Some good old fashioned literary drama is just the thing for late summer. I think it pairs well with mint juleps and malaise. This week, people of this opinion were extremely pleased to learn that Rachel Cusk’s new novel (life of m) is apparently based on the life of real human actress Natalie Portman. And if our deep learning is correct, Black Swans don’t like it.
Start at the top, with tea. Cusk and Portman have been friendly for many years, and are obviously fans of each other. Portman selects Cusk’s novel parade for his book club in 2024, and there has been at least one heated public discussion between the actor and the novelist.
life of m Raises recent Kask preoccupations, such as one’s own instability. But the new novel is based on some highly specific findings.
As seen by Valerie Strivers in a spelunk UnheardThe book is about a “famous actress, M, and an unnamed writer-friend’s project to chronicle her”. And M and Portman have enough similarities to raise eyebrows.
How did the spies connect the dots? Cusk’s fictional heroine, “in addition to being a movie star, models for a major brand.” She lives in an unnamed European city. And hers began as a child – specifically in a Lolita-like role in a European film, which in the narrator’s opinion “immediately punctuated her childhood”.
Portman is a famous actress and Dior model living in Paris. his first project was it.
There are other, less tasty breadcrumbs, too. m-who Too played the role of a ballerina In one of her more famous film roles – apparently struggles to connect with ordinary people outside the realm of fame. In the novel she comes across as a stressed, short-sighted, alienated person. Not so good in a crisis.
Which might explain how, according to Strivers, “the actress’s dissatisfaction with and betrayal of the finished product, as recorded in the final pages oflife of m), is also said to be true to life.
Portman’s people have yet to comment directly on the rumors. However Strivers reports that background sources have sought to downplay any speculated relationship between Cusk and Portman from friends to business acquaintances.
We can note that this is not the first time that poor Natalie has had to face such a bad situation Para-social relationship with a novelist. What is? He About this?
As Hunter Harris said in a recent episode wait:Does Natalie Portman have a bad art friend? (or two?)
For the sake? The novelist has also not made any direct comment. But we can also look to history for clues.
Cusk’s later writing is famously eloquent and clinical about human foibles. And in recent years, his interest in certain types of inventions has been decreasing. as he said the new Yorker in 2018“I don’t think the character exists anymore.” Yet those people are there, in its pages.
We can also note that this is not the first time Cusk has been accused of insufficient fictionality, perhaps in the name of that veritable genre.
As many times Reported, the first part of his 2009 novel The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy was “endangered” because “Cusk did not adequately conceal the people he wrote about and was threatened with a lawsuit for breach of privacy.”
And in 2017, memoirist Damien Barr complained that he was the unhappy inspiration for a character. transit.
Hey, we all make mistakes. I am personally grateful to the artists who brought us it And itand are willing to read between the fine lines of life of m. But for any subject: probably don’t put your life in the hands of a novelist.
Who knows which self they will see?
