Scan barcode
Reviews
The Last Days of Disco, With Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards by Whit Stillman, Whit Stillman
tfitoby's review
3.0
The story of a group of recent college graduates in the early 80s who spend a lot of time dancing to disco and being a bit talky. Sounds terrible when written so plainly like that.
As pretty much everyone who reads this book must be, I am a big fan of Whit Stillman's films and the premise of a novelisation of one of his movies as written by one of the characters from the movie was too much to resist. As a novelisation it is fine, who really needs a novelisation anyway? The concept certainly puts it above your basic "Max Allan Collins cuts a Hollywood script to smithereens and adds some inner monologue padding" fare. As a movie it is witty and poignant and seemingly forgotten already. As a novel I didn't enjoy it so much.
Of course separating the novel from the movie is always a difficult task, and this is made worse by being almost a transcript of the movie with a few new ideas thrown in to make the narrative conceit work. If you haven't seen the movie there's a 50% chance you'll be able to enjoy this novel, if you have seen the movie I can't see what extra you might take from this, apart from getting to interact with all your "friends" once more.
Unnecessary is the word that comes to mind first with this one.
As pretty much everyone who reads this book must be, I am a big fan of Whit Stillman's films and the premise of a novelisation of one of his movies as written by one of the characters from the movie was too much to resist. As a novelisation it is fine, who really needs a novelisation anyway? The concept certainly puts it above your basic "Max Allan Collins cuts a Hollywood script to smithereens and adds some inner monologue padding" fare. As a movie it is witty and poignant and seemingly forgotten already. As a novel I didn't enjoy it so much.
Of course separating the novel from the movie is always a difficult task, and this is made worse by being almost a transcript of the movie with a few new ideas thrown in to make the narrative conceit work. If you haven't seen the movie there's a 50% chance you'll be able to enjoy this novel, if you have seen the movie I can't see what extra you might take from this, apart from getting to interact with all your "friends" once more.
Unnecessary is the word that comes to mind first with this one.
misshappyapples's review
3.0
The way I came about reading this was sort of convoluted. With the release of Whit Stillman's latest movie, Love & Friendship, I found myself interested in reading the post-mortem, epistolary story "Lady Susan" by Jane Austen which the movie was based on. In my search for it I discovered that the director had written a novelization of that movie and was thus reminded of the novelization of this movie, The Last Days of Disco. It had been awhile since I saw that film and was interested, so I decided to read this book. Phew. I told you it was complicated.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, because I enjoyed the movie. This book doesn't really add all that much to the story, except a few before and afters by Jimmy Steinway, the narrator of this story and the "writer" of this book. It's very self aware as a novelization. It brings the movie up all the time. Which actually sort of works because it seems like something Jimmy Steinway would do, even though it was sometimes annoying. Just like Jimmy Steinway. And a lot of the other characters.
Many of the characters in this story are not nice. They're selfish, lazy, condescending, snobby, and self-aggrandizing in the face of their own mediocrity. Alice, the sort of main characters, is constantly derided by them while being one of the only decent human beings of the bunch. But, for me it works. I can see how the parade of terrible people would really turn someone off, but luckily for me I have never needed characters to be good people to find them interesting and this parade is nothing if not amusing in their self-congratulations.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, because I enjoyed the movie. This book doesn't really add all that much to the story, except a few before and afters by Jimmy Steinway, the narrator of this story and the "writer" of this book. It's very self aware as a novelization. It brings the movie up all the time. Which actually sort of works because it seems like something Jimmy Steinway would do, even though it was sometimes annoying. Just like Jimmy Steinway. And a lot of the other characters.
Many of the characters in this story are not nice. They're selfish, lazy, condescending, snobby, and self-aggrandizing in the face of their own mediocrity. Alice, the sort of main characters, is constantly derided by them while being one of the only decent human beings of the bunch. But, for me it works. I can see how the parade of terrible people would really turn someone off, but luckily for me I have never needed characters to be good people to find them interesting and this parade is nothing if not amusing in their self-congratulations.
tylermcgaughey's review
5.0
Like the movie that preceded it, this book tells a story that's both highly specific to and immersive in its particular time/social milieu while being, I think, quite universal to any young adult who is just coming to understand what it means to actually be an adult and a person in the world and the various entanglements that follow along the way. The movie has the advantage of actually showing those divine and joyful dancing sequences and letting you hear that great music; the book has the added glow of a 'twenty years later' frame story sort of thing, which adds a layer of poignancy that I found nearly unbearable and simultaneously highly enjoyable, on both aesthetic and emotional levels. If I sound maudlin or like I'm tripping over myself to praise this book, then so be it. The Last Days Of Disco is one of the best movies, and now one of the best books, I've experienced in a long time - I would call them essential viewing and reading for any recently educated person trying to navigate the metropolitan world while retaining some modicum of romance and wit.
batrock's review
2.0
An exceedingly rare book, this autographed copy (bought at a second hand store for a mere $4) was lent to me by a work colleague, based on his admiration for the film of approximately the same name. I'm no worse for having read it, but he really oughtn't to have bothered.
The Last Days of Disco is a meta-novelisation of the film, written by the character of Jimmy Steinway - "the dancing adman". The strength of the film is its female characters, with all of the men being interchangeable versions of one another. Why we would want to read the account of a faceless person in just another suit is a mystery, and why we would want to read him standing in judgment of the infinitely more interesting women that he frequently others is a mystery.
Dialogue that works on film, like essentially anything that Charlotte says, falls leaden on the page. When the characters have no sense of self-awareness, that's one thing; when the author of the book (or the character that he claims is writing it) lacks that self-awareness, the message is changed entirely. Steinway says that there are many advantages that books have over film, like the author's freedom to describe a character's shoes and what they mean, but he ignores the fact that a film that is at least in part about music can feature the music that a novel can only describe.
Worse for the reader is the lack of detachment from the narrator. Being trapped in Jimmy's head is not fun; Charlotte and Alice are the lifeblood of the story and we can only passively inhale the fumes that we're offered by Steinway.
The Last Days of Disco was, as a film, rescued from obscurity by Criterion - and deservedly so. This novelisation has fallen out of print, and is more fittingly viewed as a curio. This is a high two, but a two nonetheless. Inessential reading that doesn't seem to understand the strengths of its own source material.
The Last Days of Disco is a meta-novelisation of the film, written by the character of Jimmy Steinway - "the dancing adman". The strength of the film is its female characters, with all of the men being interchangeable versions of one another. Why we would want to read the account of a faceless person in just another suit is a mystery, and why we would want to read him standing in judgment of the infinitely more interesting women that he frequently others is a mystery.
Dialogue that works on film, like essentially anything that Charlotte says, falls leaden on the page. When the characters have no sense of self-awareness, that's one thing; when the author of the book (or the character that he claims is writing it) lacks that self-awareness, the message is changed entirely. Steinway says that there are many advantages that books have over film, like the author's freedom to describe a character's shoes and what they mean, but he ignores the fact that a film that is at least in part about music can feature the music that a novel can only describe.
Worse for the reader is the lack of detachment from the narrator. Being trapped in Jimmy's head is not fun; Charlotte and Alice are the lifeblood of the story and we can only passively inhale the fumes that we're offered by Steinway.
The Last Days of Disco was, as a film, rescued from obscurity by Criterion - and deservedly so. This novelisation has fallen out of print, and is more fittingly viewed as a curio. This is a high two, but a two nonetheless. Inessential reading that doesn't seem to understand the strengths of its own source material.