in the mind for a number of years,' he explains. it's been worth the wait: this eerie. sparely written tale of events followrng a stranger 's arrival in a Siberian town in 1919 has been lapped up by readers and critics alike. Recommended reading: the People's Act of Love charts a sinister revolutronary’s effect on a tiny community. (Allan Radcliffe;
I I8/lug, 12.30pm. .f‘/' (5‘15).
RICHARD INGRAMS
Lord Gnome speaks
It's easy to see the biographical appeal of erlrarn Cobbett for Hrchard lngrams. A redoubtable agrtator and master satrrrst. Cobbett was repeatedly sued for libel and denounced as an ‘apostate. spy. rncendrary. ruffran, traitor. prevarrcator. lrar'. Yet through hrs role in the Reform Act of 1832 and as a constant thorn Ill the establrshrnent's srde. he emerged as one of the greatest voices lll Lnglrsh polrtrcal history. He set up hrs own maga/rne. lire Porcupine. to taunt and savage hrs many powerful enemies. and to lngrams, one of the founders and long time lord Gnome of Private [rye (who dedicates hrs [ rfe and Adventures of er/ram Cobbett to its late carnpargnrng Journalist Paul loot). must have seemed like a kindred spirit.
As anyone who reads lngrams' column rn Hie Observer or remembers his stints on Radio 4's Hie News ()ur/ knows. he pulls few punches towards hrs subjects but rs a fond acolyte of Wit and reserves a soft spot for the gently rogursh. Hrs Book l estrval appearance should come replete wrth many of the former MP for Oldham's choicest barbs. Once. for example. he said of lord Brougham twho he also called ‘I ord ()rackskull'i 'he rs the wea/el. he is the nightmare. he rs the rndrgestron'. Coming from someone wrtlr ()obbett's
Janice Gallo
devotion to beer and beef. this could scarcely have been more insulting. Recommended Reading: Hie life and Adventu/es o/ Vi/r/lram ()obbett by Richard lngrams: Hie O/d/e_ monthly lrtestyle maga/rne under lngrams' editorship. (Giacomo Rrbrsr)
I l/‘Aug. (3pm, f‘/ (for.
DIEGO GAMBETTA
Why suicide bombers are sane
Although he'll be grvrng a presentation
based on hrs last book. Oxford University Professor of Sociology [)rego (‘iambetta expects to enter rnto
a dialogue with the audience about hrs
toprc for most of the session and
when the book is called Making Sense
of Suicide r\/7rssrons, there'll certainly be no shortage of questions to ask. ‘lt's an extreme form of actron that's incredibly rare-f explains (.‘iarnbetta. ‘and rt defies so many expectatrons we have about human behax'rour. so I v-Janted to try and understand rt." Citing differences between suicide mission as military tactic and those intended for symbolic status. Ciambetta points out that the first recorded suicide events were carried out by Hi ssran anarchrsts Ht 1.9034. 'Most of the frndrngs show that perpetrators are not i)sychoiogrc;illi, unbalanced] says (Bambetta. 'lhey don't suffer from any recognrsable psychiatric syndrome. they don't necessarily come from poor backgrounds. lhey do tend to be young and male. they yen. often have had experience of death or suffering. lhrs makes the recent london case a very extreme example. It happened outside of an insurgency and rnxoived
Since beginning her writing career in 1989 with The Trick is to Keep Breathing, a gripping,
Online Booking
Book Festival www.edbookfest.co.uk Fringe www.edfringe.co.uk International Festival www.eif.co.uk Film Festival www.edfilmfest.co.uk
compatriot against innocent compatriot. In fact. lcouldn't frnd any other example which contarns as many extreme features. Possibly such seventy rs a worry. but then we rnrght hope this means rt will be difficult to sustarn.'
Recommended reading: Making Sense of Suicide I‘vr’rssrons. a collectron of thoughtful essays on a vrtal subject. rlJavrd Pollockr
I .75; Aug. Quentin 5‘/" do): lerronsm: Causes ar‘d Cures fwrt/i Phil Rees and Jon Henson. if) Aug. /'..')‘()pm. r’f‘b‘).
intense study of depression, Janice Galloway has frequently delved into other art forms. Clara was a novel based on the life of Clara Schumann, wife of 19th century composer Robert Schumann, and Monster was a libretto inspired by the life of Mary Shelley. Her latest project is Rosengarten, an exhibition at the Hunterian museum in Glasgow, which works her poetry and Anne Bevan’s sculpture around medical
implements. I l/Aur). 8pm, 5‘8 (515/.
GREAT BOOK ADAPTATIONS
Woody Allen once said that if he had his life to live over again, he’d do it all the same except that he wouldn’t watch the film version of John Fowles’ novel The Magus. MARK COUSINS picks five books that did make great films
D’Entre les Mort: by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. This became Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Hitchcock’s screenwriters removed the novel '3 references to Orpheus and Eurydice. but the theme of a lover coming back to life is the source of the film's hypnotic unease.
Solarls by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem’s was the basis of Andrei Tarkovsky's film of the same name. Lem‘s approach to sci-fl was less action-based than that of Western writers; Tarkovsky’s film is more somnambulant still.
Crash. written by J G Ballard and filmed by David Cronenberg. The movie's half-speed performances and slow tracking shots brilliantly evinced Ballard's trance.
Double Indemnity is not often compared to Crash. but both take place in a dream state. James M Cain transferred the velvet mood of his own novel into his screenplay for Billy Wilder's film. Frankenstein These four are all close to the spirits of their source novels. But films are also great at turning books inside out. Compare Mary Shelley’s talkative. articulate monster in her novel Frankenstein to Boris Karloff’s mute outsider in James Whale's 1931 movie. Book and film are both great. Their differences tell you all you need to know about the two art forms.
I 1 7 Aug, 4.30pm, £7 (£5).
All events are based in Charlotte Square Gardens, unless otherwise indicated. The box office number is 0131 624 5050 and the website is www.edbookfest.co.uk.
‘ t in Aug 2005) THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 15