Word to screen and back again

I first learned about Annie Proulx when The Shipping News came out as a movie staring Kevin Spacey and Dame Judi Dench. My former crib buddy (and when I say the word crib I mean we used to share a crib as children not the MTV version of the word) went off to the local art house theatre (the only place it was playing at the time), snuggled down in our seats, and prepared ourselves to be amazed. It was Kevin Spacey and Judi Dench after all.

And I was, impressed that is. My friend? Not so much.

“Why not?” I asked her afterwards. This was the same girl that I had spent three hours at Olive Garden once trying to untangle the storyline of the Usual Suspects.

“When I read the book, I could actually feel the cold she was writing about. The movie couldn’t make me feel that.”

Feel the cold? I had to read this book!

That’s when I discovered that Annie Proulx does indeed have the power to reach inside you and make you feel everything: the weather, the emotions. Everything ripping away until you’re bare. Her stories won’t leave you the moment you close the book, maybe not even in a year after you’ve closed the book.

I don’t know if Brokeback Mountain, the movie, will be able to capture the power of the book, or if it will fail like the Shipping News. I do know that you should give both a try.

I’m going to, not only to halt my coworker’s squee-ing over Jake Gyllenhaal, but because this review* (after you weed out all the tongue and cheek) makes me think that the movie may have come pretty damn close.

“In fact, it’s 129 minutes of really intense longing and sadness and unabashedly weepy, doomed love story.”

So go out and read the book, watch the movie! And when you’re recovering from the emotional rollercoaster that is love on screen, call up someone and tell them you love them.

*Brought to my attention by Rosina Lippi's blog on Brokeback Mountain, and a comment left by Danielle.