I’m a fan of Quentin Tarantino, and (as you might have guessed) a fan of books, so when I heard that he was writing a book – a novelisation of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood – I was all kinds of intrigued. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood isn’t my favourite Tarantino film (that would be Django Unchained), but it’s one I like a lot, and I was looking forward to reading it when it came out. Of course, there’s always the risk that when a famous creative switches disciplines, it won’t be very good, and novelisations are notoriously known for being poor. But I’m happy to report that Once Upon a Time In Hollywood bucks the trend, and is a fine addition to Tarantino’s body of work.
The plot follows the overall structure of the film, but differs in a number of ways. The principal characters are Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, a struggling actor and his stunt double. Rick is well-known as the lead in a Western show called Bounty Law, but his attempt to transition from television to film has been largely unsuccessful, and he’s reduced to playing bad guy of the week on other Western shows. Cliff has become more of Rick’s chauffeur than stunt double, and is struggling to get work due to his reputation as a murderer. Both are struggling to navigate an industry and culture that’s rapidly changing, as symbolised by the impending threat of Charles Manson.
The changes made are enough to make it a worthwhile read. Some of them are an answer to criticisms made of the film, namely the Bruce Lee scene and the depiction of Sharon Tate. Tarantino shows the inner lives of Tate and Lee, making them both more three-dimensional than their portrayals in the film. Other changes include a less central Charles Manson, new scenes with fan-favourite characters, and commentaries on number of 50s and 60s films. It all serves to create a fresh experience that needed to be a book to work.
The prose is workmanlike, functional rather than stylish, serving to convey the story as straightforwardly as possible. That’s not to say it’s poorly written; Tarantino can carry off a sentence as well as anyone, having cut his novelistic teeth on screenwriting. Rather, it’s designed to fade into the background so the reader can focus on what’s being conveyed. It’s a choice that works, and suits the story being told.
Tarantino has talked about how he wanted to use all the extra material he came up with for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that didn’t make it into the film. He’s also said how novelisations were the first adult books he read, and wanted to write one of his own. The book succeeds on both these fronts. It does a lot that wouldn’t be possible in a film, and showcases Tarantino’s fascination with the minutiae of film history. My favourite thing about the book is that he included his real life stepfather, Curtis Zastoupil, as a character. There’s a moment late in the book where Rick Dalton is in a bar where Zastoupil is playing the piano, and Zastoupil gets up and asks Dalton for an autograph for his son, Quentin. It’s a nice moment that connects his love for his stepfather with his love of the movies, and makes the book just as personal as the film.
Review by Charlie Alcock
The changes made are enough to make it a worthwhile read. Some of them are an answer to criticisms made of the film, namely the Bruce Lee scene and the depiction of Sharon Tate. Tarantino shows the inner lives of Tate and Lee, making them both more three-dimensional than their portrayals in the film. Other changes include a less central Charles Manson, new scenes with fan-favourite characters, and commentaries on number of 50s and 60s films. It all serves to create a fresh experience that needed to be a book to work.
The prose is workmanlike, functional rather than stylish, serving to convey the story as straightforwardly as possible. That’s not to say it’s poorly written; Tarantino can carry off a sentence as well as anyone, having cut his novelistic teeth on screenwriting. Rather, it’s designed to fade into the background so the reader can focus on what’s being conveyed. It’s a choice that works, and suits the story being told.
Tarantino has talked about how he wanted to use all the extra material he came up with for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that didn’t make it into the film. He’s also said how novelisations were the first adult books he read, and wanted to write one of his own. The book succeeds on both these fronts. It does a lot that wouldn’t be possible in a film, and showcases Tarantino’s fascination with the minutiae of film history. My favourite thing about the book is that he included his real life stepfather, Curtis Zastoupil, as a character. There’s a moment late in the book where Rick Dalton is in a bar where Zastoupil is playing the piano, and Zastoupil gets up and asks Dalton for an autograph for his son, Quentin. It’s a nice moment that connects his love for his stepfather with his love of the movies, and makes the book just as personal as the film.
Review by Charlie Alcock
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