Francis Ford Coppola: By the Book

The filmmaker and author of “Live Cinema and Its Techniques” splits his reading among fiction, history, science, religion and philosophy, “rarely popular best sellers.”

What books are on your nightstand?

“Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America’s Heartland,” by Stefan Fatsis. Usually on my nightstand there is only a Kindle but in this case, the book, recommended by a friend who said that it would explain to me the workings of the minor leagues in baseball, was only available in print. It has information I really wanted to learn, so with a pencil ready I just needed to juggle the weight of the book, adjusting the light and attempting to make good notes and underlining sections. Of course the trouble with highlighting sections of a real book is that later when you need the information you have to hunt it down with that particular copy. So in this case, I will send the marked-up book to an associate and ask them to go through it and type up all of my highlighted sections and notes.

I recently read “Darkness at Noon,” and I now understand why it is a major work. It is memorable and has all the elements of a great story: surprises, elucidation, lasting political insights and a touching ending. It’s a great one!

Now I am about a third through Walter Isaacson’s “Leonardo da Vinci” and really enjoying it. It makes me realize that so many of those great figures in history we feel we know so much about, we really know little.

What’s the last great book you read?

“Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott, just before that was “The Cairo Trilogy,” by Naguib Mahfouz and before that was “Typee,” by Herman Melville.

What influences your decisions about which books to read? Word of mouth, reviews, a trusted friend?

Sometimes word of mouth or a trusted friend. I never read within the subject I am working on at the moment. I try to always be reading something in those last moments before sleep only for pleasure and as relaxation. The important thing is that I cycle between novels, histories, philosophy, physics, cellular biology and occasionally the odd contemporary political science offering like the recent one about Steve Bannon: “Devil’s Bargain,” by Joshua Green.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?

From “Little Women,” that the true expressions of love are modest, simple things. Often poverty teaches us to express love in the most profound ways.

Which classic novel did you recently read for the first time?

Well, “Little Women,” “My Ántonia” and “Don Quixote.”

Whose writing today most inspires you?

Jeffrey Eugenides. I loved “The Virgin Suicides” of course, as it was the debut film of my daughter, Sofia, but very much also loved “Middlesex.”

Who are your favorite short story writers? Do you have a favorite story from the pages of Zoetrope All-Story?

Hawthorne and Poe. “Fair Warning,” by Robert Olen Butler. I also loved the short stories of John Collier.

What books have been the most inspiration and/or influential in your career as a filmmaker?

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. Anything by Gustave Flaubert. I love “Ivanhoe” as well, by Sir Walter Scott.

What books would you like to adapt to film? Do you read with an eye to adaptation?

I no longer think that way, searching for material to make into films. I’m interested in original screenplays that I write myself. The books I read for myself are lessons into the art of writing. Also when you read something wonderful it tends to make you enthusiastic about writing something.

Do you have a favorite book about wine?

Alexis Lichine’s “Wines of France.”

When and how do you like to read? Print or e-book? Morning, night? One book at a time or several simultaneously? Do you read on set?

Aside from reading for research on a project, I read myself to sleep. One book at a time, always completed. I read on a Kindle (why?) a) it’s light to hold in bed. B) it’s self-luminous C) highlighted sections are easy to access later on without having to find the original book you marked up. This is super important: When one reads a lot of diverse stuff, it’s important to have access to one’s notes and highlights. Reading over a few pages of those brings the entire experience back.

Which genres appeal to you and which do you avoid?

Usually, I balance between classic fiction, history, science, religion and philosophy. Rarely popular best-sellers.

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

“Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball,” by Barbara Gregorich.

Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Favorite antihero or villain?

Natasha in “War and Peace.” Danglars in “The Count of Monte Cristo.” I’d now add the character of Gletkin in “Darkness at Noon.”

What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?

I read all the fairy tales as a young child, knew them so well that in kindergarten I was popular for telling them to other children. Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm. Later, I found I could concentrate better when I read plays, such as at age 15 picking up a copy of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” which I felt was magical.

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

“The End of Nature,” by Bill McKibben.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

Tolstoy, Flaubert and Virginia Woolf.

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

I felt that way about “On the Road” — I liked “The Dharma Bums” much more, thought it was beautiful. I try to always finish each book I select whether or not I am into it, on the belief that I gain something no matter what.

Tell us about the one book that hasn’t been written that you’d really like to read.

“Trend Is Not Destiny” — How Americans helped avoid the disastrous impact of climate change and pharmaceutical lobbying to achieve fulfillment for its citizens.

What do you plan to read next?

Hmmm, thinking about it. What I will tackle after I finish “Leonardo da Vinci,” I have no idea.

Francis Ford Coppola: By the Book, copiado del NYT.