I mentioned Jimi Hendrix at the launch, because he receives a cameo in "Flying Whistle Stop." He always struck me as the sort of person who, if approached by an extraterrestrial, would just settle into a conversation. Anyway, Hendrix appeared on Dick Cavett in the late 1960s. Cavett noted that some people call him the best guitarist in the world. Hendrix demurred. Best guitarist in the studio, then? Hendrix quipped, "best guitarist in this chair." It's good to have perspective.
When the pandemic started or, more specifically, when major restrictions hit my corner of the world, we attended the only performance-- technically, a dress rehearsal-- of the stage adaptation of Emma Donoghue's Room. Then the theatres closed. The play is remarkable, as I wrote at the time. Elements that shouldn't have worked-- an adult "Super Jack" to narrate young Jack's more complex thoughts? Music in a story that involves abduction and assault? Special visuals, of the sort that have convinced two generations that Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera is what live theatre is all about?
They all work, and stunningly well. I have rarely been so moved by a piece of theatre. My wife wouldn't even leave her seat during intermission.
The author has noted that many things play differently now. More people have had the experience of feeling trapped in a room, day after day. The scene where Jack puts on a mask to protect him from disease? Yeah, that resonates.
Now that things seem to be returning to normal-- but don't touch that remote-- we went to the premiere proper, delayed two years. The strong cast remain the same, save for the two boys who played Jack. They were too old, two years later. They had to bring in new child actors to alternate the role.
By chance, our seats were directly behind the author and her family and friends. I had an article in my old hometown newspaper and a guest-post at John Scalzi's blog, and the advance review from Publishers Weekly was solid. But yeah, I'm sitting behind one of Canada's greatest writers, mind reeling from an adaptation that still works in ways that seem impossible.
"I am," I told her, post-show, "in awe."
Perspective, right?
For fun, I checked on Donoghue's reviews, on Goodreads and Amazon. Everyone receives some bad reviews. If you're Donoghue, with bestsellers, a Hollywood movie starring Brie Larsen, and a play about to leave the home turf and hit a major Toronto theatre, I doubt that matters much. Some people just won't like your stuff. One of her one-star reviews really stood out, because that particular reader clearly did not understand the novel in question at all. I thought about the fact that Amazon lets you mark specific reviews as "helpful." Arguably, it is helpful to know that one of the book's detractors doesn't understand it at all.
Saturday we had my online book launch, which attracted a number of people, including several noders. haqiqat , we were informed, ran about the catbox encouraging people to stop by. I have the sense the launch went well. People kept texting me who were watching but not logged in, and I heard from a number of people afterwards. My wife sang the brief musical part of the reading I did, from "Flying Whistle Stop." So I am happy and hopeful. It's an anthology. Axiomatically, if you don't like one story, you might like the next. Live Nude Aliens and Other Stories covers a range. As a fellow writer said, the title story and "The Book of Den(n)is" could easily have been penned by two different people.
Still, when one is not, say, Emma Donoghue, it's a bit dispiriting to see that the first Goodreads response is negative, and from a reviewer who admits to only reading two stories. A star for each story. I guess that's not too bad.
It's even more dispiriting when, a day later, you hear that someone close to you has been taken to the hospital. Survival seems likely. How many years recovery will take remains unknown.
And I discussed the Ukraine last time I daylogged. Perspective. Some people have actual problems. I have a new book.
In a talk a week ago, Donoghue compared her novels to children. Some bring in a lot of money. Others try hard, but can't maintain a steady income. You love them all. I think this is a solid anthology. I have a few new projects started. We shall see what becomes of these embryonic ideas, along with the ones now free in the world.