George Benlian on movies, books and few other things

The Sydney Writers Festival is the annual cultural rendez-vous not to be missed

Another year of the Sydney Writers Festival means another collection of great rendez-vous between numerous writers and their readers. Curiosity is a good thing. It allows you to take a journey without knowing exactly what to expect. The rich program of the festival facilitates the individual to take this journey and a careful selection can only be beneficial.

Like every year, several international big names make the visit to our shores. They bring with them highly anticipated moments shared with the audience. As Peter Carey mentioned in his closing address, literature can be a powerful tool to a more captivating life. The presence of perhaps the most respected living australian writer who lives in New York for now two decades is an indication of how this country has complexity issues when it comes to artistic talents. A successful Australian artist can have close connections with Australia however the choice of living and working abroad is only a natural and necessary thing to do.

At writers festivals, there are always one or two episodes that remain in our mind. This year one came thanks to a Lebanese female writer by the name of Nada Awar Jarrar. Her latest novel "A good land" talks about three individuals from different age group and backgrounds. This well spoken intellectual who has an Australian mother and a Lebanese father shared her affections for a country small in size but huge in tragic past. It is difficult to dissociate the war with the writings of Lebanese authors. After all, conflicts of the past and present are a source of inspiration to express feelings that could be less intrusive in writing than in any other form.

Eric Lax is best known as the biographer of Woody Allen. He has written three books on him, the latest being a conversation covering the rich career of my favorite New York filmmaker. Lax is also an intellectual who has a thing or two to say about faith, the story of penicillin and life in a big hospital. My next reading will be the book of conversation with Woody Allen - an ideal book to devour if you are on your way to New York.

Catherine Millet is becoming a regular. She was here in 2003 for "The sexual life of Catherine M."- a mega success with five million copies sold all over the world. She is back with "Jealousy"  - a book of reflection about whether a libertine like Millet has the right to be jealous of her life partner being unfaithful. The sixty two years old parisian seems rather conservative at first view. Sex does sell but i have dubious views whether Catherine Millet intimacy is a subject to explore.

The polemicist Christopher Hitchens is here for his memoirs called "Hitch-22". Prior to this festival, i didn't know about this English-American author and journalist who frequently expresses his views via a variety of media sources and lectures. Forty years of observation, polemic and criticism have given Hitchens the reputation of a public intellectual.

Talking about politics, the writers festival at least here in Sydney has every year a number of politicians and political journalists as guest speakers. In 2010, the dialog between the ex-prime minister Paul Keating and the wall street journal chief economist David Wessel was a key event that i missed out. I also missed out on Tony Abbott, Kristina Keneally and Julia Gillard.

Back to the international big names, this year we had the pleasure of listening to John Ralston Saul, Lionel Shriver and Colm Toibin. Three writers from different horizons: the Canadian Ralston Saul apart being a well respected novelist and essayist is also the president of International Pen; the american Lionel Shriver who calls UK her adoptive home for some years now and the irish Colm Toibin who has written a compelling book about good prospects in Brooklyn in the 1950's

The main discovery of this year festival comes nevertheless from an art historian, Sarah Thornton. "Seven days in the Art world" was named one of the best art books of 2008 by the Sunday Times, the Independent and the New York Times. I haven't read it yet but i am convinced that Thornton has written this book also considering readers like myself that don't know much about the subject but who like to know more without being bored with theoretical jargon. Reading here and there few lines from the book, i can see how captivating this exercise could be. 

   

 

 

The Melbourne Writers Festival Circa 2009

Unlike the Sydney Writers Festival, i need to travel by airplane for about ninety minutes in order to attend the Melbourne Writers Festival. The ten days packed series of literary events finished yesterday. As usual it remains an impossible task to attend all events as all day long simultaneous sessions are taking place in and around the Federation Square. Still, by making careful choices, the result can be overwhelming and stimulus for our brain.

I did miss out the opening keynote address by Bernhard Schlink entitled "Guilt About The Past". The author of "The Reader" - a highly successful book which was recently made into a movie starring Kate Winslet, is well placed to discuss concepts of forgiving, condemning and reconciliation and challenges facing literary representations of the past. I would have loved being part of such a rare and important event of this caliber especially this well respected intellectual is known to be a discreet thinker. His visit in Sydney for a lecture at the City Recital Hall was an examination whether fiction can be dealt with sensitive historical subjects or perhaps create an intense emotion that can be seen as a crucial step of living a truer and more direct experience. I will be watching the movie soon and will for sure revisit the subject in a near future.

When i saw Antony Beevor at the french literary program "La grande Librairie", i was very much impressed by this rigorous and charismatic military historian who has published several books about important historical episodes of the last century. In "D-dAY" it is the battle of Normandy in 1944 that is meticulously depicted despite the fact that the same subject was treated numerous times before. Beevor is a master history teller that not only brings out important aspects of the twentieth century but also makes this task approachable to the general readers. I saw Beevor in Sydney during a talk about the hidden parts of otherwise the most well known day of the Second World War known as D-day.

The Second World War is the most written subject of the last sixty plus years. Both the irishman John Boyne and the Italian Vincenzo Cerami were behind two poignant stories of survival in the most horrific times of the last century. Boyne wrote "The Boy in the stripped pyjamas" about an unlikely friendship between a german kid and a jew kid and the devastating consequences of that bond while Cerami collaborated with Roberto Benigni on the screenplay of "La vita e bella" one of the most heartbreaking movies of recent years.

Young women writers are often invited to share their stories, real or fiction. Nikki Gemmell became an international best selling author in 2004 with "The bride striped bare" originally published anonymously. A book about sex viewed from a female perspective being an ideal candidate for a litterary scandal. Since then, Gemmell pursues her writing career with other fictions including her latest novel called "The book of rapture". This is another provocative tale about trust in families. A somehow grim look overall that will compel the reader for a total follow up with future books from one of the most successful english writers of the decade. Let's not forget, Nikki was born in Australia in 1966 and now lives in London as a full time writer and regular contributor of the BBC.

Speaking about successful female writers, M J Hyland is another respected names making her debut in 2003 with "How the lights gets in". This was followed by "Carry me down" in 2006 short listed for the Man Booker prize. Her latest, simply called "This is how" is about a man lost in social complexity. Hyland is far to be an easy writer. In contrary, she is austere with her character and can leave some readers disturb.

I always find a successful writers festival as a medium to enrich our own tastes and explore our sensibilities through words and ideas. I always describe events of this genre as communion of ideas and once again, a sense of inspiration is felt throughout the days.

The highlights for me were various sessions with Marie Darrieussecq. However a separate post will cover that shortly.

Communion of ideas and stories at the annual Sydney Writer Festival

 

 

Every May at around this time, the annual Sydney Writer Festival takes place in the Harbour city of Australia. Every year, a rich program of more than 250 literary and artistic events brings together lovers of books and reading for four days. The success of the festival grows every year and is now considered as a highly anticipated cultural rendez-vous for Sydneysiders.

Over the years, i have been a supporter and a follower of these series of events. Over the years, i have met a large number of writers both Australians and other nationalities. I had the opportunity to have long conversations with French-Russian writer Andrei Makine who was a guest at the festival twice ten years apart. I have also listened to many well known writers such us Louis de Bernieres, Robert Dessaix, David Malouf, Alan Hollinghurst, Richard Ford, Philippe Claudel and the list continues on. It is also during previous Sydney Writer Festival that i have attended inspiring talks given by Alain de Botton.

I have to admit when the program for this year came out i was a little bit disappointed with the content. This year, a real international "big name" was missing which is a shame because you do expect to hear from some literary icons. Saying this, i have enjoyed the events i attended during the four days and for sure the major highlight for me was listening during an hour the Australian playwright David Williamson answering to Andrew Upton, the hubby of Cate Blanchett.

Indeed Williamson is a well articulate man of culture who occupies quiet a unique place in the History of Australian Theatre. In nearly four decades of drama writing with over forty plays in his credits, David Williamson remains the quintessential Australian middle class observer who has based all his creative work on human behaviours and social  encounters. An astute dramatist who will leave a rich Australian cultural legacy and most importantly future generations will continue to identify in these hundreds of characters created by him through the medium of theatre. His wife, Kristin wrote recently a voluminous and rather honest biography on him making the reading experience an intimate affair as David's life is unfold through the eyes of a woman who has shared all the ups and downs of a remarkable career and a tumulteous but successful personal life. I will be writing more about Williamson in the near future upon completing the reading of Kristin's book and maybe watching some of the iconic Australian movies that were adapted from his plays.

Speaking about Australian film and theatre, Graeme Blundell is another important figure who had an impressive acting career at the revival of Australian cinema portraying the heart-throbe character of Alvin Purple in couple of hugely successful movies. Graeme was a founder of Melbourne's theatre groups La Mama, The Australian Performing Group and Playbox. Graeme and David are issued from the same generation of hungry arty enthusiasts who made a fundamental contribution to the emergence of an Australian voice in the late sixties and early seventies. Currently, Graeme Blundell does lots of writing both as a columnist and as biographer. His memoirs "The Naked Truth" was published last year by Hachette Australia. Julia Morris is however from a younger generation. She is a voluble and funny performer who has worked greatly in Australian and British television shows.She is also a stand-up comedian touring regularly in international comedy festivals, having made appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for eight times. Her presence at the festival was because of her book "Don't you know who i used to be?" covering stories and memories of her life both here and abroad.

Now for something completely different; "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House" by Kate Summerscale could be a gripping experience of a true crime story that took place in 1860 in Wiltshire. I knew nothing about the forty five years old Summerscale who comes from a literary journalism background in England. Both John Le Carre and Ian Rankin have highly praised this book that will be part of my readings either this year or next year. So i will be revisiting the subject a bit later.

Another female writer from the UK but with Bangladeshi origins is Monica Ali. The first thing you notice listening to her is the determined attitude of a woman on mission. Her debut novel "Brick lane" raised few eye browses while "In the kitchen" her latest and third book have a contemporary London setting where, in the kitchen of the imperial Hotel, a staff force whose members are drawn from all over the world will portray an existence of low-paid misery. To bring a sordid touch, a death body is found in the cellars. I guess the story is to touch important issues such as national identity and the risky lives of foreign migrants

Being able to catch up with lots of events could be an impossible task. Every year, i missed out on few of them and the question of lost opportunity of discovering a new voice or learning more about a well established writer remains unknown. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for example is a Nigerian writer who won the prestigious Orange prize in 2007 for "Half of a yellow sun". Philipp Meyer has been compared to Richard Ford and Pete Dexter with his debut novel "American Rust" while crime writer Laura Lippman is another confirmed talent of the genre coming like Meyer from the United States of America.

 

Lin Cunxin speech can inspire many

The Chinese Lin Cunxin is one of the World's most celebrated ballet performers. I knew nothing about him but during his speech of nearly one hour, i had tears in my eyes. Born in an extremely poor rural family in 1961, the Maoist China of that era was a definite terrible episode that lasted for many decades.

Li Cunxin wrote his memoirs in a book called "Mao's Last Dancer". I bought it after the emotional but highly inspirational speech and will for sure read it sometime this year before the release of the movie directed by Bruce Beresford and dur to be in our screens in October this year.

The part that touched me the most was when already famous and dancing in prestigious venues all over the world, through the help of ex-president George Bush Sr's wife, Barbara and the Chinese Ambassador in USA atthat time, his alliterate parents were able to visit the States after a long period of absolute no contact between Li and his parents due to the strict Communist Regime rules. The reunion is a heart warming story of hope and love.

Cunxin is a family man. He married an Australian Ballerina and settled in Melbourne. His latest great challenge was the deafness of their daughter who was cured after long years of battle and des illusions. She is now a dancing student in her late teens.

With Cunxin life is beautiful but it is also full of challenges to overcome. A great discovery from my end...

The prolific French writer and academic Maurice Druon dies at 90

Maurice Druon's death nine days before his ninety first birthday is a reminder of the gradual disappearance of a generation of French intellectual figures who started writing during or immediately after the Second World War.

Druon was a popular writer who was never shy to express and impose his opinions. A prolific author, he won the prestigious "Prix Goncourt" in 1948 at the age of thirty for his portrait of a powerful family, the post-war French equivalent of the Murdoch dynasty. Ten years later, Jean Gabin played the patriarch and financier Noel Schoudler in an adaptation for the cinema by Michel Audiard. In the fifties, he published a series of historical novels "Les Rois Maudits" ("The Accursed Kings")which made him an internationally renowned writer.

But it might be for a song lyric that he was most revered. In 1943, living in London as a young cavalry officer with the Free French forces in exile under Charles De Gaule he and his uncle, the writer Joseph Kessel, heard a simple marchlike tune with an unusual structure of repeated 11-syllable lines. Druon and Kessel adapted into the French version which became known as “Chant des Partisans” (“Song of the Partisans”. This quickly became an anthem of the French resistance, second in its patriotic power only to “La Marseillaise.”

In 1966, he was elected to the prestigious Académie Française. During the four decades, Druon was known as a cultural conservative who over the years remained determined to keep the historical gender assignments given to all french nouns. 

In the seventies he served for a short period of time (Just over one year) the functions of Minister of Culture during the Presidency of Georges Pompidou.  

Alain de Botton - the modern philosopher

Alain de Botton is an inspiring writer. Every time he visits our shores i make sure to attend the event highly anticipated by his Australian readers. Last time when he was here for "The Architecture of happiness" in 2006, the grand concert hall of the Sydney opera house was full of his fans. Today, he delivered his speech about the subject of his new book called "The pleasures and sorrows of work" at the same place in front of a packed enthusiastic audience.

The man might look frail however the minute he opens his mouth the art of elocution is well evident. The son of a finance magnate, De Botton never knew a routine working life. Highly educated, he began writing in his early twenties and two decades later he has reached the status of a world famous and respected modern philosopher who has published nine best sellers.

I consider De Botton as an intelligent and witty explorer. What is fascinating about him is how he can dissect a subject in an approachable style. His latest is about the pleasures and sorrows of work. In the past, he has reflected on how architecture can be a medium of happiness and well-being; on how people can become anxious about their status; on how travel can be an art of life and even about how Proust can change your life. 

Lately, De Botton is behind an exciting new project called "The School of life". It is described as a new cultural enterprise based in central London offering intelligent instruction on how to lead a fulfilled life.

I will be writing more about his books in the future months. In due course, you could check the following websites: www.alaindebotton.com and www.theschooloflife.com

Leave to remain - a memoir by Abbas El Zein

 

The first time i met Abbas El Zein was during the Sydney Writer Festival in the late nineties. At that time, his wife to be Ann Mossop was the director of the festival and the laureate of Goncourt 1995, Andrei Makine was one of the international guest. I remember Abbas interviewing Makine at a litterary evening organised by the Alliance Francaise of Sydney

I met him again several years later still at the Sydney writer Festival. This time, he interviewed Rawi Hage whose book "De Niro's war" was a surprise best seller on the darkest period of Lebanon, the Civil War.

"Leave to remain" is Abbas El Zein second book. One thing in common that i share with the author is our country of birth - Lebanon. I have witnessed the bloodshed of those terrible years and i have always thought how our dangerous lives could one day become a tormenting subject.

It is a beautifully written book. The narrator asks in parallel the ultimate questions about normal daily life and memory of difficult times in a country handicaped by decades of violence  . A modern muslim intellectual who has a strong sense of belonging and who reflects about his origins.He doesn't hesitate to form a view with question marks about the future of his own children. A sensible approach of a heavy subject that is the War causing the killing of civilians which  results in a complete inexistence of rational life.

As a reader who has spent his first fifteen years in Lebanon, i am no stranger on the content of certain elements in the book. Trying to understand Lebanese politics is a paradox and a complete waste of time. There is really no hope in that part of the World.

The death of prolific american writer John Updike at the age of 76

The prolific american writer John Updike has died last tuesday at the age of 76. Two times winner of both the prestigious Pulitzer price and the National Book Awards, his passing from lung cancer brings a deep sorrow and a considerable loss to the world of litterature.

Talented and well respected from his debut in the late fifties through to his latest works, Updike has touched various forms of writings. His Rabbit series (5 novels each written with ten years apart) may still be remembered as the apotheosis of his creative work. His collaboration for "The New York Review of books" and many other litterary essays and criticism have made him an astute observer of the American art and culture.

Tremendous amount of words have been written about Updike. It is wise to begin reading some of Martin Amis reviews. I also came across a comprehensive website dedicated to him that encourages discussions of his works. A true representative of american small towns and it's middle class, John Updike genuine contribution to the image of the world's most powerful Nation is a matter of high importance. 

 http://userpages.prexar.com/joyerkes/ 

"A pound of Paper" by John Baxter

 

Chances are you may not know the most famous Australian who calls Paris home. I am talking about John Baxter, a man of passion. A biographer for many major names of the silver screen, his writings on Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, Luis Bunuel and Robert De Niro stand as important pieces in this domain.

Our man of passion is also a true bibliophile and a collector of books. He has written about his obsession some years ago in a memoir  called "A pound of paper". A delightful read of an almost unexplicable phenomenon that is book collecting through the journey of a man who stopped over a basket full of stuffed animals at a London flea market to make a lifechanging discovery; a children's book by Graham Green. Although the book itself purchased for five pence didn't represent any serious value however it gave Baxter the bug of book collecting as our man had the obsession to buy more stuff by Graham Greene.

Baxter has a natural talent of captivating his readers through his sharp wit and exploring mind. We may draw a parallel between a collector and an adventurer lives.  He says "acquiring [books] meant midnight assignations in seedy corners of London, white-knuckle bidding at auctions, speculative drives across England to cities you'd never seen, and nervous knocking on the doors of strangers that, in all probability, would leave you, a minute later, humiliated and empty-handed on the doorstep a hundred miles from home."

So how can we place book collecting in a coherent context? This impulsion of establishing a collection can be a serious affair full of discoveries good and bad. Book collectors find treasures in unexpected places thus the necessity to be curious and open minded. It is a tempting pleasure that until now i have tried to keep a distance from. However, Baxter shares a perspective that is of great interest to any person who feels good to be surrounded by books.

"A pound of paper" is highly recommended even if you don't possess the bug of book collector.

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

On Friday the 7th of March 2008, the American writer Paul Auster was in Sydney for a literary event at Gleebooks. The same day, Yours Truly was moving houses. Tired from a day long physical activity, i missed the evening with Paul Auster to my deep regret.

I chose to read "The Brooklyn Follies" at first because of it's title. Iam planning to visit New York in 2010 and Brooklyn will be one of the destination to have a look i guess. When i read a novel from a well established writer for the first time, i always hope to like it as otherwise chances are i will cease discovering more of his works. Until now i have always made the appropriate choice by reading a novel that has given me satisfaction. This was the case with Philip Roth in 2004 and Haruki Murakami in 2005. I have read other of their books since then and i have been disappointed in some instances.

Published in 2005, this is a book about family although it doesn't seem obvious at the beginning. Nathan Glass returns to Brooklyn after a long absence. He is recovering from lung cancer and has not much expectation from the rest of his remaining life. A sad condemned start that will gradually change as he meets by accident his nephew, Tom. More encounters will follow. 300 pages later we are the prime witnesses about existence of life until the last breath. Nathan can be pessimistic on what's left for him to do on this Earth while he ignoring on how unexpectantly he could make a difference in the lives of others specialy his close ones despite a tormented past that haunts him in the early part of the book. 

Auster writes about feelings. He is too modest to make a big deal about them. In contrary little things to explore those feelings are his attributes. A lot of scenes take form as conversation between Nathan and others. Words are more powerful than acts althought couple exceptions do exist such as the tragic death of the flamboyant antique bookseller, Harry and the sudden decision of a teacher from Vermont to spend the rest of her life with Nathan's nephew, Tom; a desillusioned overweight bachelor. This is a book about few nice little surprises that contradicts with Auster's austerity and problematic aspect of his ideas. The action takes place in year 2000 and the victory of George W Bush is noted with great disappointment.

While reading this book i bought two other of Auster novels. It's a promising sign that he could become one of my favourite contemporary american writer. More to follow for sure...

  There are lots of articles about Paul Auster on the internet. The best source to find out more about him remains however his own website. Read more on www.paulauster.co.uk