Reading List for Mark Knopfler Songs

[Lestroid]

I am a voracious reader and have been inspired to read several books based on MK songs.  I thought it would be nice to start a list of books/short stories that MK has mentioned that inspired his songs.  This is organized chronologically by album.  Feel free to fill in any blanks, as I am sure I am not the expert that some of you are...

(If there is such a list elsewhere on this site, please let me know )

Dire Straits Lions - Inspired by a poem by Ted Hughes

Love Over Gold - Telegraph Road - "Growth of the Soil" by Knut Hamsun

Cal (the movie)  - "Cal" by Bernard Maclaverty

Last Exit to Brooklyn (the movie)  - "Last Exit to Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby

On Every Street - Heavy Fuel - "Money" by Martin Amis

Golden Heart - Done With Bonaparte - "Diary of a Napoleanic Foot Soldier" by Jakob Walter

Wag the Dog (the movie) - "American Hero" by Larry Beinhart

Sailing to Philadelphia - Sailing to Philadelphia - "Mason and Dixon" by Thomas Pynchon
 - Junkie Doll - "Some Hope" by Edward St. Aubyn
   
Shangri-La - Boom Like That - "Grinding it Out" by Ray Kroc
- Song for Sonny Liston - "The Devil and Sonny Liston" by Nick Tosches (2000) and/or "Night Train" by Nick Tosches (2001) (* Not sure if these are the same book published with a different title or which one inspired the song.)

All the Roadrunning - If This is Goodbye - "Only Love, Then Oblivian" by Ian McEwen - Article about 9/11 pubished in The Guardian on 9/15/01

Kill To Get Crimson - True Love Will Never Fade - "Electric Michaelangelo" by Sarah Hall
- The Fish and the Bird - "The Time of Your Singing" by Richard Powers

Get Lucky - The Car Was The One - "The Unfair Advantage" - Mark Donohue

Privateering - Haul Away - "Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian   

Tracker - Basil - "Briggflats" by Basil Bunting - Inspired by Mark's aquaintance of the poet when Mark was a young copy-boy and Basil Bunting was a sub-editor of the Newcastle Chronicle
- River Towns - "A Room Forever" from The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
- Mighty Man - "I Could Read the Sky" by Timothy O'Grady (text) and Steve Pyke (Photos) Incidentally, Steve Pyke's photo illustrates MK's song in the booklet for the album.
- Beryl - Inspired by the author of several novels, Beryl Bainbridge, who was nominated, but never won the Booker Prize until she was honored with a special award after her death.

[yontwocrows]

Hi Lestroid, this is great. There are already threads with this topic, but the problem is that they get lost in the cause of time. I don't know how this can be organized that these informations don't vanish all the time.

A thread is here: http://amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=3621.msg80721#msg80721
Another one is here: http://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php/topic,1778.msg33023.html#msg33023

[dmg]

Some soundtrack ones:

Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
American Hero by Larry Beinhart (Wag the Dog - basis for).
Cal by Brendan MacLaverty

[LoveExpresso]

Bernhard McLaverty 

LE

[Lestroid]

Thanks!  Movies added to the list.

In reading through the other threads, it seems there are quite a few I missed.  I will work on adding them.

[wespresso]

Thanks for this overview

[twm]

A very useful list, lestroid.

It is very rare that I pick someone up on their English but you cannot be a "prolific" reader, as "prolific" refers to output [literally, to make offspring] and its synonyms would be: productive, fruitful or fertile, perhaps. The most common adjective for someone who reads a great deal is probably "voracious". Based on your list, it is  evident that MK is a "voracious" reader and a "prolific" songwriter.

Sorry about my lapse in manners in raising this but I've just spent the last few weeks advising a friend (an American friend) on an article for one of the fanzines in my area of interest and I haven't yet shaken loose of that task.  I am also a touch disturbed that an article I have written for another fanzine (and carefully proof-read) will in fact be published with a few typos that are not of my making but the result of some technical glitch.

I repeat, your list is very useful and it would indeed be helpful if there were some way it could be permanently accessible on AMIT, rather than being allowed to slip down the pages of topics.

[dmg]

Bernhard McLaverty 

LE

Is that his German brother? 

[LoveExpresso]

No, that's the name of the author of Cal.

LE

[Lestroid]

It is very rare that I pick someone up on their English but you cannot be a "prolific" reader, as "prolific" refers to output [literally, to make offspring] and its synonyms would be: productive, fruitful or fertile, perhaps. The most common adjective for someone who reads a great deal is probably "voracious". Based on your list, it is  evident that MK is a "voracious" reader and a "prolific" songwriter.

I stand corrected TWM.  No offense taken.   I wish I could blame it on being a non-native speaker, although you folks from the UK might say that being an American, I am a non-native English speaker!
 
Voracious reader it is.  And we can all be thankful that MK is such a prolific writer of songs!

[twm]

Sorry for the delay in coming back, Lestroid. You are,, of course, welcome.  No offence intended.
There are many different forms of English these days and I do try to respect these other forms, including American English.

I have recently been helping an American friend with his first published article on "Mr Bob". My suggestions were about improving clarity, not about changing the American English - for example, the spelling of "pajamas", which we would render as "pyjamas".

Another American friend, referring to something I had written, queried the position of a full stop following quotation marks (also known as, inverted commas). The practice in the States is different from ours: you generally put the full stop inside the quotation marks (with the sentence thus ending with those quotation marks), whereas we would tend to put it outside them (so that there is a definite punctuation at the end of the sentence). You will find exceptions to this practice. There is a trend in Britain to follow the American pratice, which does not get my approval because I don't like to end a sentence with inverted commas. Moreover, take a sentence like this ...

Who said, "No"?

This is what I might call the British practice. To me, it is completely illogical to render it in the American way ....

Who said, "No?"

Not only does the sentence end with inverted commas (which makes me squirm a little) but it makes no sense. The 'No' was not a question; the question was 'Who said ....?'.

Nevertheless, when I see this usage in something written by an American, I take it for what it is. And, as I told my friend, when he sees the British practice in something I've written, he must likewise accept the difference.

[Lestroid]

So TWM, are you an editor or a writer by profession?  You seem to have a passion for language, so I imagine you would be excellent at either one.

Regarding punctuation of sentences ending in quotation marks, I was taught that a period or comma should be enclosed within the quotation marks, but a question mark is only placed within the quotation mark if it belongs to the quote.  So in your example, Who said, "No?" has a different meaning than Who said, "No"?.   In other words, the British convention and the American convention are the same when the sentence ends with a question mark, but they differ when the sentence ends with a period.  For what it is worth, I am (obviously) not a professional writer and do not always remember correct usage of grammar, so I usually bumble along as best I can and try to consult a guide when in doubt.  I should probably consult the guide or a dictionary more often.

I should note that the terms "full stop" and "inverted commas" are not used in my neck of the woods. "Full stop" I have heard before, typically in old movies when a character sends a telegram.  But "inverted comma" is completely new to me.  I had to think about it for few seconds before I understood what you meant.

The evolution of language is fascinating to me.  Your example of "pajamas" vs "pyjamas" is interesting in that the word was borrowed from Hindi and probably originated in Persia. Who knows why we settled on different spellings. I rather enjoy the differences between our languages.  It illustrates the differences in our cultures which keeps things interesting. 

[Lis]

Thanks so much, Lestroid, for your work here -- this list is a great reference!!!

Editors... does this thread meet the criteria to be sticky?  If so, I think that this would be incredibly helpful.   

[twm]

Neither editor nor writer by profession, I'm afraid, Lestroid - just an amateur with an interest in language.

Thank you for pointing out that, except in particular circumstances, the question mark is placed outside the quotation marks in the States. And also for pointing out that this practice is taught as an exception to the general rule.

I wish that grammar and language use were still taught in schools over here, not in a pedantic way but to ensure clarity.  I fear our teachers have themselves been through the education system without being taught, for example, that the use of, and placement of, a comma can significantly affect the meaning of a sentence, so what hope is there for the children they teach? In addition, book publishers often don't seem to employ proofreaders these days.

Let me end by reiterating my earlier comment that your list is indeed very useful and by wondering whether any other AMIT-ers can add to it,

[superval99]

I wish that grammar and language use were still taught in schools over here, not in a pedantic way but to ensure clarity.  I fear our teachers have themselves been through the education system without being taught, for example, that the use of, and placement of, a comma can significantly affect the meaning of a sentence, so what hope is there for the children they teach? In addition, book publishers often don't seem to employ proofreaders these days.

       Agree wholeheartedly!