Trevanian Tour

I will soon be going on my summer holidays to the south of France. For me this is an opportunity to do a Trevanian tour (pilgrimage!)

Included below is a picture from Google Maps which shows the towns and villages which featured in his two Basque books ("Shibumi" and "The Summer of Katya") and which I intend to visit.

I would like to say thanks to Bjorn who explained some of these locations on this web page.

There is a page on the Trevanian website entitled "View from the château of Etchebar looking southeast". I'd like to take a look at that page now but unfortunately the site seems to be down at the moment. Hopefully it will be up again before I travel.

Trevanian's bio on IMDB indicates that he lived in Garindein so I'll need to add that to the route.

I will definitely being those two books with me on the holiday. I wonder if I'll bring my Kindle too (more Asimov books to read, don't you know).

I'll really looking forward to my tour. And I can't be accused of being a stalker if the man in question passed away back in 2005.

I'll post some pictures here when I get back.

Incident at Twenty-Mile

I was in the St Vincent de Paul charity shop in Malahide village at the weekend, dropping off some old clothes and shoes.

I took a peek at the second-hand books (my son Andrew is looking for the Lord of the Rings books) and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a hardback edition of "Incident at Twenty-Mile" by my favourite author, Trevanian!

Now obviously I already had the book at home (I have all of his books) but as I only had the paperback edition I decided that I had to buy it!

So the photo below shows my new acquisition beside my old one.

As I think back on it, I suspect that my first exposure to Trevanian was buying a second-hand copy of "Shibumi" in a shop in Templebar, many, many moons ago.

Anyway, this is a nice excuse for me to re-read the book (if I can take a break from my Asimov books!).

No news on Trevanian

I posted two stories on Trevanian a while back and I have been checking to see if there is any update on either.

The sad news is that there is not.

There is no further update on the making of the movie based on Satori. By the time it gets made, Leonardo DiCaprio will be far too old to play Hel!

And there is no update from Alexandra Whitaker on progress with completing "Street of the Four Winds". In fact, I cannot see any sign of any recent updates on her website.

Ah well: we must be patient I suppose.

If I had one wish, though, it would be this:  I wish that Alexandra, or one of her family, would share more information about the great man. We learned a lot from "The Crazy Ladies of Pearl Street" but that only told the first part of his life story. There is so much more that we, his fans, want to know!

Trevanian Movie

I heard some news today which brought back the excitement I felt when I heard that there was to be a new book based upon the incomparable Shibimi by Trevanian.

Apparently Warner Bros. have acquired the rights to make Don Winslow's Satori (based upon Shibumi) into a movie. And they are in talks with Leonardo DiCaprio to star as Nicolai Hel. And there may be a series of movies (Nicolai Hel as the new Jason Bourne).

This is very exciting news: Nicolai Hel finally appearing on the big screen in a big budget blockbuster!

I hope and trust that Trevanian will get the credit he deserves for the creation of these fantastic characters and the basic plot into which Winslow weaved his story.

And I presume that if there is a series of movies then some of the other plots from Shibumi will be incorporated. And if the screenwriters are cognisant of this, then they should ensure that they iron out some of the mistakes in characterisation which Winslow made. Where there are differences, they should be sure to use Trevanian's Hel rather than Winslow's.

If this project comes to fruition, it will be the first Trevanian movie since "The Eiger Sanction" (1975) starring Clint Eastwood. Note: IMDB tells us that a movie entitled "Hot Night in the City" (based on the Trevanian short stories of the same name) was made in 2004. I am overlooking this as I have never seen the movie and have never managed to find out anything else about it.

Here are a few links:

Will Leonardo DiCaprio accept Don Winslow's Satori mission?

Warner Bros Acquires Post-WWII Don Winslow Novel ‘Satori’ For Leonardo DiCaprio

Best book ever: Shiumi by Trevanian

The best book I ever read was Shibumi by Trevanian. Great characters, great story, great action sequences, great philosophy. By the time I finished the book, I had a favourite author. I went on to read all of his other books and to enjoy exploring his website www.trevanian.com.

I was saddened of course when the author (Rodney William Whitaker) passed away in late 2005.

But two good things have happened recently.

The first is that Trevanian's daughter (Alexandra Whitaker) allowed another author to write a new book based on Shibumi. This book is Satori by Don Winslow. I bought the book as soon as I became aware of its existence. It was a complete joy to see Nicholai Hel back in action again! In the "Author's Note" at the end of the book, Winslow has some very nice things to say about Shibumi, Trevanian, and his approach to writing the book. He has made a few mistakes with the characterisation, IMHO, but it was as good as could be expected now that the genius who created Hel is no longer with us.

The second is that Alexandra tells us on the Trevanian website that she is going to complete his unfinished work: Street of the Four Winds. I'm not sure how long this process will take, but as a Trevanian fan is is fantastic to know that at some point in the future I will be holding a new Trevanian novel in my hands. His legacy lives on.