Sideways: A Novel by Rex Pickett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Sideways: A Novel
Book Review: Which way?
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this book because I just fell in love with the movie. The book is full bodied meaning the characters are more fully developed and there is more to the story. Having finished the novel I now understand why Miles and Jack are friends which didn't really come across in the movie. The novel is very funny and poignant at times. However, there is a subplot involving a 'boar hunter' and a subsequent life and death situation which was unbelievable and a little overboard for me. Overall it is a joyful read and gave me a little more insight into the male psyche. I'll probably read it again.Book Review: Wonderful Film; Better Book
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm not sure why I first watched the film version in the first place, especially considering that it focuses on a subject I'm very much appauled by, but something sparked my curiousity, and I fell in love; it was so wonderful that I made it a mission to find the book.
Five pages into the novel, it's already clear that a vast amount of liberties were taken with the film, though the characters are incredibly familiar. Miles Raymond, a high-strung, recently divorced failed writer and his soon-to-be-married television actor friend, Jack Cole set out to Santa Ynez for a week-long bachelor party that faires far more than either man ever expected. While cruising the local wineries, they join company with two women who share an equal love for wine; Pinot Noir to be exact. The more time they spend with lovely Terra and Maya, the more the lies build up, eventually leading one-sided fist fights, broken ribs, thousand-dollar pay-offs, and an angry woman with a hunting rifle; none of which ever made it into the film, sadly.
The wonderful tale of love, friendship, and lies did have one draw-back, however. At times, the story-telling was down right choppy, and once or twice, in need of a read-over. Pickett's screen-writing career definitely shows through at times, leaving the narration a set of single sentence actions and little description. Word flow aside, Sideways was a wonderfully enjoyable read. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the passages, and Miles' synical outlook makes for delightful narration.
Book Review: Wryly Funny Account of Wine Trip Deepens the Movie Version
Summary: 4 Stars
I was intrigued enough by Alexander Payne's movie version to read the Rex Pickett book upon which it is based. It's refreshing to know that the book and movie, while different on key plot points, are consistent in the penetrating examination of male bonding, unexpected romance and personal salvation. Like the film, the book follows Miles and Jack as two old college buddies, who travel through the Santa Ynez Valley vineyards and tasting rooms in a last hurrah victory lap before Jack ties the knot. But the book does not portray Miles as the sad sack embodied by Paul Giamatti in the movie. Rather, he is described as someone more successful in both the writing and the looks department. And Jack is not the voiceover has-been played by Thomas Haden Church, but surprisingly, a far more successful actor with a movie career thriving enough to keep the buddies awash in high-end wine and gourmet dinners. That's because the novel has 354 pages to capture the subtleties of these characters versus the two hours of the movie. The drilldown reaps rewards for the reader, especially in Pickett's detailed descriptions of Miles' oenophilia and overall depression with his career and long-ago-ended marriage.
The background behind the two women who become entangled in their lives is also much more fleshed out in the book. Maya remains the wine-loving hostess who catches Miles' eye, and Terra is a gorgeous, sexually voracious young wine-pourer. For whatever reason, Terra is renamed Stephanie in the film and becomes more mature with a daughter. The intersections of these characters work basically the same way in the book as they do on film but with more subtle reflection in the literary form. This is probably the primary reason to read the book after viewing the movie. The two endings are very different with the novel injecting a disheartening plot twist involving the affections of Maya. In my opinion, the ambiguity of the film's ending adds to the story's poignancy. But ultimately both the book and the film leave Miles and Jack in about the same place of partial revelation. The book is quite a worthwhile read, as Pickett passionately captures the joys of wine and seems equally enthusiastic when it comes to his characters' rants on love, friendship and alcohol dependency. If you love the movie, read the book to fill in some wryly funny, often entertaining context.
Book Review: if you liked the movie you will like the book
Summary: 4 Stars
I disagree that the book is better than the movie. But the book is quite good and contains lots more of the stuff many folks liked in the movie. They go well together and it is interesting how the moviemakers changed the book. Some of the characters motivations are better explained and some characters are just different. The book has some excellent writing, too. I would say that there are some flaws, and some incidents and actions by characters that are at better seem inconsistent with the characters. Reading the book to me enhances my appreciation of the movie, but the book is a very good read by itself. These are vibrant characters on the screen or on the page.Book Review: minus one star for snobbery
Summary: 4 Stars
Thoroughly enjoyed this easy, thoughtful read. At times the prose was brilliant. There was the 'thumbprint on a a window of a skyscraper' line that made it into the movie, but I also enjoyed this one:
"I was starting to get drunk now, and I was clinging with my fingertips to the last vestige of decorum. Soon, however, I knew there would come a moment when, without anyone's bidding, I would slip through a crack in the floorboards and find myself rowing across the River Styx with my demon entourage, and not until morning would I fully be able to assess the consequences."
Good stuff!
And now, the not so good:
"Our dates cameback to the table. Colloquies had taken place on opposite sides of the restaurant and we were now ready for the hoped-for rapprochement, the segue to higher zeniths of libidinousness."
Jeez!
But the real reason I'm docking Mr Pickett his fifth star is an interview I read, one he did for a screenwriters group. Yes, I know i'm supposed to rate the book not the person, but there is undoubtedly some intersection between the story of Miles Raymond and Pickett's life. In the interview, Pickett referred to Stephen King as a "hack", and that, given the choice between being a King or a Kafke, he'd choose the latter.
I found this disingenuous, as it sounds like Pickett was at the end of his rope financially at the time he wrote Sideways. There's no grand theme to the book--Pickett's no Kafke. It's D*ck Lit, as one reviewer called it. He should be happy the story has reached and touched as many people as it has. (And made him wealthier in the process!)