Terrible Beauty; stuff
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Following on the backs of Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, another young adult series is going to be adapted for film. The series is by Libba Bray, and I've never heard of it until today, but it's about a group of girls at a prestigious boarding school, set in Victorian England and India - and it seems to be something like a cross between Hex and A Little Princess. Very interesting! The first book is called "A Great and Terrible Beauty":
"Gemma Doyle, sixteen and proud, must leave the warmth of her childhood home in India for the rigid Spence Academy, a cold finishing school outside of London, followed by a stranger who bears puzzling warnings. Using her sharp tongue and agile mind, she navigates the stormy seas of friendship with high-born daughters and her roommate, a plain scholarship case. As Gemma discovers that her mother's death may have an otherworldly cause, and that she herself may have innate powers, Gemma is forced to face her own frightening, yet exciting destiny . . . if only she can believe in it..." --Official Site
"A Great and Terrible Beauty is a stunning first novel about the repression and rigid caste system of the Victorian era, growing up, and learning about the power of the choices that we make in our lives. There certainly are gothic elements in the story, but there is also magic, humor and deep emotion." --Writers Write
“A delicious, elegant gothic.” -Publishers Weekly
“Shivery with both passion and terror.” -Kirkus Reviews
The sequel is "Rebel Angels". Not something you'd expect Mel Gibson to be producing, but there you have it. (If you're somewhat paranoid, like me, you might take that as a bad sign.) Gibson has optioned the rights for the trilogy by Libba Bray (book three is due out next year) and enlisted Charles Sturridge to direct. Sturridge has made some unremarkable movies, but rather good stuff for television, including Shackleton and Brideshead Revisted starring Jeremy Irons.
This is an interesting interview with the author, and I point the next section out for floweringjudas and slasheuse because of that conversation on boarding school lit we had, which makes me wonder about possible lesbian subtext in the trilogy:
"Hmmm, you think there's a correlation between my being the Southern-born-and-bred daughter of a Presbyterian minister in small-town Texas and themes of women being repressed/suppressed? Why, perish the thought! [...] My family situation was also unique in its repression. When I was fourteen, my parents divorced after my father came out to us as a homosexual. He was still working within the Presbyterian church as a journalist, and so the message from my parents was, your father is gay and that's okay, but you cannot tell a living soul or he will lose his job and we will face scandal and heartbreak and live in ruin for the rest of our lives. I became my parents' protector at that point. I was indoctrinated into a culture of secret keeping."
It's not usual so get such biographical detail and frankness in an interview with a young, emerging author, so presumably it's something that has as much an influence on Bray as Philip Pullman's Anglican upbringing has on him. And I'm curious as to how that translates into her books. (Again - Mel Gibson, Catholic, remember? Now tell me I'm paranoid.)
Links:
~ Official Site for the Trilogy
~ Libba Bray's LiveJournal (yes it's real!)
~
OMG Comic-Con floodage:
Spidey 3 character posters revealed at Comic-Com. Tell me that isn't Bryce Dallas Howard?! (Ain't It Cool News)
The J. J. Abrams Star Trek movie is real. Here's the teaser poster.
Samuel L. Jackson talks about Doug Liman's Jumper, and reveals that Hayden Christensen might be joining the cast (already featuring Tom Sturridge, Jamie Bell and Teresa Palmer). (Coming Soon)
Quint (Ain't It Cool News) interviews Zack Snyder about his comic-film adaptations, 300 (Frank Miller) and Watchmen (Alan Moore). JoBlo has some 300 Comic-Con posters.
The second season of HBO's Rome, premiering early next year, will also be its last.
Neil Gaiman talks about the status of Death: The High Cost of Living, which he would like to direct. (Coming Soon)
Afro Samurai. Huh? (Twitch)
John Patterson (Guardian Film) wonders how Hollywood will survive the demise of the private automobile: "Screen brake"
David Denby (New Yorker) on Miami Vice: "“Miami Vice” risks, and often achieves, a kind of clenched impenetrability."
Following on the backs of Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, another young adult series is going to be adapted for film. The series is by Libba Bray, and I've never heard of it until today, but it's about a group of girls at a prestigious boarding school, set in Victorian England and India - and it seems to be something like a cross between Hex and A Little Princess. Very interesting! The first book is called "A Great and Terrible Beauty":
"Gemma Doyle, sixteen and proud, must leave the warmth of her childhood home in India for the rigid Spence Academy, a cold finishing school outside of London, followed by a stranger who bears puzzling warnings. Using her sharp tongue and agile mind, she navigates the stormy seas of friendship with high-born daughters and her roommate, a plain scholarship case. As Gemma discovers that her mother's death may have an otherworldly cause, and that she herself may have innate powers, Gemma is forced to face her own frightening, yet exciting destiny . . . if only she can believe in it..." --Official Site
"A Great and Terrible Beauty is a stunning first novel about the repression and rigid caste system of the Victorian era, growing up, and learning about the power of the choices that we make in our lives. There certainly are gothic elements in the story, but there is also magic, humor and deep emotion." --Writers Write
“A delicious, elegant gothic.” -Publishers Weekly
“Shivery with both passion and terror.” -Kirkus Reviews
The sequel is "Rebel Angels". Not something you'd expect Mel Gibson to be producing, but there you have it. (If you're somewhat paranoid, like me, you might take that as a bad sign.) Gibson has optioned the rights for the trilogy by Libba Bray (book three is due out next year) and enlisted Charles Sturridge to direct. Sturridge has made some unremarkable movies, but rather good stuff for television, including Shackleton and Brideshead Revisted starring Jeremy Irons.
This is an interesting interview with the author, and I point the next section out for floweringjudas and slasheuse because of that conversation on boarding school lit we had, which makes me wonder about possible lesbian subtext in the trilogy:
"Hmmm, you think there's a correlation between my being the Southern-born-and-bred daughter of a Presbyterian minister in small-town Texas and themes of women being repressed/suppressed? Why, perish the thought! [...] My family situation was also unique in its repression. When I was fourteen, my parents divorced after my father came out to us as a homosexual. He was still working within the Presbyterian church as a journalist, and so the message from my parents was, your father is gay and that's okay, but you cannot tell a living soul or he will lose his job and we will face scandal and heartbreak and live in ruin for the rest of our lives. I became my parents' protector at that point. I was indoctrinated into a culture of secret keeping."
It's not usual so get such biographical detail and frankness in an interview with a young, emerging author, so presumably it's something that has as much an influence on Bray as Philip Pullman's Anglican upbringing has on him. And I'm curious as to how that translates into her books. (Again - Mel Gibson, Catholic, remember? Now tell me I'm paranoid.)
Links:
~ Official Site for the Trilogy
~ Libba Bray's LiveJournal (yes it's real!)
~
OMG Comic-Con floodage:
Spidey 3 character posters revealed at Comic-Com. Tell me that isn't Bryce Dallas Howard?! (Ain't It Cool News)
The J. J. Abrams Star Trek movie is real. Here's the teaser poster.
Samuel L. Jackson talks about Doug Liman's Jumper, and reveals that Hayden Christensen might be joining the cast (already featuring Tom Sturridge, Jamie Bell and Teresa Palmer). (Coming Soon)
Quint (Ain't It Cool News) interviews Zack Snyder about his comic-film adaptations, 300 (Frank Miller) and Watchmen (Alan Moore). JoBlo has some 300 Comic-Con posters.
The second season of HBO's Rome, premiering early next year, will also be its last.
Neil Gaiman talks about the status of Death: The High Cost of Living, which he would like to direct. (Coming Soon)
Afro Samurai. Huh? (Twitch)
John Patterson (Guardian Film) wonders how Hollywood will survive the demise of the private automobile: "Screen brake"
David Denby (New Yorker) on Miami Vice: "“Miami Vice” risks, and often achieves, a kind of clenched impenetrability."