Other Pullman Books

[Isobel]

Has anyone read The White Mercedes or The Broken Bridge? I got these at the library today. I'm looking forward to reading them. They're next on my list, after I finish the book I'm reading currently.

[katinka]

I've read the white mercedes... i think... is that the one about the guy who's a pyrotechnic?

[Justine]

I read the White Mercedes. I can say one thing: very bad visual

[Will]

Bad visual? Me no understand.

[jessia]

supposedly graphic depiction of a one night stand

-----

anyone read pullman's fairytales? they're great. i've read clockwork and the firework maker's daughter, though i have to say that clockwork was better... beautiful-er, and the illustrations were much more... i don't know, just the cold wintery setting, matched really well.

[Nix]

oh, i had to read the limehouse horror play for english 2 years ago. It was pretty boring but was not for children

[Will]

supposedly graphic depiction of a one night stand

Huh? We are talking about a PP book here, right!? Are you serious?

[jessia]

very serious, but i've read the the north american version which isn't as editted as the british version.

see http://www.avnet.co.uk/home/amaranth/Cr ... ullman.htm

TB: The one of your books that’s received most strong comment for its content is The White Mercedes, recently republished as The Butterfly Tattoo.

PP: Yes, annoyingly. I wish they hadn’t done that.

TB: Why did they do that?

PP: The idea was, it was originally called The White Mercedes, a story about teenage love, basically; it’s a tragedy. When Macmillan republished it they said that the marketing people …if you have a story with the name of a car in the title, girls won’t read it. I merely report that! I goggled and said ‘what nonsense’ and they said ‘well, can we think of another title?’ I wasn’t particularly keen on the title The White Mercedes in the first place, but they told me it would help sell lots more copies if we called it The Butterfly Tattoo. Being unmotivated by anything but the highest motives I thought ‘jolly good, more money!’ so I agreed to it. But in fact it hasn’t done as well as it did when it was called The White Mercedes, so I think they were wrong. .. Your question wasn’t about the title, though, was it? It was about the content.

TB: It’s actually quite a graphic and unsettling tale of teenage love.

PP: Yes. Not as graphic in this country as it was in the States.

TB: Oh really?

PP: It was – I won’t say ‘censored’ in this country, but they suggested I tone down the sex scene a bit in this country. So I did, because the story didn’t entirely depend on the graphic qualities of the sex scene. But they didn’t suggest that in the States. In the States, you see, they have this category called ‘Young Adult’, and ‘young adult’ books can be full of sex, violence, rude language – whatever you like. If they’re called ‘teenage’ books or ‘children’s’ books they have to be very much more fussy about it, but because it was marketed as young adult I could be as rude as I liked.

TB: [to audience] Has anybody got an American edition? … I suppose

[Isobel]

Well now I definitely have to read it to see what you're all talking about. Not surprisingly, I got the North American edition. That's interesting, though, I always thought Americans were supposedly the most strict about things like that, and censoring them out of things meant for children or teenagers.

[AySz88]

Hmm...we always thought others would think of us as too lenient, and the British were stiffs!

I got out a copy before from our school library, but I had exactly 30 minutes of free time to read it, in 2 months. Got up to like the 3rd chapter before people started noticing I had been carrying around the same book for a long while.

[jessia]

how are books published in britain? not the publishing process, but audience targets. in north america, there are all sorts of divisions: childrens, young adult, preteen, all the genre divisions for those age divisions, and then farther more all the grown-up books and all their genre divisions.

[Will]

PP: In the States, you see, they have this category called ‘Young Adult’, and ‘young adult’ books can be full of sex, violence, rude language – whatever you like. If they’re called ‘teenage’ books or ‘children’s’ books they have to be very much more fussy about it, but because it was marketed as young adult I could be as rude as I liked.

Yes, not quite sure what PP meant by this. I mean, we have that catagory too. How rigidly are these catagories stuck to in the US, they're not really set in stone here.

[Isobel]

I'm not sure, but I don't think they're very strict about those categories here, either. I think it's based more on reading level and general subject matter than specific instances of sex or violence. Also, a book is frequently put in the children's section at one bookstore or library and the young adult section at another, so the classification isn't always evry clear.

[Nix]

my next door neighbour has just lent me the brokjen bridge, i havent had a chance to read it but if anyone has, whats it like

[Isobel]

I finished The White Mercedes yesterday. It was good, not great like HDM, but I enjoyed it (I know, I know, I shouldn't compare). The sex scene was a bit graphic, but not as much as I had expected. PP really likes to do sad endings - this book was no exception. Has he ever written a book with a happy ending?

[jessia]

clockwork and the firework-maker's daughter have happy endings. but those are meant to be like fairy-tales.

[wyatt]

what is the best pullman book besides HDM?

[jessia]

i loved clockwork. but i've only read a few of his other books.

[All_That_Jazz]

I'd say his best other ones are the ones about Sally Lockhart: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, and The Tiger in the Well. Oh, I guess The Tin Princess goes with those as well.

[Annie3247]

very serious, but i've read the the north american version which isn't as editted as the british version.

see http://www.avnet.co.uk/home/amaranth/Cr ... ullman.htm

TB: The one of your books that�s received most strong comment for its content is The White Mercedes, recently republished as The Butterfly Tattoo.

PP: Yes, annoyingly. I wish they hadn�t done that.

TB: Why did they do that?

PP: The idea was, it was originally called The White Mercedes, a story about teenage love, basically; it�s a tragedy. When Macmillan republished it they said that the marketing people �if you have a story with the name of a car in the title, girls won�t read it. I merely report that! I goggled and said �what nonsense� and they said �well, can we think of another title?� I wasn�t particularly keen on the title The White Mercedes in the first place, but they told me it would help sell lots more copies if we called it The Butterfly Tattoo. Being unmotivated by anything but the highest motives I thought �jolly good, more money!� so I agreed to it. But in fact it hasn�t done as well as it did when it was called The White Mercedes, so I think they were wrong. .. Your question wasn�t about the title, though, was it? It was about the content.

TB: It�s actually quite a graphic and unsettling tale of teenage love.

PP: Yes. Not as graphic in this country as it was in the States.

TB: Oh really?

PP: It was � I won�t say �censored� in this country, but they suggested I tone down the sex scene a bit in this country. So I did, because the story didn�t entirely depend on the graphic qualities of the sex scene. But they didn�t suggest that in the States. In the States, you see, they have this category called �Young Adult�, and �young adult� books can be full of sex, violence, rude language � whatever you like. If they�re called �teenage� books or �children�s� books they have to be very much more fussy about it, but because it was marketed as young adult I could be as rude as I liked.

TB: [to audience] Has anybody got an American edition? � I suppose

o man, remember that scene, whew weee nc17 and my nan bought it for me hehe, poor women had no idea i was readin' that....hmmm...in the very end when what's his face picked up the knife after jenny was murdered what was he going to do? kill himself?...i mean that's the first thing u think of but when u think about it harder u can confuse u'rself...trust me..it happens to the best of us...unfortantly many many times in this case, butcha know just tell me what ya think.