Looking for a specific movie style book.

[Steven]

I tried reading radiance and realized it's not the book i want to read. Is there a book where a modern actress uses a video camara to communicate or watch the life over an actress from the glory days of hollywood in the 30's or 40's when it transitioned to talkies? I lbow this is rather specific. I probably won't finish radiance because i have 5 years of books on my too read shelf. I'm a slow reader. Are there books similar to the cross time fommunication using phones or telegraph's ot semophore?

[Trike]

I can’t think of a book like what you’re looking for, but there are some in the ballpark.

The novella Remake by Connie Willis features a character who is obsessed with Hollywood musicals and spends her time performing in front of a video camera trying to perfectly imitate the dances. That’s just one aspect of the story but I can’t do a summation without spoiling it.

Interestingly, lots of people on social media do this exact thing these days, so Willis was prescient about that AND the fact they live in an era of deepfake remixes. Québécois dancer Enola Bedard is the contemporary version of that character: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CLcy-H...

Cross-time communication is a thing in James P. Hogan’s Thrice Upon a Time. It came out in 1980, so set your cultural expectations accordingly.

The classic short story “The Light of Other Days” by Bob Shaw features “slow glass” where light takes years to pass through glass. He wrote a sequel story and a novel based on the concept called Other Days, Other Eyes. That’s not at all what you’re looking for, but I mention it in case of tangential interest.

[Steven]

thank you! remake sounds fun! I've read connie willis before. i loved to say nothing of the dog and the doomsday book. she's very talented working in tragedies and comedy.