Adapting Irving

Since the publication four years ago of John Irving's last novel The Fourth Hand, there has been little news of the author except for a few sightings and the release of the film adaptation of his novel A Widow for One Year.

A New Beginning is a charity compilation book from Bloomsbury with contributions from 16 authors to raise revenue for tsnumai relief.  The impressive roster includes Coelho,McEwan,Coetzee.Atwood,Binchy.Keyes and Mark Haddon.

This week also brings the release of Colm Tóibín's, The Master and Tobias Wolf's ,Old School in paperback and Brendan Kennelly's  new collection of his favourite work, Familiar Strangers (1964-2004).

It's been four years since the publication of John Irving's last novel, The Fourth Hand, and the bad news is there is still no news at all. His publishers haven't updated his page in a while and his own website hasn't been amended since the last book's 2001 publication. Over the last two years Irving has been characteristically quiet, offering himself for lunch in a charity auction in 2003 and no doubt building walls to protect himself from Da Vinci Code fans after Dan Brown announced that they had lived on the same street. Fertile pastures indeed.

Still, there has been some recent sightings of Irving, centred around the upcoming release of The Door in the Floor, the adaptation of his novel A Widow for One Year. In cinemas this month, it has the apt and pleasing casting of Kim Basinger as Marion Cole and Jeff Bridges as her husband Ted. Adaptation of Irving's novels have been notoriously hit and miss – the film of A Prayer for Owen Meany bore so little resemblance to the 1987 classic that it had its name changed to Simon Birch.

The most successful adaptation has been 1999's version of The Cider House Rules (an Oscar-winning adaption by Irving himself) which omitted the middle 20 years of the text to sharpen the focus. A similar tack has been taken with The Door in the Floor which filmed only the first third of A Widow for One Year. It details the life of the heroine's parents rather than the heroine, Ruth Cole herself.

A New Beginning

The unrelenting focus on the body count from the Stephen's Day catastrophe in South East Asia has slipped from our front pages, with coverage now focussing on aid pledges and the tireless fundraising schemes. One of these money-spinning ventures is New Beginnings, a charity compilation book to be launched on 3 March by Bloomsbury publishers. 3 March is, fittingly, World Book Day and the book will contain chapters from sixteen contributing authors' books, all donated to allow all proceeds go directly to the aid efforts. The contents of the book shows the depth of both Bloomsbury's impressive roster and their upcoming release schedule. Helen Fielding provides the introduction with Nick Hornby contributing a chapter from his incoming novel A Long Way Down. Other writers featured include the grand dames of Irish storytelling Binchy and Keyes, paperback giants Coben, Turow & King and Booker favourites Atwood, McEwan & Coetzee. Some new work from Paolo Coelho of The Alchemist fame and Mark Haddon of The Curious Incident will also be included with more information on the works to be released closer to publication.

On your Shelves

Two pretty good reads appeared in paperback over the last fortnight if you're looking for something to make Spring that little bit warmer. Colm Tóibín's The Master has been widely praised for its sensitive portrayal of a young Henry James and should find a wider audience in the cheaper format. Also out this week is Tobias Wolf's Old School. Wolff is most famous for publishing his memoirs of childhood (This Boy's Life) and his time in Vietnam (In Pharaoh's Army). Old School is the story of a young prep school student who cheats in a writing competition to win the prize of a meeting with Ernest Hemingway. Wolff, now a lecturer in creative writing in Stanford University, gained a scholarship in a similar manner from an equally venerable school in the 1960s.

A Familiar Irishman

Poet Brendan Kennelly has just released Familiar Strangers (1964-2004), a collection of his favourite work from his 20 books of poetry as well as some new poems. Famously approachable and always available for comment, Kennelly told the Independent last week that he started writing in his father's pub in Ballylongford, Co Kerry where he would write verses on demand for nostalgic would be emigrants who wanted a memento of their homeland to take with them.

This continues to this day with Kennelly telling the paper that he gets up to 10 or 11 letters daily, all of which receive replies. These often include requests for personalised verse with which he also obliges. It certainly has a more personalised touch than Margaret Atwood's newly designed remote book signing machine.

Ronan Browne