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December 17, 2008

My Movie Business by John Irving

I just read John Irving's My Movie Business: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Academy Award-winning film The Cider House Rules. This is Irving's recounting of the 14-year process of getting his controversial (due to its abortion politics) 1985 novel made into a movie.

This is a book for John Irving fans. It's at his best when it's most personal; when Irving discusses his personal politics and his family background. It's at its worst when it gets into the nuts-and-bolts aspects of movie making, because Irving's calling is as a novelist, and his dislike of the movie business is palpable. The book is also somewhat incomplete because it was written prior to the movie's release; a postscript about the film's release, reception, reviews and awards would have made this a more fulfilling reading experience.

There is one quote from the book, though, that resonates strongly with me -

Let religious zealots practice their religion, but let them keep their religion to themselves. Religious freedom should work two ways: we should be free to practice the religion of our choice, but we must also be free from having someone else's religion practiced on us.

John Irving fans will enjoy this glimpse of the man behind so many provocative novels, and his recounting of the process of getting one of those novels put onto the silver screen.

Posted by In Repair at December 17, 2008 08:23 PM

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