Buzz
While book enthusiasts don’t need a special occasion to revel in a great read or uncover intriguing details about beloved authors, National Book Lovers Day offers the perfect opportunity. Dive into these captivating nuggets from Mytour’s literary exploration, The Curious Reader.
1. Agatha Christie had a minor critique of the movie version of Murder on the Orient Express.
The first film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express debuted in 1974, helmed by director Sidney Lumet and starring Albert Finney as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot. (Rumor has it that Lord Louis Mountbatten, a British royal and father-in-law to one of the producers, played a pivotal role in persuading Christie to greenlight the project.) Despite the film’s critical acclaim—Finney earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal, and Ingrid Bergman won Best Supporting Actress—Christie had one small grievance. “The production was excellent, except for one flaw,” she reportedly remarked. “Albert Finney, as Hercule Poirot, didn’t have the finest mustache in England, as I described in my book. I found that disappointing—why not give him the best mustache?”
2. Kazuo Ishiguro, the author of Never Let Me Go, was deeply enamored with Sherlock Holmes during his childhood.
“I’d attend school and say things like: ‘Pray, be seated’ or ‘That is most peculiar,’” the author shared with The New York Times. “Back then, people simply attributed this to my Japanese heritage.” The Hound of the Baskervilles remains his favorite Sherlock Holmes tale: “It was terrifying and kept me awake at night, but I believe I was captivated by Conan Doyle’s world because, oddly enough, it felt incredibly comforting.”
3. John le Carré couldn’t recall the origin of his pen name.
This master of spy fiction was once a real-life spy in England when he started publishing novels in 1961. His employers didn’t object to his writing but insisted he use a pseudonym. His publisher proposed names like Chunk-Smith, but the inspiration behind John le Carré remains a mystery. “I was frequently asked why I chose such an unusual name, and eventually, my writer’s imagination took over,” he explained to The Paris Review. “I pictured myself on a bus crossing Battersea Bridge, glancing down at a tailor’s shop named something like le Carré. That story sufficed for years. But as I’ve aged, I’ve developed an overwhelming urge for honesty. The truth is, I simply don’t remember.”
4. Paulo Coelho’s parents sent him to an asylum to deter him from becoming a writer.
Coelho grew up in a strict Catholic family and attended Jesuit school. From a young age, he aspired to be a writer, but his parents disapproved, hoping he’d pursue engineering instead. “My parents tried every tactic to discourage me,” The Alchemist author revealed to Oprah Winfrey. “They attempted bribes, cut off my allowance, and even consulted a psychiatrist. Eventually, they concluded, ‘We love him, but he’s insane.’” Starting at age 17, they committed him to a mental institution three times—but Coelho always found a way to escape.
5. Americanah might have had an entirely different name.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie initially chose Americanah as the title for her 2013 novel, drawn to its playful and irreverent tone, as she explained to Goodreads. However, she considered renaming it The Small Redemptions of Lagos, inspired by the blog Ifemelu creates upon returning to Nigeria, as it felt more poetic. Ultimately, she reverted to Americanah after a close friend remarked that The Small Redemptions of Lagos sounded like “a small book sold under the bridge in Lagos.”
6. Fyodor Dostoevsky, the author of Crime and Punishment, suffered from epilepsy.
During his student years, Dostoevsky experienced numerous seizures, including a severe grand mal episode in 1844. He later documented milder seizures in his journal, attributing them to factors like overwork and sleep deprivation. Diagnosed with epilepsy in 1849, around the time of his imprisonment, Dostoevsky’s condition remained a subject of debate. In 1928, decades after his death, Sigmund Freud suggested his seizures were neurotic in nature, labeling them as “hystero-epilepsy.” However, contemporary neurologists maintain that Dostoevsky’s epilepsy was genuine.
7. James Baldwin’s publisher once advised him to destroy Giovanni's Room.
The controversial themes of the book were so startling to Baldwin’s publishers at Knopf that they urged him to destroy the manuscript. Beyond its taboo subject matter, the stark departure from Go Tell It on the Mountain led Knopf to worry that Baldwin would lose his established audience. When Knopf declined to publish it, Dial Press stepped in, releasing the novel in the U.S. in 1956. Even Dial Press harbored concerns, opting to omit Baldwin’s author photo to obscure the fact that a Black man had written a story centered on queer white characters. Despite the apprehension surrounding its publication, Giovanni’s Room garnered largely favorable critical acclaim.
8. House Made of Dawn began as a collection of poems.
N. Scott Momaday identifies primarily as a poet rather than a novelist. He regards House Made of Dawn as an anomaly in his body of work, never intending it to become his first novel. Initially, he envisioned it as a poetic cycle while completing his doctoral studies at Stanford, where his dissertation focused on poetry. After years of writing verse, he sought a fresh creative outlet and shifted to fiction. What started as a poetic concept gradually transformed into a series of short stories before ultimately taking shape as the novel we know today.
9. The iconic madeleine in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time might have been toast instead.
In Swann’s Way, Proust’s narrator is initially trapped in a state of emotional numbness, unable to recall most of his past. This changes dramatically when he tastes a tea-dipped madeleine, triggering a flood of childhood memories. While Proust drew inspiration from a real-life event, the original catalyst wasn’t a madeleine but a rusk—a dry, twice-baked biscuit. Handwritten manuscripts published in 2015 revealed that Proust’s first drafts featured a slice of toast with honey, followed by a biscotte (rusk), aligning more closely with his personal experience. It’s remarkable to consider that readers might have missed out on Proust’s evocative description of the madeleine as “the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly sensual under its severe, religious folds.”
10. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight's Children appeared to be plagued by misfortune.
Rushdie recounted that the release of Midnight’s Children faced multiple delays. First, a printers’ strike in the U.S. postponed the initial printing. Then, a transport strike hindered the delivery of copies to England. Finally, a dock-workers’ strike delayed the unloading of the shipped books. While the idea of a groundbreaking 20th-century novel languishing in shipping containers aligns with Rushdie’s penchant for irony, the book ultimately triumphed over these setbacks. Midnight’s Children went on to earn global acclaim.
11. Chinua Achebe’s manuscript for Things Fall Apart almost vanished forever.
In 1957, while studying at the BBC in London, Achebe shared his manuscript for Things Fall Apart with Gilbert Phelps, a school instructor. Phelps wanted to forward it to his publishers, but Achebe insisted on revising it first. After making the necessary changes in Nigeria, he mailed the sole handwritten copy to a London typing agency. The agency confirmed receipt and requested 32 pounds for two typed copies, which Achebe promptly sent.
And then he waited … and waited … and waited. For months.
Achebe sent multiple letters to the agency but received no response. Eventually, his boss, who was traveling to London for a holiday, visited the agency, insisted they locate and type the manuscript, and return it. They complied, but only provided one copy instead of the two Achebe had paid for. No explanation was ever given for the mishap.
12. Leo Tolstoy struggled to craft the opening of War and Peace.
Tolstoy spent nearly a year perfecting the introduction to War and Peace. According to Tolstoy scholar Kathryn B. Feuer, he drafted 15 different openings (expanding on two of them), along with four introductions and a preface before settling on the final version.
