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The Last Picture Show
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Initial Impressions: The Last Picture Show - August 2017
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Tom, "Big Daddy"
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Jul 27, 2017 12:04PM
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I, too, have seen the movie but the book is bringing up little from my memory. I do love McMurtry writing and his description of adolescent angst and sexuality.
Nothing against the book but I have always felt that the black & white movie made by Peter Bogdanovich circa 1970 was actually better than the book.
B. R. wrote: "Nothing against the book but I have always felt that the black & white movie made by Peter Bogdanovich circa 1970 was actually better than the book."I have watched the movie several times, once just recently. And I agree with B.R. that it is excellent. The screenplay by McMurty and Bogdanovich was on the mark and the film features a great ensemble cast of young and veteran performers.
And thank goodness it wasn't filmed in color.
It has been much longer since I read the book, but I think it is excellent, too. So, I guess I need to read it again if I am going to rate one over the other. Reading it again won't be hard since I own two copies (I don't know how that happened.).
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As I mentioned earlier, I have two copies of the book. My original copy is a paperback and that is the one I read years ago. At some point I also purchased a hardback copy, probably at a library book sale.So, when I decided to reread the book I decided to read the hardback copy because the print is larger. On the first page of Ch. III, I read this:
"He drove to the all-night cafe and started in, but when he looked through the window he saw that his father, Frank Crawford, was sitting at the counter, sipping Morgan, the night waitress."
WTH? "Sipping Morgan, the night waitress!!" How do you do that? The hour was late and I kept rereading that passage trying to make sense of it. But I couldn't. But then I remembered, I've got another copy of the book.
So I fetch the paperback copy and I read this:
"He drove to the all-night cafe and started in, but when he looked through the window he saw that his father, Frank Crawford, was sitting at the counter, sipping defensively at a cup of coffee and talking to Genevieve Morgan, the night waitress."
I was genuinely relieved to discover that it was a misprint and that Frank wasn't sipping Morgan, the night waitress, especially since his son was looking in the window.
So I pick up the hardback copy and read on until the next page:
"Money arguments often upset them for hours. Frank couldn't help offering it and Sonny couldn't help refusing to take it. Sonny did not want it, nor could he see how his father defensively at a cup of coffee and talking to Genevieve could possibly do without it, as high as his prescriptions were."
WTH! I located the missing phrase! As I say, the hour was late and I closed the book and went to bed. I plan on tackling the book again this evening -- the hardback copy, that is. It is much more interesting and thought-provoking than the paperback.
Howard wrote: "As I mentioned earlier, I have two copies of the book. My original copy is a paperback and that is the one I read years ago. At some point I also purchased a hardback copy, probably at a library bo..."Wow, hilarious - I hope the hard copy was one sale...
I just got the library copy yesterday. I've been too exhausted to read. This has been on my list a while so I hope to get to it soon.
Guy wrote: "Howard wrote: "As I mentioned earlier, I have two copies of the book. My original copy is a paperback and that is the one I read years ago. At some point I also purchased a hardback copy, probably ..."Though a bit tattered, the book still has its dust jacket and there is a picture of a very young Larry McMurtry on the back. The book was originally published in 1966 when he was only 30 years old. It was his third novel. It was filmed in 1971.
His first novel was "Horseman, Pass By," which was filmed under the title "Hud" in 1963, giving Paul Newman one of his best screen roles. The second was "Leaving Cheyenne," which was filmed under the title "Lovin' Molly" in 1974, starring Blythe Danner, Anthony Perkins, and Beau Bridges.
As I said, I may have bought it at a library book sale -- or maybe it was at a used bookstore that I frequent. But I know I didn't give much for it.
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Diane wrote: "My paperback copy is not that entertaining, but being inside the mind of high schoolers, male and female, certainly is. McMurtry may have been 30 when he wrote this book, but he had a great memory ..."It has to be early to mid-'50's, Diane. The film "Storm Warning" was released in 1951; "Francis Goes to the Army, also 1951; Debbie Reynolds became a star in 1952 in "Singing in the Rain;" Groucho Marx's quiz show was on TV from 1950-61.
It could be a little later than the above dates for the movies indicate since it is doubtful that first-run movies made it to Thalia. They certainly didn't in the small-town theaters where I lived. We only saw re-releases and sometimes they were films that had been released a decade or more earlier.
Howard wrote: "Diane wrote: "My paperback copy is not that entertaining, but being inside the mind of high schoolers, male and female, certainly is. McMurtry may have been 30 when he wrote this book, but he had a..."P.S. ~ I just ran across another clue. The Coach's car is a '53 Chevy. He's a teacher in a small town in Texas. I doubt that it is a new car. Must be mid-'50's.
McMurtry was born in '36 and the book is loosely based on his high school yrs in Archer City, TX which would have been about '50-54. Thalia = Archer City and the town is located in north TX. If you like the story of Sonny, Duane, Jacy, Ruth and the others there are three or four more McMurtry books with the same setting and cast of characters. The books progress in time like Updike's "Rabbit" books. I've read them all and I personally thought Duane's Depressed was the best with this #2. Sam the Lion is one of my all-time favorite characters from this book. We could use more people like him.
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Howard--I loved your story. Made me laugh aloud. I will always think of Sonny's Dad sipping a waitress from here out.
Sara wrote: "Howard--I loved your story. Made me laugh aloud. I will always think of Sonny's Dad sipping a waitress from here out."Thanks Sara. I am about half-way through the book and there have been no more slip-ups to this point. But I'm hoping .....
B. R. wrote: "Nothing against the book but I have always felt that the black & white movie made by Peter Bogdanovich circa 1970 was actually better than the book."When I first read your comment, B.R., I was sure that I would disagree with you. My memory was that I liked the book better than the movie, although I always considered the movie to be one of my favorites.
However, after rereading the first half of the book I find myself in total agreement with you. It is a good novel, but the movie is a classic.
I only made the comment about the movie being better than the book because 99% of the time it's the other way around. I can't think of another movie that might be better than the book. Dr Zhivago just came to mind (great movie) but I never read the book.I should keep my comments focused on the book but I do have one more comment about Larry McMurtry. He has written some excellent books, Lonesome Dove would be one of my top 10 or 20 all-time favorites, however, he has also written some very marginal stuff and I think he would admit it. This book starts out pretty dismal, poor football team and all. Not much to get the reader nostalgic or enthused about Thalia, TX.
B. R. wrote: "I only made the comment about the movie being better than the book because 99% of the time it's the other way around. I can't think of another movie that might be better than the book. Dr Zhivago j..."I agree about the marginal books. That is my impression, too. I get the feeling that he has only been going through the motions in recent years.
The only other movie that I can think of that I liked better than the book is M*A*S*H.
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Diane wrote: "I intend to watch the movie. I did see it when it was released in 1971, that was the year I graduated from high school. I remember the swimming pool scene, but that's about all. I think it was Cybi..."The movie is very atmospheric -- and depressing. But it is worth watching to see, if for no other reason, the Best Supporting Oscar winning performances of two veteran performers: Cloris Leachman and Ben Johnson. Ellen Burstyn and Jeff Bridges were also nominated in the same categories.
The film was nominated in a number of other categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.
In some cases, Oscar winners and nominations don't mean all that much, but in this case I think they do.
I thought the movie was excellent. It was one of the first movies done in B&W to create mood and it worked perfectly. The sense of a dusty, dying town was enhanced by the B&W. It has been far too many years since I read to the book to remember if it bests the movie or doesn't, but I do recall liking both of them very much. I agree that McMurtry is a mixed bag...he can write something amazing (Lonesome Dove one of the BEST books ever) and then something so horrible I cannot push through it (Duane's Depressed and what for others is favorite but for me not--Terms of Endearment).
Sara wrote: "I thought the movie was excellent. It was one of the first movies done in B&W to create mood and it worked perfectly. The sense of a dusty, dying town was enhanced by the B&W. It has been far too m..."I didn't much like "Duane's Depressed" either and I couldn't make it through "Terms of Endearment," though I did enjoy the movie.
Exactly the same for me, Howard. I liked the movie ToE but the book did nothing for me and I abandoned it mid-stream.
Speaking of the movie ... remember going to see it with my brother when it was first released. Early scene with the kid sweeping the street .... when we stayed with our grandmother in South Texas our afternoon chore each day was to WATER the street in front of the house .... to keep the dust down.
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Perhaps that is why the book and the movie don't separate themselves in my mind, Diane. I seem to remember them as a unit. Too many years ago...I need to get back to this book (and movie) someday.
Book Concierge wrote: "Speaking of the movie ... remember going to see it with my brother when it was first released. Early scene with the kid sweeping the street .... when we stayed with our grandmother in South Texas o..."Yes, I had forgotten about that practice. I too remember a family watering the dusty gravel road in front of their house on a road that my family lived on. Since we had no outside running water we ate the dust. It would have taken a lot of trips with buckets to accomplish the task.
Come to think of it, we didn't have running water inside the house either.
I guess since I grew up in a small town, which was more dying than thriving, I connected to The Last Picture Show. Sexual activity was something you either attempted in a car or when your parents were gone. As an adolescent, you didn't think about going to the one local motel, fearing that everyone in town would know. I guess this is why I connected so to this book. Although the atmosphere was dark, it had verisimilitude. The adolescent fixation on when you might "get some" brought back memories. Adolescent angst over things of little consequence rang true also. The shallowness of Jacy in her constant maneuvering to increase her reputation was realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to renting the movie. For what little I have seen from the trailer, it seems to follow the book closely.
Interesting. Guy's point of view, "getting some". Girl's point of view, "being gotten", like prey. If gotten, rep in small town ruined, guy getting some has bragging rights. If gotten, might get pregnant & possibly end up married 2 someone one does not love, or even want. After "getting some", guys often just moved on to next "flower". Life in a small town...if I talked 2 someone on street corner, my mom knew before I got home. Life under a microscope.
Well, I nominated this as I had it on my list of books from 1966 to read. I was so much looking forward to it. I have to say that while I have no issue with the writing or the pace. The content is a bit much for me. I guess I might be getting old. Maybe prudish. Not sure I want to finish it. I'm at 115 pages and put it down. Hopefully someone can tell me that it is worth finishing and I am being to conservative in my thinking. Not sure I can relate to some of this. I was a teen. I remember the angst. But wow.
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I agree with Diane. It is worth finishing.I never knew a Jacy, because I was never acquainted with any family that had the kind of wealth that her family had, nor, as Diane says, with any girl who had the freedom that she had. On the other hand, I grew up with Duane and Sonny. They were even friends.
I will push through...
Guy wrote: "I will push through..."If you really want to "push through" and learn how all the folks in Thalia, TX end up then four sequels await: Texasville ('87), Duane's Depressed ('99), When the Light Goes ('08) and Rhino Ranch ('10). Would you believe Duane reading Proust?
I can't say I enjoyed this book, but I'm glad I read it. How great, IMO, that I don't have to return to those teenage years!
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