A couple of years ago, we bought a pile of secondhand books from a sale at our local library as a “fill a box for $5” deal. The books have been sitting among themselves, covered in dust, until we realised yesterday that one of them is The Fox (2018) by renowned English novelist Frederick Forsyth, who passed away the day before, on June 9.
It is always sad to hear about the death of an author. I have yet to read Forsyth’s books, but he was so famous, with so many of his books adapted into films and telemovies, that even I have heard of titles such as The Odessa File (1972).
What surprises me even more is Forsyth’s 1999 novel The Phantom of Manhattan, on which Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2010 musical Love Never Dies is partially/loosely based. I love these words from Forsyth as he explained his inspiration and motivation to write the novel:
“I had done mercenaries, assassins, Nazis, murderers, terrorists, special forces soldiers, fighter pilots, you name it, and I got to think, could I actually write about the human heart?”
I will have to read The Phantom of Manhattan to know if Forsyth indeed wrote well about the human heart, but The Fox is now on my TBR list (I already have the book, so why not?). As for Love Never Dies, I have seen the 2011 Australian production and the opening sequence introducing the wonders of Coney Island is absolutely amazing. However, no one beats Ramin Karimloo when he sings “’Til I Hear You Sing”, and his contemporary interpretation of the song is also great.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47dUc4iMAvQ)
(Day 11 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 