Home |Russell Hoban at the San Diego State University, October 17, 1990, Part 1

Russell Hoban at the San Diego State University, October 17, 1990, Part 1

Amazing video of Russell Hoban giving a lecture on his writing and working processes in 1990. From Alida Allison, Professor, San Diego State University (SDSU): "In 1990, Russell Hoban did a 10-day reading tour of Southern California that began at SDSU, continued to UC Riverside, California State University Long Beach (where he saw its Drama Department's production of Riddley Walker), and ended at UCLA. Russ spoke twice at SDSU. First was October 17, covering primarily his books for adults, especially Riddley Walker. The video linked here is the first part of that lecture. Second was the next day and covered his children's books. For this, the 600-seat Don Powell Theater was standing room only and the audience very receptive. Russ, too, enjoyed his two-plus hours. Hoban's unique mind, language, range, depth, and humor come to life as he reads from his books, comments on them, relays anecdotes and writer's secrets, and brings out props he carried all the way from London. Thanks to the efforts of The Kraken and russellhoban.org these precious talks are available. Regrettably, the quality was not professional in the first place and this is the best we have. Will improve when/if possible." Our thanks to Professor Allison for allowing the upload of this video to YouTube and to Olaf Schneider for the uploading. Thanks also to Dr Yvonne Studer for her help with the videos.
Type of link/content: 
Video
Link: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XJ_LNF_lAk
Associated titles: 
Pilgermann
Riddley Walker
The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz
The Medusa Frequency
The Moment under The Moment
The Mouse and his Child
Turtle Diary
A Russell Hoban Omnibus
Bedtime for Frances
The Second Mrs Kong
What Does It Do and How Does It Work
Post date: 
16 February, 2013 - 14:33

Comments

3
Richard Cooper's picture

Here are approximate timings for the topics covered in the lecture:

Start: introduction

1:55 The Mouse and His Child including demonstration of the original wind-up toy

3:15 Reading from Blighter's Rock

13:20 Reading from unpublished(?) piece on a visit to the British Museum about the head of a goddess and how all his subjects tie in with one and other

16:55 Punch and Judy

19:43 Reading from The Medusa Frequency "The smell of the brown loaves was like fidelity"

23:05 The St Eustace painting from Canterbury Cathedral

28:27 Reading from his very first stab at Riddley Walker dated 14 May 1974. This was when Riddley was still in standard English; note the stylistic nods to Hemingway.

38:00 Reading from the beginning of the published version of Riddley Walker

51:30 Question & answer session starts

52:00 Question about who "aunty" is in Riddley Walker

54:00 Narrative point of view and spelling in Riddley Walker

55:00 Definition of "argawarga" from Riddley Walker

55:40 Film adaptations of his books including Turtle Diary

59:00 Influences on him as a writer

1:01:00 The Man with the Dagger; "flickering"; Pilgermann

1:02:30 The name "Riddley Walker"

1:03:30 Tells story of how he first became published and a summary of his early career and the move to the UK - mentions What Does It Do and How Does It Work, the Frances books, The Mouse and His Child, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz, and The Medusa Frequency

1:10:10 Translating Riddley Walker into other languages (or not)

1:11:00 Why there's no glossary in Riddley Walker

1:12:50 The Return of Manny Rat (unpublished sequel to The Mouse and His Child)

1:14:00 How elements from Riddley Walker came into George Miller's film Mad Max 3

1:15:30 Video cuts off - continues at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_j56zHToHk

Submitted by Richard Cooper on 16 February, 2013 - 14:46
—

Site admin

ChrisBellNZ's picture

Brilliant. Thanks, Richard, Olaf, Yvonne, Alida and everyone else involved in placing this treasure trove of Russ brilliance online. Can't wait to see the missing second part...

Submitted by ChrisBellNZ on 17 February, 2013 - 23:33
—

@ChrisBellNZ

Richard Cooper's picture

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_j56zHToHk

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTj5912_yX4

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwKAmX5vzG4

Submitted by Richard Cooper on 24 February, 2013 - 11:57
—

Site admin

Disclaimer - links

This page gives details of a link to an external website or page which is of relevance to Russell Hoban and his work. The link provided on this page has been checked and was working at the time of addition displayed above. While we can recommend this link as it stood when it was added, russellhoban.org is not responsible for any changes that may have been made to that site after that time, and cannot be held responsible for the content of any external sites. No links are intentionally provided to websites which may breach anyone's copyright. If the link on this page is broken, breaches copyright or is now inappropriate please use the comment form or contact us to report it, mentioning the URL.