Solid Ivory

by James Ivory

The irreverent, brilliant memoirs of the legendary filmmaker James Ivory

In Solid Ivory , a carefully crafted mosaic of memories, portraits, and reflections, the Academy Award–winning filmmaker James Ivory, a partner in the legendary Merchant Ivory Productions and the director of A Room with a View , Howards End , Maurice , and The Remains of the Day , tells stories from his remarkable life and career as one of the most influential directors of his time. At times, he touches on his love affairs, looking back coolly and with unexpected frankness.

From first meeting his collaborator and life partner, Ismail Merchant, at the Indian Consulate in New York to winning an Academy Award at age eighty-nine for Call Me by Your Name ; from seeing his first film at age five in Klamath Falls, Oregon, to memories of Satyajit Ray, Jean Renoir, The New Yorker magazine’s film critic Pauline Kael (his longtime enemy), Vanessa Redgrave, J. D. Salinger, George Cukor, Kenneth Clark, Bruce Chatwin, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and Merchant―Ivory writes with invariable fluency, wit, and perception about what made him who he is and how he made the movies for which he is known and loved.

Solid Ivory , edited by Peter Cameron, is an utterly winning portrait of an extraordinary life told by an unmatched storyteller.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Media Tie In, Film, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

432 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really looked forward to James Ivory's (film director) memoirs. I had the privilege of seeing Ivory in person for the 30th anniversary screening of his film, Maurice at the Quad Cinema in NYC a few years ago. I continue to adore a quartet of his films with collaborator and romantic life partner Ismail Merchant. A Room With A View, Maurice, The Remains of the Day, and Howards End are each on my favorite films of all time list and Maurice is my favorite film of all time.

The book is frankly uneven. The biggest flaw for me is that the most important relationship - Ismail Merchant is glossed over. Perhaps Merchant didn't want their personal relationship discussed and Ivory is honoring that. Fine, just tell me. The book gives explicit detail of Ivory's sexual and emotional relationships with men throughout his life, but very little detail about he and Ismail.

Also, the book feels like a collection of stories from different publications which some of it actually is. Again, that is fine, but a better editor would have helped Ivory create a more connected and complete final book. I loved many of the stories. I have had the displeasure of reading memoirs of several people I greatly admire, having the book change the way I feel about the person. That is not the case with Solid Ivory. I continue to respect James Ivory for his intellect, creativity, drive, and works. He spent his life creating art with Ismail and a group of their collaborators and lived an interesting personal life.

The book itself gets a 3 out of 5 from me. Probably best read by true Merchant Ivory fans who can sift through the text for the gems.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never have I had such a shifting and complicated reaction to a collection of essays. Yes, this book is not a memoir but a collection of essays Ivory has written over the years. That was my first confusion. Once I settled in to read, understanding that fact, a sense of both boredom and irritation crept in. I couldn't decide how I felt about Ivory. One moment, I was loving his wit and intellect, the next minute I found him dull & pedantic. Sometimes he was a horrible snob and sometimes he was a lurid over-sharer. I actually considered DNF the book several times. Then I would read something excellent so I kept persevering. It was like the book equivalent of whiplash.

I also had to step back and note this is not a book detailing his career but instead his personal life. Oh, occasionally he would reference movie-making but as a whole, no. Once again, his personal life ran the gamut from eye-wateringly dull(I do not care about your ancestor stories. What, is he a member of the DAR? Snooze) to the eye-wateringly backstabby (the story of the Upper East Side dinner party with some socialite whose name I have forgotten. Store bought salad dressing! The horror!) to the fascinating (The posh ball at Wilton House - Like Ivory, I am a sucker for those historical grand estates).

One thing Ivory did not shy away from is negative comments and portrayals about people. Usually
when a celebrity publishes a book there is some level of self-censorship. Oooh, not here! Ivory can be brutal! I guess he figures he is in his nineties so who cares if people get upset. His portrayal of Raquel Welch, ouch! Even when discussing people he likes, there is an element of venom. It was like rubbernecking at an accident, reading these snarky comments. I both loved it and felt ashamed for loving it.

I rated this essay collection three stars mainly because I figuratively threw up my hands when trying to decide what is my final opinion. Three stars is smack in the middle.

I also feel I must warn readers who love his gentle costume drama movies that Ivory loves, absolutely loves, talking about penises. It's really at the forefront of his mind haha. I'm talking vivid detailed descriptions of all his lovers genitalia. I found it tedious but could see other more sensitive readers getting upset. He would veer from discussing some antique furniture in a fussy manner to suddenly discussing some guy's junk. It just added to the general whiplash feeling of the book.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. This is the life story of a director that I’ve always admired. The first half of the book is a pretty straightforward telling of his early life, prosperous family in Oregon, through his days at the University of Oregon. The second half is about his life as a film director. These stories follow no chronology. It’s as though you’ve come upon the director at a party and one story, or city, reminds him of another story and on and on. And they’re lovely stories. The most touching are the ones of his favorite screenwriter, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and his producer, and great love of his life, Ismail Merchant.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confused. Wanted a memoir about his film career and his relationship with Ismail. What I'm getting is anecdotes about his ancestors, frats and Kabul. Looking at other reviews, it doesn't look I will get what I want. Sorry, Jim. DNF.

[Pauline McGonagle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was entertaining and had some very interesting new stories I hadn't heard before linked to Jim's film directing and a few snippets to add to my knowledge of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. There is a good deal of humour , which I expected but more honesty than I did.

I have no problem reading about Jim's sexual escapades or adventures but it is peculiar that there seems to be less about the most important person in his life Ismail Merchant than Bruce Chatwin.

As a book, it does read more like a scrapbook of bits and bobs than a thought through narrative of memoir so it does not link together well. Maybe the editor Cameron is at fault for this.
There are some really good interviews out there like Emmet Long's book which fill other gaps about the films. Jim's life is his films so it is hard to separate his working life from his personal one. There is an effort in here to do this and we do get some sight of the boy and college student with some lucky breaks, but great confidence in his own path.
He gave advice to my young cousin's daughter, just embarking on a degree in Queen's on scriptwriting and films, when I introduced her to him at an event we organised called A Celebration Jhabvala's archive in 2018 at the British Library (it is on youtube)- " Just make your own path and follow it". At the time I thought it was a bit vague but now I see why he said it. She seems to be doing that too.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

A memoir of director James Ivory (of Merchant/Ivory Productions) life both filmic and personal. The director of such films as The Remains Of The Day, A Room With A View, Howards End, The Europeans, Shakespeare Wallah, Maurice and The Bostonians looks back on his life in both original writing and articles that previously appeared in magazines and other publications. While he talks at some length about actors he didn't get on with he deals very little little with actors who gave brilliant performances in his most admired films. It seems to him they just got on with it. Apart from this slight criticism it's an interesting and informative book about a unique production company. - BH.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dearly love Merchant Ivory films. In fact, I may have cried when James Ivory won an Oscar. What I couldn't make myself love was this book - and I was so excited to read it. It needed an editor's hand. Here's an example: James Ivory was adopted. Why was he adopted? He never says. Maybe it's none of our business. Sure. But are his sexual exploits any of our business? He goes into graphic detail about these, including describing anatomy. He casually mentions visiting a former lover who now was living with two young boys in their mid-teens like it was no big deal (and maybe he was fostering them but that wasn't the implication). So many times I had to stop and ask myself: What did I just read? Halfway through the book, I lifted it up to show my husband the number of pages I'd read and announced I'd finally gotten to the movies. But I hadn't. There weren't a lot of details about his movies. Just tidbits. It was more about what happened everywhere but the set. Ismail Merchant was treated with ... I don't want to say contempt because that's not the right word. Maybe disinterest is the better choice. I just didn't get a sense of why their relationship lasted for decades. There are great chapters about interesting people. There just wasn't enough of these.

[Mark Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read lots of memoirs. Usually, I'm drawn to their truth and humanity. Though I am a film buff and have loved many of James Ivory's movies, this book left me feeling frustrated and flat. Though it includes some interesting personal observations, it is a disorganized mishmash of anecdotes and name drops, without a thematic thread running through. Maybe it simply comes down to poor/mediocre editing ... and I say that as an independent writer who has written four memoirs and worked carefully and painstakingly with an editor to produce end products that flow.

[Kristin Stephens]

Light and breezy, more of a conversation with a friend than a traditional memoir. Also a decent amount of sex, including Ivory’s affair with Bruce Chatwin. So yeah, I liked it, but I’m a huge Merchant Ivory fan and I also don’t mind descriptions of of houses, furniture, and minor Royals.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When James Ivory won his first Academy Award in 2017 for his screenplay for "Call Me by Your Name," he was 89 years old and had been directing and writing films for more than 50 years with his business and domestic partner Ismail Merchant. In SOLID IVORY, the filmmaker looks back on his long career making such Merchant Ivory classics as "A Room with a View", "Howards End" and "The Remains of the Day." Ivory may be in his ninth decade but he possesses a sharp memory and a storyteller's gift for compelling tales. He also never forgets a slight and still nurses grudges--making for a lively, affectionate and caustic memoir.

Ivory has great affection for Bengali filmmaker and mentor Satyajit Ray. Though he graduated from the University of Southern California film school, Ivory writes, "I didn't know what a director did until I went on Ray's set" and watched him interact with his cast and crew. Some of the other portraits of contemporaries and coworkers are less flattering, but Ivory always counterbalances anecdotes about bad behavior with insight into the insecurities behind the actions of others. He writes juicy and perceptive portraits of George Cukor, Lillian Ross, Vanessa Redgrave, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and especially his nightmarish time directing Raquel Welch in "The Wild Party." He also recounts his fractious relationship with the producers and director of "Call Me by Your Name", a film he wrote and produced and was originally to co-direct.

SOLID IVORY is a candid portrait of growing up gay before World War II and a captivating account of five decades making independent films.

At 93, James Ivory writes with vigor and candor about his youthful gay experiences and his 50-plus year partnership with Ismail Merchant in life and in films.

[Jim Coughenour · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should say at the start that I’m not the ideal reader of this book. I knew little about the author except as one of the famous Merchant-Ivory duo who made those sumptuous movies of the 80s (after that I lost track). There's lots of froth and James likes to dish. Luckily he’s had a fabulous life, so there’s plenty to dish about.

Another reviewer compared this memoir to a scrapbook. That’s fair. The “carefully crafted” description in the blurb, I suspect, applies to the effort of editor Peter Cameron (an excellent writer in his own right). But you sense that Ivory exhausted even his enterprise by the time you reach the last section, wearily entitled “Etcetera.”

I did find myself howling with laughter a few times at passages most readers might want to skip. Like the old gay blade he is, James likes to remember everything about his conquests. For example, recalling his friendship with Bruce Chatwin (quite a scamp himself), Ivory informs us that “He had an uncut, rosy, schoolboy-looking ready cock that seemed to match his high-colored, fair schoolboy’s face.” On the other hand, “His hands were schoolboyish, too, with short fingers and ragged, blunt nails… His feet were equally uncared for.” What did you expect from a nomad, James? Pedicures? In another encounter, Ivory learned that Chatwin liked to hike nude through the California woods, a garland of wildflowers around his cock. This induces a cinematic reverie (picture the gauzy mise-en-scène of “Maurice”):

Making little wreathes for his cock would normally, for me, who always loved to make things and to dress up, have been the kind of handiwork I might have gotten into and excelled at: helping Bruce make them, then adjusting them, just so - I can see myself doing that, Bruce standing naked in front of me in my cabin, as I made the necessary improvements here and there, just like ones made by his Savile Row tailors in London.

Just so! Perhaps the editor should have made a few necessary improvements as well, but I suspect this freewheeling fantasy is the unredacted voice of the real James Ivory.

This book is just for the fans.

[David Sterritt]

In bygone years I did quite a number of live events with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, and of course I greatly admire many of their films, so I’ve been looking forward to Jim’s memoir, “Solid Ivory,” with special interest. It turns out to be both engaging and surprising. He begins with a lot of reminiscence about his childhood and adolescence – I remember a long excursion though St. Paul, Minn., with him while we looked for a place where he’d briefly lived as a child – but then it dispenses with chronology and goes to free association, describing various love affairs and flings, profiling people he’s found notable, recalling memorable places he’s visited, et cetera, all of it highly personal and most of it good fun to read. There’s far less about Ismail than I expected, although love and admiration shine through the relatively small number of pages devoted to him. They were a spectacular team in their heyday, and Jim’s memories are as charming as his personality. Cinephiles everywhere should read this lively book.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bland Memoir

This is a bland memoir which does help me understand about the upper class of British society and living in post colonial India, but I don’t feel I get to understand the author more. Half the book is the author talking about others.His account of being gay in the 50s is very interesting.

[Matthew Budman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't claim to have read every word of this scattershot albeit charming collection of reminiscences, most previously published over the last fifty-plus years. Ivory's essays linger on his upbringing and youthful sexual experiences (and not-experiences) and filmmaking beginnings in India, with Satyajit Ray. There's remarkably little material about, well, the reason why nearly anyone would pick up Solid Ivory: the author's feature films, several of them among the greatest ever made. For Ivory's thoughts about those, one must look elsewhere.

[Bil Antoniou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the very definition of a great memoir.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ivory's collection of essays and memories is a beautiful, funny, unexpectedly frank and sexy look into the life of a man who not only helped build the art house film as an industry, but did it over forty years of collaboration with his lover and his friend, also bringing work by women, people of color, and homosexuals to a wider film audience. Though his films are often subtle and understated, Ivory's recollections about the famous stars he's worked with and the great works of literature he's interpreted are vivid and honest. His perspectives on the cultural and class divides he also explored, equitably unconcerned with being polite, as often as he moved in the echelons of polite society. That said, he never fails to present his subjects as the humans they are, and ultimately himself as one more of them. A vital work for anyone interested in 20th century film, the joys and despairs of artistic collaboration, and what it's like to, at the end of your life, try to find the lens with which to examine and give form to all the treasure we've scattered in our wake.

[Howard Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Ivory directed as Ishmail Merchant produced and Ruth Jhabvala wrote movies together. Best known for their period pieces such as Remains of the Day, Room with a View and Howard’s End. Ivory and Merchant were both business and life partners until the latter died in 2005. Solid Ivory is described as “memoirs” as it isn’t really a full fledged autobiography. Several chapters were previously published and there is not much rhyme or reason to the order or the selection of topics.
The first third of the book could be titled “Hard Ivory” or Penises I Have Known ( and Handled). Ivory has no qualms about detailing his love life and is particularly descriptive of his partners appendages and he had many partners. Two Bills, two Bruces and he and Merchant had an open relationship for 40 years. Despite how salacious this might seem it got a bit wearisome for me as I eagerly awaited stories about Emma Thompson or Hugh Grant. None of these were coming however. Anyone wondering about life on the set of Howard’s End need not read this book. Ivory has some stories to tell but Raquel Welch, Vanessa Redgrave and Lillian Ross are about as far as he goes. There is nothing here about his big movies, either the developing or the making of them. He finally won an Academy Award at 89 for writing Call Me By Your Name and does describe how he was removed from co-directing it.
Perhaps the biggest shock for me was to learn that Ivory was born in the USA. Who knew? He and Merchant kept their personal relationship quiet all this time.
I actually enjoyed most of this book. Ivory writes well and had such an interesting life, all over the world. I would have like to get more movie stuff but Ivory said this wasn’t “ a movie book” and it is his book.

[David Sheward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken out of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. Jumbled, entertaining but ultimately disappointing memoir of the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter James Ivory. The first half of the book concentrates on Ivory's early life in Oregon, charting his journey of artistic and sexual self-discovery. Lots of descriptions of sexual organs of boys he had crushes on. Then we get unrelated chapters on parties, apartments lived in, cities like Venice and Kabul, descriptions of furniture and possessions, friends, gossip, anecdotes. In the back pages is a list of where these pieces originally appeared. They are letters, diary entries, contributions to anthologies, even introductions for an auction catalogue. I suppose that's where the editor Peter Cameron comes in. He must have worked with Ivory on assembling the pieces and putting them in order. There is very little of Ivory's illustrious and varied film career apart from an in-depth portraits of Vanessa Redgrave and Raquel Welch (the latter is an excerpt from a collection of essays on movie stars). So we do get extensive background on the filming of The Bostonians (for which Redgrave was nominated for an Oscar) and The Wild Party. There's also Also a chapter on winning his only Oscar for writing the screenplay of Call Me By Your Name and the making of that film. He was to have co-directed it, but he got dropped before filming began.

Apart from brief mentions there's nothing on Shakespeare Wallah, A Room With a View, Howard's End, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (what was it like to work with Newman and Woodward???), Maurice, Roseland, Slaves of New York, Jefferson in Paris, etc. etc.

Ivory does devote a chapter to his producing partner and lover Ismail Merchant, but we don't get a deep sense of their relationship. We get facts about how they met and where they lived, but there's a lot missing. we learn more about how Ivory felt about bed buddies like the writer Bruce Chatwin and unrequited amours from high school and college. For a complete biography, I guess we'll have to wait for an ambitious outside author. Or perhaps Ivory will produce a separate book, detailing his work on each of his many films overlooked in Solid Ivory.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, the mystery of how a boy from back water Klamath Falls (I am an Oregonian) ever got to be a famous film director was answered in detail. That is satisfying. From there, I felt like I was sitting by my grandpa’s armchair listening to any story that would pop into his head. That’s what I wanted from a 91 year old recalling his memories. I was not disappointed on that account

James and others have written more organized and scholarly approaches to how the films were made but that is not the purpose of this book

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Ivory is a familiar name to anyone who likes Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, and Anthony Hopkins in sad but gorgeous British period pieces--all featuring the famous Merchant Ivory trademark of lush sets and very quiet acting.

So you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Ivory was not, in fact, British, but actually American. Born in California and raised in Oregon, Ivory gives us the tale of his early years in an easy chronological order for the first half of his biography. It's a bit of a lopsided treatment, to be frank. He talks about his day-to-day life a lot, with his early memories of the Great Depression, his school friends, his popularity in high school and subsequent "fall from grace" once he entered the Greek scene at university.

Autobiographies are always a tricky business to write and an even trickier business to review because I can't exactly say "I would have liked more details about X, Y, or Z, please." This is someone's life and personal thoughts, and anything Ivory tells us is more than that to which we are entitled. Still, I was surprised by how little Ivory talked about his relationship to his family, particularly his sister who pops up a good 50 pages in as a fully-formed teenager, with hardly any mention of her in early childhood and hardly any more after high school.

What really shocked me were the number of letters Ivory had kept from his early years, given how often he's moved around and (my apologies) how old he is (born in 1928!). It's a very lovely treat to see excerpts of his correspondence, and it lends the book a greater personal quality.

The second half of the book consists of a series of person-focused chapters, each about a collaborator of Ivory's or a good friend. These made for excellent stories but were, as far as I could tell, not really in-depth overviews of his relationships. The parts about Ivory's long-time collaborator and significant other, Ismail Merchant, were treated with a moving restraint. I suppose I would have preferred more about how they met (which Ivory does cover briefly), how they came to work together, and so on, but what we have is very telling of their relationship, and I'm glad Ivory sat down to write this at all.

As an added surprise, fans of Ivory's screenplay for the film "Call Me By Your Name" may appreciate the light he sheds on that creative process. Ivory was originally set to co-direct the piece and later found himself shafted, for reasons he couldn't make out. I hadn't expected that production to be contentious. We've heard very little about it in the press, and ultimately Ivory won an award for the screenplay so I suppose it all worked out.

Overall, "Solid Ivory" is a semi-solid biography, a bit rambling at times but when you've lived a life as long as James Ivory has, you'd have a difficult time picking out the best parts, too. Maybe he'll write another one about the actual movie-making process, which was mostly left out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for granting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Brenden Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Ivory is not often mentioned as a major influence on modern filmmaking. His sort of post-colonial melodrama films doesn't readily appear to be a force that shaped our current artistic moment. And yet, upon closer inspection, you see Ivory's fingerprints in a variety of places. Though Ivory won his only Oscar for writing "Call Me By Your Name" and his influence is deeply felt in the films of Wes Anderson (most obviously "Darjeeling Limited," of which he attended the premiere), his stylistic influence is probably more obvious in television shows like "The Crown" and "Bridgerton."

Many people live interesting lives, but few people live unique ones. James Ivory has led a unique life. The son of a Klamath Falls sawmill owner, Ivory grew up a young, artistic gay man in a town of callous-handed roughnecks, ended up at USC through a series of weird coincidences surrounding his wish to be in a decent fraternity, fell in love with the European masters, and ended up being the foremost chronicler of the fading European aristocracy in late 20th-century filmmaking.

This trajectory results in plenty of interesting stories, as Ivory crossed paths with the most glamorous movie stars of his era, rubbed elbows with actual aristocrats, and developed a fascinating relationship with newly independent India. Some of the best stories in this volume include his attendance of the civil trial in which Vanessa Redgrave sued the Boston Symphony for blacklisting her for supporting the PLO and his recollections of trying to manage the outsized ego of Raquel Welch.

Ivory's career spanned an era that will be remembered as the height of cinema as an art form. He worked with Luca Guadagnino and his sponsor for entrance into the DGA was George Cukor, who was still a working director at the time of his admittance. As such, I found myself wishing that Ivory had made more time in his memoirs to discuss his filmmaking process because in the roughly 1/3 of the book he devotes to his craft, he dispenses wonderful advice. However, these are his memoirs, so he should be allowed to discuss what matters most to him.

This book can be roughly divided into three sections: his romantic relationships (many of them secret), his film work, and his brushes with the socio-political fallout from aristocracy's decline. All of them are fascinating, but if you pick up the book wanting one of them in particular, you may leave a little underwhelmed.

For me, however, the book works, because you get a full portrait of an artist and a man who knew what was important to him and wanted to get that written down for posterity before it was too late. Whether it be the body of one of his schoolboy crushes, the inspiration he drew from a particular collaborator, or the funny way some fallen baroness spoke to the help, Ivory has a gift for getting down the essential details of the moments from his long and storied life that stuck with him. We are lucky that he was able to publish these recollections and we would do well to simply enjoy the ride.

[Christopher McQuain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've often felt that Ivory's films get short shrift as mere "doily films," British-upper-crust worship of a stuffy and empty variety, when in fact they're often very nicely made, alive, and lushly cinematic pieces of work. And this sort of scrapbook of fresh and variously magazine-published memoir is enjoyable to read and valuable as queer and cinematic history; Ivory isn't shy about his varied and adventurous sex life over decades spanning pre and post Stonewall, and anecdotes about figures as various as George Cukor, Vanessa Redgrave, Wes Anderson, Glenn Close, and Susan Sontag are bountiful here, all delicious and juicy morsels for cinephiles.

But Ivory is also, for better or worse, an absolute relic, almost unbelievably so; he actually DOES have that what I would've thought a much too predictable upper-middle-class white American mid-20th-century American reflexive worship of mindless aristocracy/oligarchy, indifference to and of privilege and its innate cruelties, and an entirely self-unaware classism/false consciousness and nonchalant, politically "centrist" acceptance of a rotten status quo.

It is a pleasure for his life to be shared in such an unguarded and, to be fair, honest way, hardly always flattering to himself, and all the more interesting for that. But Ivory's gaping blind spots and pervasive lack of insight into anything outside his very insular high-up burrow place him firmly in and of a past that we're well rid of, the consequences of which continue to corrode, parasitically, the world most of us continue to live in, that perpetually struggling and motley place glimpsed at and shrugged off by the likes of Ivory and his carefully closed circle of upper-crusters.

[Marmariposa · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok but not great. just never really got into him.

It’s a memoir which starts off with his family history and background and he does a thorough if not very interesting intro to his mother and father’s roots and where he grew up in Oregon. To me it felt like there was no indication he would become a filmmaker, particularly of such literary-style films. After family history he segues into his sexual explorations and spends a good part of the beginning of the book delving there. I was not that interested. Then it seemed to drift into his travels and filmmaking but no sense at all of how or why he was attracted to this field. It wasn’t until the end, and I almost didn’t get there, that I realized that a lot of the book, particularly the second half, was a compilation of pieces he had written and published earlier, which definitely made the book feel like a hodge-podge. The WSJ review which was the reason I put a hold on this book was misleading. Maybe it was written by a friend. It made it sound so much more interesting than it turned out to be. I would love to know how he handled the death of his father, mother and sister but after age 20 there wasn’t barely a mention. And I still had no idea how his career evolved, particularly for someone who seemed to have so little interest in things as a teen. I did appreciate his writing about Ruth Prawer Jabvahla who I never knew was Jewish, English educated and married an Indian. I assumed she was a native Indian. Also the title seems so weird and isn’t explained until the last pages, and still a poor choice at that.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to James Ivory's new memoir for a number of reasons -- my love of his films, his longevity as a member of an out gay couple in the public eye, and the promise of some yummy secrets. What I got was a mixed bag... his origin story, none of which I knew, starts in Oregon where he grew up in a family with money and a few secrets, and continues into his college years and early awakening to his gay identity. The rest of the book contains what I would consider charming episodes spanning his long career, as well as interests in people and subjects other than film. While he is certain present in some of the episodes, starting with Ivory's introduction to England and India, the producer Ishmail Merchant is vaguely drawn. He doesn't tell their meet-cute moment, nor does he really dive into the nature of their relationship. The fact of Merchant suddenly appears, and except for a few in-episode descriptions, the reader is left to his own devices. We do learn that Merchant had a wandering eye. I wanted details. This opaqueness extends to Ivory's discussion of their films, many of which form the backdrop for another story. I came away wondering just what it was that drove Ivory in the business. Several of the showier pieces are reprinted from magazines, which explained the slapdash quality to the whole enterprise.

[Ampersand Inc. · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first began reading the memoir of the famous film director, James Ivory, I discovered a few things I didn’t know about him. He’s American – I thought he was British. He was born in Oregon in 1928; he was adopted and never learned anything about his birth parents, and he’s gay.

James Ivory began his film career in 1962 – shooting his first feature film in Delhi, India. While there, he was introduced to renowned Indian directors, cameramen, writers, and others in the industry. Ivory learned most of his filmmaking skills from these talented artists. As well, it opened the door to meet producer Ismail Merchant and script writer, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
The trio were partners and friends for almost 50 years working jointly on some of the best movies of the 1980s and 1990s like: A Room with a View, Howard’s End, The Remains of the Day, and Maurice.

Ivory has a remarkable memory and can recall stories and people from years past with such detail. It’s a very personal and frank examination of his life, his lovers, and his filmmaking. The book also has numerous photographs throughout.

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that film director James Ivory's new book is subtitled "Memoirs." That's a clue to the central weakness of "Solid Ivory," it's a grab bag of essays, lacking a cohesive narrative. Ivory's friend novelist Peter Cameron has tried to fit the disparate parts together, but there's only so much an editor can do. You'd think the director of some of the world's best actors (Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Newman, Maggie Smith, etc.) would have something interesting or amusing to share but no such luck. The few show business folks profiled here (Vanessa Redgrave, Raquel Welch, George Cukor) don't make much of an impression. Only when Ivory focuses on his closest friends, his partners Ruth Prawer Jharvala, Richard Robbins and husband Ismail Merchant, that the book comes alive, and his real affection and love shines through. There's very little insight as to why Ivory and his team were so successful at literary adaptations on film outside of "hiring the right people." Not recommended.

[Indian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great memoir by James Ivory (one of the duos of the Ivory Merchant Productions) known for their multiple Oscar nominated movies, produced during the 1960s to 2020.
Yes, the 96-year-old acclaimed director, talks about his formative years in Klamath Falls, Oregan; his initial foray into movie making while in Venice on paintings & art, his association with the Indian Director Satyajit Ray & finally his long association with Ismail Merchant (the Kutchi/Memoni speaking Muslim Indian from Bombay) who happened to be his personal & professional partner in all his movie making.
A candid account of the love he had for his partner, their common friends (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who wrote all their screenplays, Richard Robbins (who scored music for their movies) Sashi Kapoor who acted in many of their movies & many famous Hollywood personalities as well.
A must read for anyone interested in keeping track with the famous LGBT celebrities from the Indian subcontinent, who left a mark on movies & celluloid.

[John Saveland · Rating 2 out of 5]

In retrospect, I don’t know what I was expecting. I love Merchant Ivory films, and moviemaking in general, and James Ivory is an excellent writer, so I thought this would be pretty rewarding. Oddly, he doesn’t have much to say.

I never really wondered how Call Me By Your Name was made, or Howard’s End, Remains of the Day, or any of the others. I would have guessed that they adapted a book, cast it, filmed the production and made edits throughout, and then released it. That’s … roughly what happened in most cases.

I could have guessed what growing up gay in the 1930s and 1940s was like, and been pretty spot on. So either I’m just incredibly attuned to this experience, or this memoir is pretty un-illuminating.

Finally I gave up and hoped for a few hilarious or surprising behind-the-camera details, but there aren’t many of those either. We do get some great insights — some funny, some moving, some both — but these are the makings of a great interview or article, not a full book.

[Matthew Wilder · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you ever thought James Ivory’s films were merely about furniture, highly articulated shrubbery and posh accents, rest easy: the great man is really all about those things himself. Possibly the most spirited prose in this potpourri, most of it seemingly written long, long ago, is a summary of Ismail Merchant’s antique collection that plays like a low-wattage version of a Town & Country blurb. Ivory sees his way clear to trashing Raquel Welch (divaish-abusive), Vanessa Redgrave (upper crust potty) and Susan Sontag (pretentious and old). Lest you thing he is a garden variety misogyne, he throws Luca Guadagnino under the bus as well. There are some touching impressions of growing up Midwestern rich during the Depression, but mostly one comes away with the impression that Richard Robbins’ deliquescent scores, and the hard work of the actors, is responsible for most of the human aliveness of the Merchant-Ivory canon.

[Marilyn Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ordered the book from my local library after reading a few reviews. Although well-written and full of personal photos(why I gave it three stars)--Ivory is known for his smart script writing-overall it was disappointing to read. Like the memoirs of the late Roger Ebert--what Ivory left out was what I really wanted to know. Ebert also did that--barely a mention of Gene Siskel in his memoir--that is what made Ebert a household name.

His acclaimed Merchant Ivory films--A Room with a View, The Remains of the Day, Howard's End, nothing in here about those. His 40-plus years with Ismail Merchant and their bond--also largely left out. Plenty of gossip about boring rich people and tales of his early sexual exploits--TMI. A lot of this content was taken from previously published stories, so the memories aren't written recently.

What was his editor thinking?