Ten Novels to Re-Read: The Great Gatsby, et al

As beach-reading season is winding down, we thought we'd take a look at some great, vintage novels which are worth of a second, third or even a fourth look.

Many of these novels are listed in the Modern Library's best novels.

Here is the list:

1. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) #2 on the Modern Library list

2. "Lord of the Flies" by William Goldig (1954) #41 on the ML list

3. "The Black Book" ("Kara Kitap") by Orhan Pamuk (Turkey. 1990. English version published in 1994)

4. "Less Than Zero" by Breat Easton Ellis (1985)

5. "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk (1996)

6. "Bright Lights, Big City" by Jay McInerny (1984)

7. "Deliverance" by James Dickey (1970) #42 on the Modern Library List

8. "1984" by George Orwell (1949) #13 on Modern Library List

9. "Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger (1961)

10. "Catch 22" by by Joseph Heller (1961) #7 on the Modern Library List

http://www.modernlibrary.com

http://www.malaprops.com/ (Indy bookstore in Asheville, NC)

http://www.regulatorbookshop.com/ (Indy bookstore in Durham, NC)

http://www.boulderbookstore.net/ (Indy bookstore in Boulder, Colo.)

Iranian Version of Salinger?!

I have to credit my good friend Bilge Ebiri for letting me know there is indeed an Iranian film version of J.D. Salinger's classic novel "Franny and Zooey".

The film "Pari," made in 1995, by director Dariush Mehrjui (we couldn't find an image of that film, so we are using the poster for "Gabbeh," which is one of my favorite Persian films) was adapted from the novel and it was screened internationally until it was set to be shown at an Iranian film festival at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1998.

It was then that the reclusive author's lawyers said showing the film was a copyright violation (one of the reasons the film was able to be made in Iran is because the country has no formal copyright laws).

Richard Pena, the programming director of the festival, told "The New York Times" in 1998 that Salinger's intervention caught him off-guard:

"It was assumed there was no prohibition on the film," Pena told reporter Jesse McKinley of the "NYT," "It's been around for a while."

Mehrjui said he was also stunned by what happened:

"This reaction is really quite bewildering." the director said. "I don't want to distribute the film commercially. It's a kind of cultural exchange. I just want to let the film be seen for critics and the people that follow my work."

Mehrjui is best known for his 1969 film "The Cow," which is considered to be a landmark film in Iran. His most recent film is "Santoori" (2007). Like "Pari," it is not available in the United States, but we presume that's for different reasons.

Remembering J. D. Salinger (1919-2010)

With the death of author J.D. Salinger, best known for his landmark novel "The Catcher in the Rye," a number of great tributes have been surfacing on the web, including a touching one from my Moviezzz on his blog http://www.moviezzz.blogspot.com

There have also been a number of interesting stories about the reclusive author who lived in Cornish, NH.

One of those was written by "Washington Post" reporter Ian Shapira in today's online edition of the newspaper. Shapira reported that George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.) professor of English Roger Lathbury decided on a lark to contact Salinger about the unlikely possibility of publishing Salinger's short story "Hapworth 16, 1924" from his small publishing outfit in Alexandria, Va.

Amazingly enough, Salinger wrote back! And, the author said: "I'll think about it."

The rest of the story sounds a bit like the 1980 film "Melvin and Howard" about an ordinary man who becomes friends with Howard Hughes (also a recluse).

Salinger contacted Lathbury again in 1996 and for a short while gave the green light. This lead to the two meeting in secret at the cafteria of the National Gallery Art Museum in Washington, DC, but ultimately word of Lathbury's aims got leaked and Salinger changed his mind. The two ended up not speaking to each other again.

I read another Salinger encounter of sorts in "Interview" magazine in which actress Winona Ryder, a devout Salinger fan (like film director Wes Anderson), sent back Salinger's autograph which her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp gave her while they were dating. Ryder felt that she was violating the author's privacy by owning the highly covted autograph. Salinger wrote back and simply said: "Thank you"