and little like an early twentieth century NOLA jazzman, but that is what the book is made of, a scholar and admirer letting his ideas run wild as he chases a personality from archive to hidden interview to street corner and back.
The sentences are mostly rich and effective, and as a former cornet player myself, I appreciated how Ondaatje pulls all the sensations of playing a brass instrument together on the page."
"Only after I'd finished this book did I find out the protagonist, Buddy Bolden, was a real person thought by some to be the father of Jazz. I like Jazz without knowing too much about it; I was drawn to the novel by the old band photo on the cover - I like old photos too, and, apparently, you can judge a book by its cover sometimes - and because it was written by the author of The English Patient.
The story isn't a biography, it's a fictional alternative assumption of a real life. I suppose it's like taking a person's CV and fantastically adding flesh to its bones. The connection with Jazz goes further in that the style of composition is, supposedly, an interpretation of jazz's musical form. Again, I don't know enough about that but the style was interesting. Unusual. It's a bit like a montage of statements, or an assembly of notes - written ones, not musical but, hey, who knows? Not me. It took me a while to get with the rhythm of the style but after I did it really worked. Short, snappy, addictive.
The story itself, as it unfolds, is sad and low but you're made to feel for the flawed genius during his despair and downfall. I was moved. Worthwhile."
"I have read a lot of Ondaatje's work and in this book I see the inflection point of the poet trying to become a novelist.The transitional formula seems to be:take small vignettes of a tragic jazz player's life, set it in an impoverished and immoral backwater like New Orleans at the turn of the last century and wrench the heck out of all the pathos inherent in that situation with poetic intensity, and do it to an improvised jazz beat; then stick the pieces together in a photographic collage and voila, a novel! Good attempt, I thought - but not quite.
The novel weaves from various first person accounts (mostly Bolden's and some unknown people), to third person accounts (also of Bolden and some of his buddies) of the two years before his mental breakdown while playing in a parade. His decline in the mental institution he was subsequently incarcerated in for almost 24 years receives only a few pages. And the chronology of the story hangs on medical records, interviews, photographs and other loose family records of Bolden, all woven in at strategic points to give context to the scenes.
Bolden's voice gets mixed up with the author's poetic voice at times and I wondered whether this was deliberate or accidental.
The traditionalists would argue whether this is a novel at all - it's too short for one thing - about 150 pages, and some pages are one liners. There is little character development beyond Bolden and Webb, and even there, they just fade away in the end, unresolved. What about the the five-stage structure, tense, POV, movement, balance yadda, yadda, yadda? On closer inspection, one could argue that there is a narrative arc, hidden in there somewhere, that there are multiple points of view, lots of movement and there is also (most importantly) a tragic hero on his journey to extinction. And taking the liberty of the poet, Ondaatje plummets deep into emotion, using punctuation, words and sentence structures like improvised jazz. I even thought of a new title as I read "Being Bold with Bolden."
So why do I say, "not quite"? I wished Ondaatje had extended his book by 50 more pages and rounded off some of his characters and shown us their learning and transformation from the tragic life of Bolden, I wished he had blown up some scenes that were ripe with promise - Bolden's homecoming to Nora, for example or his original attraction to Robin. A lot of the "why"s were left open to interpretation. Or are madmen not supposed to have a "why" to their actions?
I recommend this book for those looking to experiment with language in writing a novel and who wish to throw out the rule book and write it jazz style."
"Sometimes you read something by an author and it's very good, and you think back over their other stuff that you've read, and realise that it was all good, and some of it was even very good, or very, very good, and you see suddenly that this writer is actually one of your absolute favourites, you just never articulated the thought until now.
I haven't read anything in a while that made me wish I could write as much as this. Not to say it was perfect. It's an early work and you can see how his craft was more honed by later books. But such energy. It's more like a free-form poetry, assembled into 400-word chapters. Wonderful concrete little details dropped into a half-described narrative.
Very similar in structure, tone and theme to the Billy the Kid book but, you know, jazzy. Such a beautiful idea for a novel."
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