Answers to alto!
From alto2:
1) Do you remember the start of your obsession with all things British (and Irish, and Scottish, etc)? If so, tell me what it was and how it grew. If not, tell me what you think may have started it.
What a dirty trick, giving me my own question back. Hee.
Although I don't remember specifically, I feel pretty confident saying it all started with my parents. My dad was a Monty Python/Douglas Adams fan, my mom swooned over Michael York, and between the two of them they saw any and all foreign films they could, and they always really loved the English films. So between the two of them, I caught on pretty young that English stuff was cool. I remember mimicking the accents as a kid. Accents are fun.
As I got older, and more English stuff became accessible, it just kind of grew from there, for my whole family. (My dad's favorite film ever is 'A Room With a View,' for instance.) I grew up watching 'Mystery' and 'Masterpiece Theatre'. I think it really took a turn for the obsessive, though, when we moved to Denver, and I started watching BritComs on the two PBS stations there. I had posters and postcards of London, I practiced my Cockney accent (many hours of 'EastEnders' to thank there). I don't know, I just fell in love with the place. It's one of those things everyone knows about me. "Oh, Janie? Yeah, she's obsessed with England."
I had a similar experience to yours the first time I actually set foot on English soil. I thought I would faint from happiness, I really did. (The subsequent obsessions with all things Irish/Scottish/Australian came gradually over the years, in much the same manner.)
2) If you could choose one book to be made into a movie, which would it be, and why?
What an excellent question. I've always thought that 'The Beekeeper's Apprentice' would have made a stupendous miniseries on 'Mystery,' but now that Jeremy Brett is long-gone, I can't imagine anyone else in the role of Holmes, so I've abandoned that hope. I've always wanted to see Maeve Binchy's 'Tara Road' as a movie, because that would be such a wonderful chick-flick. Um, this is harder than I thought. I think my favorite books have all been made into films!
In a related topic, I want 'High Fidelity' remade, and I want it remade right. I enjoyed John Cusack's version, but I felt it totally took the heart out of the story and made it just another slacker film. I demand justice. Ditto Arturo Perez-Reverte's 'The Club Dumas,' which Roman Polanski raped and pillaged as 'The Ninth Gate.' How anyone could turn an astoundingly good and original story into such utter crap always amazes me. It shouldn't, but it does. God, that movie was a travesty. Poor, poor Arturo.
3) Whose writing styles do you admire (or have influenced you), and why?
Oh, well, this is the Pandora's box of questions for me. So many, and for such different reasons. Nick Hornby, because he has an amazing gift for humor and I think the way his words come together is just delicious. Roddy Doyle, because he can tell a story through dialogue, or narration, so that it comes alive for you. I think that would be very difficult to do. Douglas Adams, because never has a writer made me laugh more, and he's another one who can turn a delicious phrase. Arturo Perez-Reverte, because he creates the most original stories I've ever come across; it's kind of breathtaking.
On the female front--Jane Austen, for obvious reasons that I doubt I need go into (and could never do justice to anyway). Elizabeth George, because she writes the mysteries I wish I could write: three-dimensional characters, intricate plots, great twists. I think Maeve Binchy brings heart and charm to her stories, and she makes me care about all of them; I think that's a great gift. Harper Lee, because as I've said a million times, if my writing career could be what hers is--one great book that will impact generations, and is truly entertaining as well--I will be a happy woman. Louisa May Alcott and LM Montgomery, for obvious reasons: I can't imagine what it must be to create characters that will be beloved for 100+ years.
I'm sure there are more. When I think of others, I'll kick myself. *g*
4) Which two or three books had the greatest impact on you?
Is it too clichéd if they're all classics? 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.' 'Anne of Green Gables.'
5) Who is your hero?
Probably my grandma, who is a precious, wise, wonderful woman.
1) Do you remember the start of your obsession with all things British (and Irish, and Scottish, etc)? If so, tell me what it was and how it grew. If not, tell me what you think may have started it.
What a dirty trick, giving me my own question back. Hee.
Although I don't remember specifically, I feel pretty confident saying it all started with my parents. My dad was a Monty Python/Douglas Adams fan, my mom swooned over Michael York, and between the two of them they saw any and all foreign films they could, and they always really loved the English films. So between the two of them, I caught on pretty young that English stuff was cool. I remember mimicking the accents as a kid. Accents are fun.
As I got older, and more English stuff became accessible, it just kind of grew from there, for my whole family. (My dad's favorite film ever is 'A Room With a View,' for instance.) I grew up watching 'Mystery' and 'Masterpiece Theatre'. I think it really took a turn for the obsessive, though, when we moved to Denver, and I started watching BritComs on the two PBS stations there. I had posters and postcards of London, I practiced my Cockney accent (many hours of 'EastEnders' to thank there). I don't know, I just fell in love with the place. It's one of those things everyone knows about me. "Oh, Janie? Yeah, she's obsessed with England."
I had a similar experience to yours the first time I actually set foot on English soil. I thought I would faint from happiness, I really did. (The subsequent obsessions with all things Irish/Scottish/Australian came gradually over the years, in much the same manner.)
2) If you could choose one book to be made into a movie, which would it be, and why?
What an excellent question. I've always thought that 'The Beekeeper's Apprentice' would have made a stupendous miniseries on 'Mystery,' but now that Jeremy Brett is long-gone, I can't imagine anyone else in the role of Holmes, so I've abandoned that hope. I've always wanted to see Maeve Binchy's 'Tara Road' as a movie, because that would be such a wonderful chick-flick. Um, this is harder than I thought. I think my favorite books have all been made into films!
In a related topic, I want 'High Fidelity' remade, and I want it remade right. I enjoyed John Cusack's version, but I felt it totally took the heart out of the story and made it just another slacker film. I demand justice. Ditto Arturo Perez-Reverte's 'The Club Dumas,' which Roman Polanski raped and pillaged as 'The Ninth Gate.' How anyone could turn an astoundingly good and original story into such utter crap always amazes me. It shouldn't, but it does. God, that movie was a travesty. Poor, poor Arturo.
3) Whose writing styles do you admire (or have influenced you), and why?
Oh, well, this is the Pandora's box of questions for me. So many, and for such different reasons. Nick Hornby, because he has an amazing gift for humor and I think the way his words come together is just delicious. Roddy Doyle, because he can tell a story through dialogue, or narration, so that it comes alive for you. I think that would be very difficult to do. Douglas Adams, because never has a writer made me laugh more, and he's another one who can turn a delicious phrase. Arturo Perez-Reverte, because he creates the most original stories I've ever come across; it's kind of breathtaking.
On the female front--Jane Austen, for obvious reasons that I doubt I need go into (and could never do justice to anyway). Elizabeth George, because she writes the mysteries I wish I could write: three-dimensional characters, intricate plots, great twists. I think Maeve Binchy brings heart and charm to her stories, and she makes me care about all of them; I think that's a great gift. Harper Lee, because as I've said a million times, if my writing career could be what hers is--one great book that will impact generations, and is truly entertaining as well--I will be a happy woman. Louisa May Alcott and LM Montgomery, for obvious reasons: I can't imagine what it must be to create characters that will be beloved for 100+ years.
I'm sure there are more. When I think of others, I'll kick myself. *g*
4) Which two or three books had the greatest impact on you?
Is it too clichéd if they're all classics? 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.' 'Anne of Green Gables.'
5) Who is your hero?
Probably my grandma, who is a precious, wise, wonderful woman.