'What are you thinking about?' he asked Danny. What the hell did the guy think about?Back in the olden days, there were no DVD players or streaming services, and if you saw a film or some TV that you liked, the only way to experience again at a time and place of your own convenience was to read the novelisation. And if you loved the film Local Hero, as I do, you had to buy this slim book by David Benedictus from Bill Forsyth's original screenplay.
I can't pretend that it's great literature. The book inevitably misses the superb visuals and the soundscape provided by Dire Straits, and the performances of the good members of the cast, including a young Peter Capaldi. (On the other hand, Peter Riegert's boredom in the supposedly central role is less painfully obvious on the page than on the screen.) And as I said, it's short and easily digestible. You can get it here.
This was the shortest book acquired in 2013 on my unread shelf. Next (if I can find it) is Exiled to Nowhere: Burma's Rohingya, by Greg Constantine.
