“I realize that my book has nothing to fear. I was very scared, you understand. I would wake up at night covered in a cold sweat: I dreamt that the film was as good as the book and that cinema could rival literature. But it was just a nightmare and everything turned out very well.”
3.000€
Romain Gary (1914.1980)
Autograph manuscript signed.
Two quarto pages
No place or date [1959]
"I see that my book has nothing to fear."
Interesting answers from the French writer questioned about cinema and about the adaptation of his Goncourt Prize-winning novel, The Roots of Heaven, by John Huston in 1958.
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QUESTIONS
– What do you think of John Huston's film adaptation of your novel?
Ha! Ha! Ha! I was very amused and very pleased: I see that my book has nothing to fear. I was very scared, you understand. I would wake up at night covered in a cold sweat: I dreamt that the film was as good as the book and that cinema could rival literature. But it was just a nightmare and everything turned out very well.
– In Paris, the film has created a certain disconnect between critics and the public. What lesson do you draw from this? Do you see the reasons for the critics' bad mood, while in the theater after the screening the audience applauds?
The audience was so generous, forgiving, and compassionate: they were good Christians. I myself applauded when the screening ended. You have to have a heart in life.
– Did your stay near Hollywood facilitate your relationships and negotiations with the film's directors?
No. I only met them in Paris.
– Karl Jaspers recently exclaimed in Germany: “Woe to the writer who writes to say nothing!” Don’t you think this curse could apply to many celebrities of contemporary French literature, and that it’s time to adopt Baudelaire’s formula for 19th-century painting: “Alas! Everyone paints too well,” for 20th-century literature: “Alas! Everyone writes too well”?
All of this is meaningless. A writer can write without saying anything and still become a great writer if they possess genius. Jasper's statement—though we'd need to consider the context—is one of those pathetic attempts by philosophy professors to annex art, art they can never forgive us for. Romain Gary.
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The Roots of Heaven was adapted for the screen by John Huston in 1958. The film boasted a first-rate cast: Errol Flynn, Juliette Gréco, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, etc.