With a lush depiction of the era, Kanon weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and romance that looks behind the film lens and into the hearts of émigrés and American moviemakers of the time. As he attempts to piece together the specifics of his brother’s death, Ben is hurled into a stream of secret deals, political maneuvering, and the beginning murmurs of the Hollywood Communist witch hunts. Joseph Kanon’s most intricate novel to date, Stardust follows Ben on an informative and mysterious trek through the hush-hush world of 1940s Hollywood. But the information surrounding Danny’s accident is blurred, and Ben makes his way to Los Angeles wondering why Danny, a war hero and burgeoning filmmaker, would leave behind a life of promise and respect. In post-WWII Hollywood, Ben Collier has returned from the front lines to find that his brother Danny has died from a fall off a hotel balcony. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion.
This reading group guide for Stardust includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Joseph Kanon. Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Stardust flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller evoking both the glory days of the movies and the emergence of a dark strain of American political life. When Ben learns troubling facts about his own family’s past and embarks on a love affair that never should have happened, he is caught in a web of deception that shakes his moral foundation to its core.
STARDUST BOOK MOVIE
Even here, where the devastation of Europe seems no more real than a painted movie set, the war casts long and dangerous shadows. Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful movie career, and a heroic past choose to kill himself?īen enters the uneasy world beneath the glossy shine of the movie business, where politics and the dream factories collide and Communist witch hunts are rendering the biggest star makers vulnerable. Ben Collier has just arrived from war-torn Europe to find his brother has died in mysterious circumstances. However, on this occasion the film has to top it for all the fun and joyful silliness it brings – and the entire expanded section with Captain Shakespeare and his men.The acclaimed, bestselling author of The Good German and Los Alamos returns with his most absorbing and accomplished novel yet-a mesmerizing tale of Hollywood, postwar political intrigue, and one man's determination to learn the truth about his brother's death.
STARDUST BOOK FULL
The book is absolutely magical and full of creativity and imagination. Robert De Niro takes on one of his most comedic roles to date for a part that has barely a few pages in the novel.
Though there are, of course, storylines that run throughout the book, it reads more like a collection of brilliant short stories, each new chapter bringing Tristran to a new place and a new experience.Ĭharlie Cox and Claire Danes played the two leads in the film with an impressive supporting cast that included Michelle Pfeiffer and Mark Strong. Stardust is a fairly short little book but it crams plenty of adventure within its pages thanks to Gaiman’s masterful prose. He talks a lion down from a kill, encounters a small hairy man – who might not actually be a man – and a magical forest that tries to trap him. His encounters are as enchanting as the novel itself, with many weird and wonderful creatures crossing his path. Gaiman’s tale is about the wonders of the magical world beyond Wall and both the people and customs young Tristran encounters along his journey to bring the fallen star back to his love. In the film, fun, adventure and romance are key, but in the book there is an entirely different focus: that of magic. Of course, it also brings with it plenty of peril. Without knowing his true Faerie heritage, the young explorer sets off on an adventure that introduces him to witches, spells, talking animals and mythical beings. In the book, Tristran Thorn tells the girl he loves that he will travel in Faerie to bring back the fallen star.
Quite how this fact passed me by I couldn’t say but when I discovered that the book was written by the same man who had written one of my all-time-favourite episodes of Doctor Who, the book was quickly added to my to-read pile. It was quite a while after watching and loving the film STARDUST that I discovered it was an adaptation, based on a book by Neil Gaiman.