non sequitur

RIP Erich Segal: A Class Act

I just came across this news. Erich Segal, the writer of books set in the backdrop of Havard and MIT, is dead.

I first picked up Erich Segal 10 years ago on the recommendation of a very dear friend. After 10 years and probably 100s of books, Erich Segal still remains one of my favorite writers and 'The Class' ranks among the best books I have ever read in my life. 'Love Story' happens to be my friend's favorite book.

Of the books I have read by Erich Segal - Love Story, The Class, Man, Woman and Child, Doctors, Prizes, necessarily in that order, Love Story remains his most popular while I like The Class, Doctors and Prizes. The one I liked least was Man, Woman and Child and I have always been indifferent towards Love Story - 'love means not having to say you're sorry' notwithstanding. Love Story is full of great repartees between the hero and heroine but my favorite scene is the last scene where the hero breaks down in the arms of his father. I guess the novel ends with the words 'I cried'. No other writer I have read has created more life-like characters or more scenes that tug the proverbial strings of the heart than Erich Segal. Barney Livingston, Sandy Raven, Andrew Eliot, Jason Gilbert, Ted Lambros, Danny Rossi, George Keller - there was a time in my life when I was intensely involved in the happenings in their lives. Andrew Eliot is one of my favorite characters in Literature.

Segal's books contain some of the most beautifully constructed long English sentences replete with original metaphors. This might sound like I am confusing Segal with Wodehouse - but no, I am not.

Sample this sentence from 'Doctors': Amazing sun, isnt it? Looks like God has put a shiny copper penny into the slot to buy us a skyful of stars.

'The Class' begins with "They looked at one another like tigers taking measure of a menacing new rival."

Here are a few thoughts on 'The Class' and here are a few more on the pathetic Hindi remake of 'Love Story'. I am in mourning.

Martin Scorsese - Cecil B. DeMille Award

For the first 20 years or so of our careers Marty and I made movie after movie together. For the last 10 we have been presenting each other with awards. We are like an old married couple. We built a life together, we have great memories, we just don’t sleep together anymore... and I can’t help thinking that if the times were a little different, how proud Cicil DeMille would have been to be honoured with the Martin Scorcese award.
-Robert De Niro's tribute to Martin Scorcese

It is hard to believe we've only been watching movies for the last one hundred years; while other art forms have been around for thousands. As we look back in history, there are those names that truly define their own medium. Picasso, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Beethoven - to name a few. And a thousand years from now, as the history of film unfolds, there will surely be one name for future generations that is synonymous with master film making and the word cinema and that name is Mr. Martin Scorcese.
Leonardo DiCaprio's tribute to Martin Scorcese

Don't miss the acceptance speech of Marty Scorcese. It is a tribute to cinema and Cicil DeMille himself.