If I Made The Movie Soundtrack Of... A MONSTER CALLS

So here we are. The final blog post in my trial in this weird idea where I wondered "If this book was getting turned into a movie, what would the soundtrack be like it I was in charge?". I have done Night School by CJ Daugherty and Broken by AE Rought. And now, the final post - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. 

This idea came very soon after me reading A Monster Calls last year. I was so amazed by the book, when the idea came to me, I was very excited. I was putting songs in my head and was going "Yes! This is a song from Before. And this would fit her and that would fit the grandmother and the Dad!". But a week or so afterwards, I thought "No, those songs won't work. I want something... something... more." And that's when I hit this idea and as soon as I hit it, I get even more excited by it! 

And yes, I know A Monster Calls is being turned into a movie and I know that the soundtrack will sound NOTHING like mine, but it's a fun idea and I want to stick to it! 

I wanted songs that had no singing. I wanted instrumental. Yes, I know that would make it a score but what if it went over all genres? Classic, pop, electronic? What if you used each genre of music to represent something? Can you imagine what the themes of each story would sound like if you had one was in the style of russian folk when the second was indie? 

And each artist only had to do one track and focus on one moment or one idea instead of doing the whole album? Each song would be different because it would be done by a different artist, each person with their own unique view on the story... 

But trying to find a good mix of musicians that "fit" A Monster Calls and the idea I had in my head are two very different things, so it would be an open thing where everyone could submit their track and the best would be chosen (which is how it should be. Not how famous the name is but the music itself). I do have some musicians in mind, but it would be HIGHLY unlikely that they would do it so... LET'S PRETEND!!!

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
I love this man's music. Whenever I listen to him, I always find something new and with each score he conducts, he always seems to do something new and exciting. It's always different from his previous score. I think he would be wonderful in doing a piece about the Yew Tree...



IMOGEN HEAP
I am a sucker for Imogen Heap. I admit this, but she is very talented a musician. And when she releases her albums, she also release what her songs would be like if they were instrumentals. Like Alexandre DeSplat, I can very easily see Imogen doing a song about the Yew Tree...



MURRAY GOLD
Before you all groan and go "No! Not the Doctor Who man!", here me out! Over the course of the modern, the music has always been strong. And when Murray is allowed to flex his music muscles, he can make the audience get more into the scene and get them on the edge of tears... With A Monster Calls, I want to music to do that: suck you into the story and put you onto the edge of tears...




DISPARITION
Some of you guys might know these guys via that wonderful podcast, Welcome To Night Vale. They make and share music which have a creepy and, at times, sinister undertone but you don't notice it until you pay attention. And with A Monster Calls, I feel this is kinda a must.



But what do you think of these artists? Do you think they "fit" A Monster Calls or do you think I am COMPLETELY off base?

Also, what do you guys think of this idea? I did 3 post on "If I Made The Movie Soundtrack Of..." as a trial and I do like it. It was weirdly fun and it's nice to return to music and going "That song goes well with this book!" as I feel I haven't done that in a while...

But do you guys like it? Do you guys want me to do more of these? If so, which books do you think I should try? Leave a comment or tweet me (@PewterWolf13) and let me know!!!

GoodRead - A Monster Calls

As you guys know, I was at an event hosted by the lovely people at Walker Books (not read it? Here's the link and there s no hints of Cassandra Clare in my write-up as I haven't read the latter Mortal Instruments books just yet so no spoilers for me!). While I was there, I saw a copy of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. An illustrated edition of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I asked if I could take it as... well... I had to. EVERYONE LOVES THIS BOOK AND I HAVEN'T READ IT!!! Walker were very kind and said I could. And so, I started reading it once I got home Saturday evening.

From the original idea of Siobhan Dowd, A Monster Calls follows Conor who, one night, wakes up to find a monster staying outside his bedroom window. The monster isn't what Conor was expecting - he has seen worse in his nightmare - the nightmare. The nightmare he's been having since his mother started her treatment. But the monster wants something different. It says Conor called it and now, the monster won't leave till its told three tales to Conor. After that, Conor will tell the monster a fourth tale - and this tale is the worse of them all.

This fourth tale must be the truth.

So... this book. Is it worth it? Is it worth going out of your way to read? Is it worth hunting down the illustrated edition?

YES! YESYESYES!!!

This book... I'm not sure where to begin on my thoughts and feels on this book but this book is wonderful. Simply wonderful.

I get why people have said this book made them cry. It didn't with me - sorry, I don't cry when I read - but this book hit me in the feels. If I didn't have to go to sleep and had to read it in two sittings, I would have read this in one go and yes, I fear I would have cried a manly tear (I hear you guys sniggering... don't judge me!).

There's something beautiful about Patrick's writing. It's simple and yet, there's something about how he spun this tale that just fits. Maybe it's because of the idea from Siobhan Dowd, who sadly died before she could finish this (she had, according to the author's note, the characters, the premise and the beginning) but Patrick paid perfect respect and tribute to Siobhan and to the subject matter (yes, this book did hit a nerve with me).

The illustrations by Jim Kay are wonderful. They fit with the story in two ways: they aided the story and yet, moved the story forward. Both with very little detail and yet, with so much detail.

This book is faultless. Buy it. Just buy it - but buy the illustrated edition. Trust me when I say this.



PS - this is being turned into a movie. To the movie people making this movie, PLEASE DON'T SCREW IT UP!