How marvelous is The Marvelous Palace?

[@Book-bz8ns]

When I was a kid, Bridge Over the River Kwai was my favorite movie. I'll go down to the used book store and see if I can find this one.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I think you'll have trouble finding The Marvelous Palace at a physical store Books. But it is available on Ebay for about $15.00.

[@StevenEverett7]

As always, a very informative and entertaining review Grammaticus. Thank you!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thanks for checking it out Steven!

[@DDB168]

I think the 6th story intrigues me the most. I read his wiki page and notice he wrote a novel called Desperate Games (1971), which sounds like a forerunner to Squid Game, Hunger Games and Battle Royale. I still need to read his 2 famous novels.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I also need to read those 2 novels DDB! I did just put a request in for Planet of the Apes.

[@wooddavid8293]

Thanks for the review. I've been looking for a "throw it in the backpack" book for reading when I'm stuck in waiting rooms. Based on the review and your channel content I just ordered a copy.👍

[@GrammaticusBooks]

You'll have to let me know how you like it David!

[@User_Un_Friendly]

After a bit of research, I can see where the Rod Serling's original script got the twist from the author. Given the inspiration from the novel, I can also see Rod Serling add his own personal twist, and come up with that classic final scene. Apparently the ending for the movie version of the Bridge on River Kwai differed from the author. No final act of redemption from the character played by Alec Guinness. 😮😮 Good review, I'm quite seriously thinking about looking for a copy. I was aware of his connection to both movies, but unaware of the collection of short stories. It's really in short stories where many authors shine, unfortunately, short story collections are unbeloved by publishers, as it doesn't usually sell as well as novels. 😉🙂

[@luiznogueira1579]

Hey, nice seeing you here! I think the original ending was the one shown in the 2001 version, with Mark Wahlberg. The whole Lincoln Memorial thing(kinda silly if you ask me...) Or at least that's the one originally planned for the 1968 movie.

[@User_Un_Friendly]

@@luiznogueira1579 Um...not quite. Do check out the Wikipedia page for the book. It's eye opening. 🫣 And I'm forced to conclude that Sterling's original ending, was dead on the money as to how the author ended the book, if not the same way. Sterling's original script got tossed because it would have cost too much to build up a credible looking ape civilization. Pity, I would have liked to see a fairly high tech ape civilization in the movies...though I have to admit the low tech depiction of the ape civilization was very dramatic...they did keep the ending, which certainly was very Twilight Zone...😂🐶

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I absolutely love a good collection of short stories User! Regarding the film Bridge...Boulle took a lot of heat over the book from veterans for his portrayal of the commander as a collaborator. The real life commander was anything but.

[@User_Un_Friendly]

@@GrammaticusBooks Yes, I'm quite aware of that.😉. Considering how much Lean deviated from the source material for Lawrence of Arabia, it can be expected. 🙄

[@LiminalSpaces03]

This one sounds interesting! Great video!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thanks Liminal! I did enjoy it. Now I'm trying to run down a copy of Planet of the Apes!

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Did not know the author of Bridge Over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes was the same. Happy reading.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Neither did I! Quite surprising!

[@luiznogueira1579]

It seems Boulle was really into those surprise twists at the end; Planet of The Apes is another good example!(Don't know how faithful the movie is to the book, though...) I think I have another short story collection by Boulle somewhere...I'll check it out.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

From what I've heard (I've not yet read PotA, but I just ordered a copy) the movie and the novel are quite different.

[@luiznogueira1579]

@@GrammaticusBooks Yeah, I'm sure it is. I believe there's a twist at the end, but it's not the one in the movie(I think that was Rod Serling's Idea).