They said it would take two months, and they were correct!
Scholarship is now available via various local versions of amazon:
Scholarship at amazon.com
Scholarship at amazon.co.uk
Scholarship at amazon.de
Scholarship at amazon.fr
It is still available at Lulu.com (see link to right)
Sunday, 1 January 2012
2012 And a new Beginning
A new beginning sounds terribly trite at this time of year but over the last 48 hours, I have managed to evolve the plot of "The Island" further and also find, I hope, a proper title.
The title I am keeping quiet about at the moment but it was called for as of course someone (in fact Ian Hislop's wife) has already used "The Island" so I now have to give the island a name. I avoided the obvious one and looked at various avian themes but all were taken - except the obvious one. So that, for now, is what it will be called.
As for the plot, well I have 60 odd pages of disconnected prose. This has come about as I am following the advice to plonk down text as it occurs to me and not get too worried about how it hits the page. Some of it will be rubbish but some of it will be usable.
The plot itself is continuing to evolve but I have now developed a non-linear concept as our hero's past comes back to him gradually.
Also important (to me as a geographer) is I now have a proper mental map of the island. It's based on a rasher of back bacon. Simple but for me it works well with the location (and did I mention the presence of pigs?)
More later on some atmospheric Island set films.
The title I am keeping quiet about at the moment but it was called for as of course someone (in fact Ian Hislop's wife) has already used "The Island" so I now have to give the island a name. I avoided the obvious one and looked at various avian themes but all were taken - except the obvious one. So that, for now, is what it will be called.
As for the plot, well I have 60 odd pages of disconnected prose. This has come about as I am following the advice to plonk down text as it occurs to me and not get too worried about how it hits the page. Some of it will be rubbish but some of it will be usable.
The plot itself is continuing to evolve but I have now developed a non-linear concept as our hero's past comes back to him gradually.
Also important (to me as a geographer) is I now have a proper mental map of the island. It's based on a rasher of back bacon. Simple but for me it works well with the location (and did I mention the presence of pigs?)
More later on some atmospheric Island set films.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
If....
If... is one of those films I watch through my hands at times. Although it is exaggerated and is set 10 years before I entered such an institution, aspects of it are very recognisable. "Fagging", the Cadets Corps, the endless lusting after females, the emphasis on sport and the age and decrepitude of the buildings and staff.
My public school had a technocrat headmaster. He did not understand the boys. But the other teachers were very recognisable, the dim failed housemaster, the young teacher, the eccentrics, the mad chaplain. We had one English teacher who left suddenly due to "illness" halfway through term. "Illness" being a euphemism for taking one of the borders up to town for a night out.
The scene where Travis and Johnny take off for the afternoon, steal a motorbike and head off to a truck stop to be served coffee by the pneumatic Christine Noonan really summed up that sudden desire for freedom that probably existed in many boys. The music that accompanies this scene is one that resonates with me to this day.
The other scene that I did not get first time round aged 13 was the very charged one set in the gym when Johnny preens himself in front of the precocious Bobby Phillips, one of the fags, who then ever so slowly pulled on his jumper, tidies his hair and reluctantly leaves the manly Johnny to continue doing gymnastics.
Now I do understand that scene all too well.
As for the ending? Well that is/was probably every school boy's fantasy.
If... is available on DVD. Go for the Criterion version as it has lots of extras. I also recommend Oh Lucky Man for the further increasingly surreal adventures of Travis ("Chocolate Sandwich" and the instant obituaries to name two scenes that amused me).
Thursday, 3 November 2011
...is on the market
With a new cover and some slight edits (reflected in the on-line version as well) at lulu. It will also be appearing on amazon (most markets) in six to eight weeks they tell me.
I have my own copy, which is now on my bookshelf. I wonder who will notice?
The Paperback version at lulu.com
I have my own copy, which is now on my bookshelf. I wonder who will notice?
The Paperback version at lulu.com
Sunday, 30 October 2011
And now the paperback version.....
Finally, after a bit of tinkering with covers etc, here is the paperback version.
Currently this is just available from Lulu, but shortly it will be available from amazon as well.
Unfortunately I have no control over the price, the minimum is set by Lulu, so that is what I have left it at.
I will be checking this out myself shortly.
Note the download still remains free at Smashwords for the moment so you can take a look at the entire book so this is a no risk deal.
Currently this is just available from Lulu, but shortly it will be available from amazon as well.
Unfortunately I have no control over the price, the minimum is set by Lulu, so that is what I have left it at.
I will be checking this out myself shortly.
Note the download still remains free at Smashwords for the moment so you can take a look at the entire book so this is a no risk deal.
Going Nuclear - redux IV
Well finally, the news I had been hoping to hear. "Scholarship" is now in the premium catalogue of smashwords so is now available through "the usual outlets".
When they say available, I believe it can take up to two months to get through to the various lists and catalogues.
That is also true of the paperback version which is just undergoing some minor formatting etc tweaks as we speak.
When they say available, I believe it can take up to two months to get through to the various lists and catalogues.
That is also true of the paperback version which is just undergoing some minor formatting etc tweaks as we speak.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Scholarship French style
I mentioned in a previous post that there are two French films which have some echoes of "Scholarship". These are 1964's "Les amitiés particulières", a film about two boys who form a "special friendship" in a French style boarding school. This affair is complicated by the "interest" of one of the priests in the younger boys, so he breaks up the friendship. This is based on a well known book of the same title, written by Roger Peyrefitte.
The second film is 1997's "La ville dont le prince est un enfant" based on the book "The Boys" and the play "The Fire that Consumes" by Henry de Montherlant. The plot is identical to "Les amitiés particulières"for the first two thirds of the film before veering off into a Catholic guilt trip of stupendous length and boredom. However the first two thirds is very watchable as the sadness is palpable almost all the way through, summed up in a stunning scene where "hope" or "happiness" is imagined as a paper plane thrown by the younger boy (Souplier) and ends up crushed in the hands of the jealous priest. It is one of the most powerful scenes in a film I know, yet few know it. The authors knew each other, this explains the similarities.
The films are available from amazon.fr (tip if you have an amazon account elsewhere you can sign in for 1 click and get it sent to you from France) Les amitiés particulières and La Ville dont Prince est enfant (at an eye watering price). They may be available elsewhere but that is one for google.
I recommend both films, they really do resonate with Scholarship (and inspired me to think "hey, I had something like this happen to me" and decide to write a fictionalised account).
The second film is 1997's "La ville dont le prince est un enfant" based on the book "The Boys" and the play "The Fire that Consumes" by Henry de Montherlant. The plot is identical to "Les amitiés particulières"for the first two thirds of the film before veering off into a Catholic guilt trip of stupendous length and boredom. However the first two thirds is very watchable as the sadness is palpable almost all the way through, summed up in a stunning scene where "hope" or "happiness" is imagined as a paper plane thrown by the younger boy (Souplier) and ends up crushed in the hands of the jealous priest. It is one of the most powerful scenes in a film I know, yet few know it. The authors knew each other, this explains the similarities.
The films are available from amazon.fr (tip if you have an amazon account elsewhere you can sign in for 1 click and get it sent to you from France) Les amitiés particulières and La Ville dont Prince est enfant (at an eye watering price). They may be available elsewhere but that is one for google.
I recommend both films, they really do resonate with Scholarship (and inspired me to think "hey, I had something like this happen to me" and decide to write a fictionalised account).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)