Vis-À-Vis: “Writing On The City, Writing On The Margins”

The G2 Gallery in Venice, California was the setting for the second Vis-À-Vis panel of the day. On the second floor of this venue, the audience was seated in the “Visions of the Arctic” color photography exhibition area. It was a larger space than the first panel’s venue and the established seating was adequate. However, the event was running behind schedule and the panel session began about a half hour later than expected. Before the panel began, copies of “Fiction France: A Selection of French Contemporary Fiction To Be Read And Translated” dated March 2009 were handed out to the audience.

This second panel’s authors were James Frey (Bright Shiny Morning), Richard Lange (This Wicked World), and Jean Rolin (Christians in Palestine) and the panel moderator was Olivier Barrot. Once again the panel focus was on the reading of excerpts from the authors’ works. James Frey read an excerpt from his book Bright Shiny Morning. Frey, who used to live in Venice, California from 1995 to 2002, said that his book has no single protagonist or story. He also revealed that about seventy-five percent of the statistics in the book are accurate with the remaining twenty-five percent being inaccurate (he made them up to serve his own purposes with the novel). The question then becomes, does Frey tell the reader which of the statistics are accurate and which are inaccurate?

Next, instead of from This Wicked World, Jean Rolin read in French, an excerpt from “Culver City”, a short story from Richard Lange’s Dead Boys. Then Lange read that same excerpt in English. Lange had attended film school at the University of Southern California, but discovered he did not enjoy the collaborative nature of film making and turned to writing. Los Angeles is the city that Lange really loves.

Finally, Jean Rolin read his entry in “Fiction France” (mentioned above), which is an excerpt from Un Chien Mort Après Lui (A Dead Dog After Him), while the French-reading people in the audience followed along in the publication. Rolin is in Los Angeles learning how to get around using the public transportation system. He recounted his travels from Los Angeles to Calabasas and from Long Beach to Malibu via bus and rail, remarking on the length of time it took to complete those two journeys. Rolin is doing this public transportation activity as part of his preparation for his next work. Besides, the only car he can drive is a Renault Ford and there probably aren’t too many of them in Los Angeles.

It was Jean Rolin’s book Christians in Palestine that I bought at the end of the session. This is a new subject for me, but sure to give a perspective on the Middle East not usually known. Unfortunately Jean Rolin had left by the time I bought the paperback, so I was unable to have him sign the book or talk to him. As I am also a taker of public transportation, I wanted to share my views of the bus traveler’s life in Los Angeles. Oh well, perhaps someday we’ll meet on a, sometimes inaccurately named, Rapid bus. Until then – Bon Voyage!


Images:
Left: Front cover of Bright Shiny Morning from the website visavisla.blogspot.com
Center: Front cover of This Wicked World from the website visavisla.blogspot.com

Right: Front cover of Christians in Palestine from the website visavisla.blogspot.com

Vis-À-Vis: “The Novel Vs. Cinema And Television”

The venue for the first panel of Vis-À-Vis was located in the entry area of the Consortium Gallery in Venice, California. Surrounded by large, colorful abstract paintings and a couple of black and white photographs, the audience patiently waited for the session to begin. Actually more seating had to be added as more people than had been anticipated arrived for the session. Of course that took time and the panel began later than its scheduled start hour. The front door to the Consortium remained opened during the panel readings and discussion, which allowed not only more people to enter, but also outside noises as well. It was a drawback to the ambience to hear the sounds of car engines and cell phone conversations jolt into the space and compete with the voices of the authors.

The authors for this initial panel were Philippe Djian (Impardonnables), Steve Erickson (Zeroville), and Norman Klein (The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory) and the panel moderator was Laure Murat. The majority of the time was devoted to the reading of excerpts/notes from a work by each author. An excerpt from Philippe Dijian’s Impardonnables (Unforgivable) was begun in English by an actor, continued in French by Djian, and finished, once again by the actor, in English. Then Steve Erickson read excerpts, in English, from the beginning of Zeroville. Finally, instead of reading an excerpt from The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory, Norman Klein chose to present notes and ideas from a work he is in the process of writing.

From the short discussion that followed, Djian offered, in regard to cinema, “change the angles, change the view of the world.” Some of Djian’s works have been made into films, but he does not feel betrayed if the film is not an exact reflection of his words. That was unexpected – I know that I would want any writings of mine to be filmed accurately. If there were to be changes, then I would want to be the screenwriter and make them myself. Erickson mentioned The English Patient as an influence, while for Klein it was Tristram Shandy (complete title: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman). The consensus distinction between cinema and the novel is that film making is a collective endeavor, while writing is a private one - the team versus the individual. Even though one of them had been a film student (Erickson), obviously working individually won out, though films are the centerpiece of his novel Zeroville. Perhaps having an actual filmmaker as part of the panel would have added another insight into the discussion.

After the panel ended, books by the authors were for sale and I bought a paperback copy of Steve Erickson’s Zeroville. And before he settled into videotaping an interview, Erickson signed my newly purchased book. I do know that before reading Zeroville I will have to watch “A Place in the Sun” again, as that is the protagonist’s core film – in fact the faces of the two lead actors are inked on his head for all to see. Now that’s one way to start a dialogue – têtes à tête!


Images:
Left: Front cover of Impardonnables (Unforgivable) from the website visavisla.blogspot.com
Center: Front cover of Zeroville from the website visavisla.blogspot.com
Right: Front cover of The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory from the website visavisla.blogspot.com