Re: the book was....

[GidgetTMsMan at aol_com]

> Oh, my goodness, I completely forgot to include Fight Club in my list of novels
> I've read because I saw the movie.  I thought they both were brilliant.
> Definitely one of the best film adaptations of a novel I've ever seen.  In what
> way did you find the movie changed the *purpose* of the novel?


Well, they are both significntly downbeat about the Gen X protagonist, but in the book the explosion of the buildings in the end is averted by the fact that even at Tyler's best, he screws up the mixture of the plastic explosives.  Also, the novel does not allow him the comfort of a female companion at the end.

> >Factoid: Die Hard is based on a very fine neo-noir novel and manages to
> >completely change the point of the story from one that shows the futility of
> >a society based on violence to one that requires violence for salvation.
>
> Really?  What's it called?  


Nothing Last Forever by Roderick Thorp.  The protagonist, Joe Leland, is a burnt out very middle-aged Vietnam vet who has just been dismissed by his grown children.  The whole novel is much more about his psyche than any interaction with terrorists.

One of the things that always bothered me about Die
> Hard (although it is one my "guilty pleasures" as a well-constructed,
> well-executed thriller) is that it implies the way for the officer to get over
> the trauma of shooting a kid is to shoot someone else (preferably someone
> *really* bad).  That way he can get more comfortable with the idea of shooting
> someone, and this is his peculiar form of "redemption" in the context of the
> film narrative.  So I would like to read the book.


yeah, the partner isn't even in the book.  It is just Joe.  It's hard to get your hands on because it is out of print, but many libraries have copies that I've seen.  Also Used book stores have had a few copies when I've been bowsing through it.

Steve

Factoid:  Rear Window is based on a short story as well in which the reader has much more doubt as to the veracity of the murder since the protagonist isn't Jimmy Stewart.  I mean honestly, who can doubt Mr. Smith?