The Higher the Bar, the Sweeter the Leap

by Larry Brooks

We’ve all read a novel that changes our lives.  That makes us either want to become a writer, or glad we are already chasing the dream.

And a little sad, because in our heart we know we will never be quite that good.

Most of us have several of those, stories that are personal to us because it feels like we discovered them.  We remember them like love affairs that have left us different, enriched, even a little broken-hearted, if nothing else than because there can never be another first time.

And yet, every time we come back, it just gets better and better.

When such a novel resurfaces as a movie  — in this case 20 years later — we approach with caution.  And yet, with itchy excitement, because we get to immerse in that world again, live it through the eyes of a director with the same response to the novel that we had… this is a story that deserves to live on.

Just maybe it will live up to the book.

Last week I caught a trailer for a new film release that got my attention.  

Not because I recognized it as an adaptation of a novel that blew me away, but because the story being teased touched those old nerves in the same way.

And then it hit me.

The film is called Manhattan NightManhattan Night Poster

The novel that blew my mind in 1996, written by Colin Harrison, was/is entitled Manhattan Nocturne.

Perfect.  Hollywood dumbs down the title, taking the je ne sais quoi right out of it, but keeps the tonality and plot intrigue of its core… this could not be a coincidence.

Some dreams do come true.

That novel, the one that set the bar high, is about to be released as a movie that promises to do the same thing.

What you need to know about that novel, and the movie they’ve finally made from it, is delivered in two short blurbs… one about the story, the other about the author:

When a seductive stranger asks tabloid writer Porter Wren to dig into the unsolved murder of her filmmaker husband, he is drawn into a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail – one that threatens his job, his marriage, and his life.

Sexy old school noir thriller with brains, anyone?

Colin Harrison was the emerging pulp literati superstar of new millennium.  He Image result for manhattan nocturnewas referred to by a reviewer as the poet laureate of American thriller authors, and has a resume that reads as if it were the wet dream of a newly minted MFA graduate with commercial sensibilities (which he was, in 1986, from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop).

Manhattan Nocturne was his second novel.  His third novel, Afterburn, became a highly touted New York Times Bestseller, and the second best book of 2000, right after Zadie Smith’s White Teeth.

Even his wife was/is a bestselling novelist (Kathryn Harrison, with an intimidating Wiki of her own).

What could go wrong?  Well, a 20-year wait to get the film made, that’s what.

The guy’s prose is… stunning.

Not in a lit prof you’ll-never-see-me-holding-a-paperback-on-the-train sort of way, but in a Dashiel Hammett meets Mickey Spillane channeling Raymond Chandler sort of way, but with the swagger of a White House speechwriter.  Often in workshops, when I get to the part where we talk about — and try to understand how to craft — stellar writing voice, I simply read the first page of Harrison’s Manhattan Nocturne aloud, which contains all of three adjectives yet reads like the breathless musing of a mad genius reporter teetering on the abyss of The Best Scoop Ever, searching for killer lead.

Universally, the writing audience silently mouths a chorus of “oh my…”

He writes our kind of prose.  The poetry of thrillers and mysteries set on fire with passion and tension and the promise of shocking betrayals.  Narrative that kills.

So there you go.  A great read and a movie ticket for you, to light your writer’s brain on fire.

Read the Wikipedia on the novel HERE.

Then click on the movie poster above (not the book cover) to see the trailer.

That bar… it just keeps getting higher and higher.

 

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About Larry Brooks

Larry Brooks writes about story craft, with three bestselling titles from Writers Digest Books. His book "Story Engineering" was recently named by Signaturereads.com to their list of the "#27 Best Books on Writing," in the #3 position. He also has released six thrillers from Penguin-Putnam and Turner Publishing. He blogs at www.storyfix.com and teaches at conferences and workshops nationally and internationally.

5 thoughts on “The Higher the Bar, the Sweeter the Leap

  1. The bar certainly does keep getting higher. I’ve never read this novel, but if it had this much of an affect on you, I want to now. Thanks for the recommendation, Larry. Wishing you and yours a relaxing and fun Memorial Day!

  2. Interesting…
    The name sounded vaguely familiar when I started reading your post so I had to go look him up. And read the opening chapter sample on Amazon, which, as you say, is stunning. It’s very dense yet fluid writing, incredibly detailed in its Manhattan setting (and he’s good at capturing the newsroom milieu). But it does, in some ways, break many of the traditional “rules” we talk about here…slow expository beginning, tons of backstory, multiple digressions, very long paragraphs with no dialogue breaks. But…

    I couldn’t stop reading.

    Which just goes to show you another thing we talk about here often, that you can break the rules if you know what you’re doing.

    I might have to go get this book because I enjoy books about newspaper folks. Interesting that it took so long to make it to the screen. His other books seem to have stories tailor-made for movies as well. And yeah…why the heck does Hollywood have to dumb down titles? Like people can’t figure out what “nocturne” means? 🙂

  3. Larry, thanks for the information.

    Like Sue, if you were that impressed with the novel, I want to read it, too.

    Since reading your books, and hearing about Nelson DeMille’s handling of POV, I’ve been enjoying DeMille’s John Corey. His crusty, old-fart, voice suits me just fine.

    Have a great Memorial Day.

  4. Wow! Like Sue and Steve, I’m heading over to Amazon right now. Hey, Larry, if you ever tire of the authorship-thing, you’d make a terrific land salesman!
    Walter

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