The Writer's Life 12/6 - Turkeys

I’ve been having dreams about umpiring. This morning's involved a new batch chosen by a softball league. I was not among the selected. At first I thought the dreams had to do with never having been nominated for a literary award, or readers passing on my books. I now believe they're about the recent Grand Jury decisions in Ferguson and Staten Island, although I suppose they can be about both. The latest took a seemingly weird tangent. A middle age Asian woman carved a huge slab of white meat from a turkey, which prompted me to remark: “Boy, you have some appetite.” “I certainly do,” she replied, sitting at the table and digging in. The meat looked like a mattress. I wonder if it symbolized, in my subconscious, white police officers being metaphorically eaten alive by protestors and media detractors. The use of “certainly” may reflect my puzzlement at their certainty.

Several months ago I had the good fortune to read Louise Penny’s A Fatal Grace, as good a mystery as I’ve ever sampled, the second in her award winning Inspector Gamache series. Last night, courtesy of Netflix, I viewed Still Life (2013), based on the first novel in the series, which I haven‘t read. As is usually the case, it is not nearly as satisfying as a book. It fails to deliver the detailed characterizations the author so expertly portrays, especially in the case of the arrogant, embittered female assistant, who I assume Penny fleshes out throughout the series. The commentary section at IMDb is almost universal in stating disappointment with the Canadian production and unfamiliar cast. One aspect it did get right is the location, which is just like the idyllic small town outside Montreal described in the novel. 91 users have rated the film, forging to a consensus of 5.5 of ten, a tad low. I rate it three on a scale of five. I must also say that I miss a lot when there is no close captioning. Many nuances in dialogue or plot points might have escaped me. I had no problem with the cast. It is almost impossible to find an exact match to a literary character. I did chuckle at the black woman’s appearance. She was a lot younger and slimmer than her literary counterpart. She was entirely in the background in the film, whereas she had a larger, though minor role in A Fatal Grace. What sets that work apart from genre works is the accurate depiction of humanity, not only the criminal but the average person.

The floating book shop was rained out today. 

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/