That's One Long Book, My Love
15 July 2008
Written by the late French novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet, director Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad is one of the iconic films of the French New Wave, an often obscure and elliptical movie that has continued to intrigue and entrance viewers since it was released in 1961. Each person who watches it will likely view Resnais' masterpiece in a slightly different way, however none have reacted quite as strongly or enthusiastically as Mark Leach. The Texan writer began Marienbad My Love in the 1980s, creating what is probably the only piece of Nouvelle Vague fan fiction on record. (And yes, film geeks, you do get extra points for spotting the reference to Resnais' other great film of the era, Hiroshima Mon Amour…) The book, available online as a download through Leach's site, is about a man stuck on a desert island who believes he must bring about the end of the world by directing a sci-fi remake of Marienbad. If that doesn't sound loopy enough, the book is a whopping 12.5 million words in length, as Leach's initial crack at the book only further inspired him. "When I released the first edition of Marienbad My Love, 2.5 million words seemed plenty long for a 21st century Apocalypse," the author admits. "But the ideas kept coming, and the story kept growing. Now I feel like I'm just getting warmed up." According to an article on the book, Leach's magnum opus also contains a "4,400,000-letter noun and a three million-word sentence."
http://www.filminfocus.com/week-in-film/week-in-film-31.php